Phil Graham
A Day in the Life of our CEO
Our Chief Executive, Phil Graham, leaves the Commission in January 2020 after four years in the role. Phil led the establishment of the Commission and the landmark publication of the UK’s first National Infrastructure Assessment in 2018. Here, he sets out what his typical working day involves. 07.30 Three days a week my day begins...
Learning lessons from the first National Infrastructure Assessment
Publishing the first National Infrastructure Assessment was a major milestone for the National Infrastructure Commission. It was significant for us as the first of the assessments that we are required to publish every five years reviewing long term infrastructure needs. It was also the first assessment of its kind in the UK. This lack of precedent...
Looking beyond the ‘usual suspects’ to hear diverse views on infrastructure
“Pale, male and stale” is a phrase attached to many industries – but few more so than those in the infrastructure sector. The challenge for leaders in the field is clearly to encourage people from more diverse backgrounds to join these professions, but also to ensure these voices are heard far more frequently. To that...
Three years on: A new chapter for the National Infrastructure Commission
Like the Queen, the National Infrastructure Commission has two birthdays. The first is 5 October, the day on which George Osborne announced at the 2015 Conservative Party Conference that he was going to follow Sir John Armitt’s advice and set the Commission up (commandeering a key plank of Labour’s economic policy in the process). But...
The National Infrastructure Assessment – putting people at the heart of infrastructure policy
Today’s National Infrastructure Assessment marks the culmination of the first phase of the National Infrastructure Commission’s work – a phase that began in October 2015, when the establishment of the Commission was announced. At that point, its complete resources comprised Lord Adonis, me and two Treasury staff loaned to us for a few weeks to...
Making good decisions on infrastructure
Recently the Institute for Government published the final report of its year-long programme of work into infrastructure planning and policy, How to transform infrastructure decision making in the UK. It’s only 25 pages long (something the NIC could definitely learn from!) and worth a read, as are the IfG’s five previous reports on infrastructure, though...
Reflecting on two years of the National Infrastructure Commission
Two years ago today the creation of the National Infrastructure Commission was announced. As we prepare for the launch of our interim National Infrastructure Assessment – the country’s first – it’s important to remember how much we’ve achieved in just two years. Our first report on Smart Power focused on the potential of more flexible...
Cambridge Conference: how data can help determine our future infrastructure needs
As the NIC prepares the country’s first-ever National Infrastructure Assessment, data will play a central role. But data is not only crucial in enabling us to predict our future needs; it is also playing an increasingly central role in how we manage and maintain our infrastructure systems to get the best out of them, and...
Notes from the Big Apple, and lessons for London as a world city
Earlier this month, as part of a broader fact-finding trip to the east coast of the United States, Lord Adonis and I had the pleasure of meeting the President and members of the board of New York’s Regional Plan Association, to hear how their work is informing and challenging the city’s approach to the infrastructure...