Type: News

APPGI chair leads conference on transforming infrastructure

Date: 26 April 2022

Rounding up the latest policy and political engagement activities from ICE.

APPGI chair leads conference on transforming infrastructure, plus ICE Yorkshire and Humber join Labour mayoral candidate in transport debate

Oliver Coppard, Labour Mayoral Candidate for South Yorkshire

Andrew Jones MP, chair of ICE’s All-Party Parliamentary Group for Infrastructure (APPGI) was the keynote speaker at Transforming Infrastructure Performance (TIP) Live.

This was the first in a series of events run by ICE, the Infrastructure Client Group, the Infrastructure and Projects Authority and the Construction Leadership Council.

The event aimed to catalyse the UK government’s TIP programme and translating the vision into practice.

TIP sets out how the UK government will improve infrastructure performance and boost productivity in both delivery and operation. ICE explored what its refresh should include at a Presidential Roundtable last year.

Elsewhere in the UK, ICE Yorkshire and Humber committee member Chris Longley joined a roundtable run by Infrastructure Matters with the Labour mayoral candidate for South Yorkshire, Oliver Coppard, and Shadow Transport Secretary Louise Haigh MP.

They discussed how to deliver cleaner, better and greener transport in the region.

Meanwhile, the APPGI hosted its first industry briefing with National Grid on its £1bn London Power Tunnels project.

What did they say?

Andrew Jones MP was the minister responsible for launching TIP in 2017, and has previously shared his thoughts with ICE on what its priorities should include.

At TIP Live, Jones set out the challenges facing the infrastructure sector following the Covid-19 pandemic, and TIP’s role in helping to ensure the UK gets every single penny of value it can from infrastructure investment.

As Jones remarked, “Getting more for less – to borrow someone’s advertising line – is where we need to be.”

In South Yorkshire, ICE regional member Chris Longley reinforced to local decision-makers that urgent choices need to be made on the future of public transport in the region post-pandemic, as set out in our recent policy paper.

And at the APPGI’s first ever Industry Briefing session, APPGI members learned more about high-profile infrastructure projects first-hand from the industry bodies delivering them.

For example, National Grid explained how it’s working to future-proof London’s power supply and helping to meet the challenge of scaling up the UK’s offshore wind capacity.

When

TIP Live, 20 April
Infrastructure Matters roundtable, 22 April
APPGI industry briefing on London Power Tunnels, 9 March

Why this matters

TIP is a change programme to improve the productivity and delivery of infrastructure. It requires collaboration between government and industry if its vision is to be fully translated into practice.

This event marked an important step in that process, and Andrew Jones' support for it as ICE’s APPGI chair helped to reinforce its significance to policymakers and industry.

Ahead of the UK local elections, it’s important that infrastructure issues remain high on the political agenda, across the UK regions.

This includes the issue of how we pay for transport and enable the transition to net zero post-Covid-19.

ICE regional expert members have a clear role to play in informing that debate.

Finally, giving APPGI members in-depth briefings on infrastructure projects of strategic significance – both across the UK and internationally – helps to enhance parliamentarians’ understanding of what’s involved in a project’s lifecycle. It also offers greater insight into how decisions are made.