Infrastructure and Projects Authority at our event in east London

Future Cities Forum is delighted that Stephen Dance, Director of the Commercial Adviser Team at the Infrastructure and Projects Authority, will be speaking at our September joined up transport, housing and jobs conference at Here East, London.

Stephen Dance is a Chartered Surveyor and holds current non executive directorships in Local Partnerships LLP (a joint venture between HM Treasury and Local Government Association), The Thames Estuary Growth Board and Northern House Multi Academy Trust.

When Stephen last joined Future Cities Forum in November 2022, he commented:

'What there will be in terms of infrastructure over the next few years, is a bit of a focus on timing and delivery, not just to control spend but make sure we are delivering efficiently. There has been a gap in thinking around the role of private capital, I don't mean finance, but capital. So for instance, around HS2 we need to make sure that we are delivering the railway on time and budget.

'To date the thinking around delivering the benefits of large-scale infrastructure projects has been a bit too dispersed with BEIS and DEFRA, so one of the challenges is how we brigade to focus on private capital. How we work with that private capital is critical but so too is pricing mechanisms. We need to listen carefully about what the ask is from private capital to government and the reaction to delivering economic growth from private capital.'

Stephen has more than 35 years of experience in social and economic infrastructure projects. Before joining the public sector in 2010 he was a Director of international property advisers DTZ specialising in complex development transactions in the fields of infrastructure privatisation, urban regeneration and Public Private Partnerships. He joined Partnerships UK in 2004, where he headed the major projects team and delivered the innovative MoDEL project for the MoD, structured the delivery agreements for Crossrail and chaired the Compliance and Oversight Group to assure the venues and infrastructure procurements for the London 2012 Olympics.

In 2010 Stephen joined Infrastructure UK (a unit of HM Treasury) as Head of Infrastructure Delivery. He was actively engaged in development of the UK’s first National Infrastructure Plan and delivery of key projects including Thames Tideway Tunnel, The Northern Line Extension to Battersea Power Station, Mersey Gateway Bridge, Hinkley Point C and HS2.

In his current role Stephen leads a team of Commercial Advisers. The Commercial Adviser Team includes people with deep professional knowledge and experience in specialist fields. They provide expert advice to HM Treasury, Cabinet Office and government Departments to improve the performance of project delivery in Infrastructure, Enterprise & Growth and Public & Security Services.

Current IPA responsibilities include leadership of the Transforming Infrastructure Delivery programme, advice to the Palace of Westminster restoration and renewal project, Oxford - Cambridge corridor development, Building Safety programme, HS2 stations development and construction industry reform.

Future Cities Forum will be asking Stephen how the IPA in the current economic climate will be helping to ensure that infrastructure and transport is supporting the growth of world class innovation clusters across the UK.