Matthew Vickerstaff, who is also the head of the government’s project finance profession, told the inaugural Partnerships Bulletin TV webinar: “There are three or four [recommendations] at the moment that we feel we will be formally responding on and providing guidance; best practice approach to some of the things that were raised in the report.”
When pressed on which areas of the report the IPA is looking at in particular, Vickerstaff said: “There is quite a lot of discussion around contract management, relationships, behaviours. So that is clearly an area of focus.”
Report co-author, Barry White, however, urged the industry to take the initiative in responding to the report, arguing that it is not simply a document for the IPA to work with.
“If everybody is sitting back waiting for the IPA, that’s the wrong approach from either industry or the public sector,” he told the webinar. “There are lots of recommendations that people could actually get on and do something with themselves.”
Alongside Vickerstaff and White, the event brought together Robin Jack, legal director at DLA Piper, and Stewart Orrell, partner and head of asset management at InfraRed Capital Partners.
Click here to view a recording of the full webcast, which covered a range of issues related to the report, including a discussion on the meaning of ‘industrial’ and ‘financial’ investors; the impact of fraught relationships on individuals working in the industry; the impact of those relationships on future investment in the UK; and much more.