Planning, Infrastructure and Place Advisory Group: annual report 2024

5. Summary & Next steps

5.1 Review of 2024

When it was first convened, the group was expected to operate at least to 2025-26 to align with the publication of the next Infrastructure Investment Plan. This document reports on the first year of activities and looks forward to year two of PIPAG.

The initial aim of PIPAG was to strengthen the alignment of NPF4, the Place Based Investment Programme and infrastructure investment. One of the objectives included reviewing progress in delivering the spatial strategy, National Developments and national planning policy set out in NPF4. It was planned that work on NPF4 National Developments templates would be used to inform the work of the group.

In practice, however, the group decided early on that the value of PIPAG would be in focussing on the following objectives:

• identifying and promoting innovation and best practice, strategic input to the development of the next Infrastructure Investment Plan, overcoming barriers to development and infrastructure delivery and gaps in funding and finance.
• advice on integration of place-based and spatial thinking into public and private sector decision-making.
• prioritisation and targeting of investment to optimise outcomes and achieve place-based transformational change.
• focussing on these objectives enabled the group to develop a full work programme for 2024.

In the period since PIPAG was set up, the group has found its place in being solutions focused, providing diverse views and constructive challenge. The group provides a unique focus on infrastructure and specifically place-based delivery. The group was able to deep dive into specific aspects of infrastructure delivery.

5.2 Looking ahead

As meetings have progressed the group have sharpened focus on their role and where PIPAG can best add value. It has become clear that the group’s strength lies in:

• Diverse and broad ranging skills of members (which is why it is important that individuals represent themselves rather than organisations).
• Fostering collaboration, including referring action to other groups where their focus is more appropriate.
• Focus on identifying and championing good practice.
• A solutions focus which sees issues and gaps as challenges.
• Ensuring that the group does not crowd out activity already being undertaken by others, and to only focus on areas of activity that it is uniquely placed to consider or address.
• A desire to do things differently, and to see results.
• A willingness to provide constructive challenge.

The landscape of infrastructure delivery is complex with many sectors, players, geographies, issues and challenges (as well as solutions). PIPAG work in 2024 has covered a breadth of issues, with a significant amount of learning across topics, locations and sectors.

The group is well-placed to use this broad knowledge as a foundation on which to carry out more targeted, action-oriented activity in Year 2 (2025); with a narrower focus on 3-4 key areas, to be agreed in the coming months.