Commissioning an Infrastructure Delivery Plan: A practical guide to writing the brief

1. About this guidance note

This guidance note sets outs advice for councils who are commissioning an IDP to support the development of a Local Plan and / or the development or review of a Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) charging schedule.

The guidance note reflects, but does not repeat, the requirements of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), the Government’s Planning Policy Guidance (PPG) and the Community Infrastructure Levy Regulations 2010 (as amended), which you will need to consider and address in any commissioning brief.

This advice note provides guidance on the matters that you should consider when drafting a commissioning brief for an IDP, both in its purpose to support your Local Plan or CIL Charging Schedule, as well as its wider role in informing infrastructure planning, decision-making and delivery.

Procurement requirements will vary from council to council, as will the templates for producing a commissioning brief as part of an Invitation to tender (ITT). Matters for consideration as part of the IDP will also vary depending on if you are a unitary, district or borough council, the intended role and purpose of your IDP, the timetable of your Local Plan or CIL, and the relevant stakeholders and infrastructure challenges in your area. It is therefore not possible to produce a ‘model’ commissioning brief for all councils, however this guidance note should cover issues that will be relevant to most councils, and it identifies where local information should be provided.

Section 2 of this guidance note sets out a summary of the key matters that should be considered in a commissioning brief, whilst section 3 provides more details on these in the form of a checklist schedule. The matters may need to be considered in a different order or arrangement to fit with your procurement terms and templates, but hopefully by setting the information out in a schedule it should help you to ensure that all relevant matters are considered and that you develop a clear and robust brief that enables you to get the best available services and outputs from the commission.

2. Matters for consideration in your commissioning brief.

Internal Project Management arrangements

You should start by considering the internal project management arrangements for procuring and delivering an IDP.

Once a decision has been made to commission an IDP, a dedicated project manager should be identified to lead the procurement process as well as manage the commission itself. The project manager should have sufficient capacity to undertake these tasks as part of their overall work programme, and be clear on how decisions regarding procurement and commissioning are made as well as the governance of the commission itself.

The project manager should ideally understand Local Plans and developer contributions, with the ability to liaise with other relevant teams within the council and, if possible, with key external stakeholder organisations.

A project sponsor at senior management level can help secure support and buy-in from other parts of your council, which is often key to its success.

The Project Manager should have the ‘agency’ to steer the project on a day-to-day basis with an agreed governance framework in place for key decisions, approvals or milestones during the programme, to involve the project sponsor when required, as well as for any interdependencies (for example to other evidence base studies and the Local Plan).

Procurement and Evaluation

At the start of the commissioning process you should seek advice from your procurement team as to the suitable method for commissioning the work, which is likely to be dependent on the procurement requirements of your council and may relate to the budget of the work or the services sought. This advice should cover the governance or decision process for evaluation and appointment.

You may wish to ask if there are any procurement frameworks that your council is part of. These may include pre-approved suppliers for planning or related services and make the procurement process more efficient.

It is for you to determine the detail of the evaluation framework in association with your council’s procurement requirements. To help with this you might want to take account of the following matters that you can evaluate the assessors’ response to the brief against. It is important that these are made clear in the brief so that potential suppliers understand the matters that they will be assessed against:

The capacity and resources to deliver the commission, taking account the programme for the delivery of the work;
Experience, including detailing relevant case studies, of undertaking similar work
Planning and delivery of the work to meet all of the project specifications
Approach to the methodology of undertaking the work taking account of the requirements of the brief
How the use of data and digitisation will inform engagement and production of outputs
Identification of any challenges and how they might be mitigated.

As part of your procurement strategy, you may be required to consider the weighting assigned to the quality of the proposal against its price. Consider the budget available and how this can be balanced with the need to ensure quality is sufficiently weighted.

Key elements of a Commissioning Brief

The key things you need to ensure that you set out in your commissioning brief includes:

A: Project Management and Governance

Supplier-side Project Management arrangements
Managing scope changes
Budget Setting and pricing

B: Background information

Local and Regional Context
Background information to be made available to the supplier
National Planning Policy and Guidance and the CIL Regulations

C: Specification

Role & Purpose of the IDP
Services sought under the contract
Methodology
Outputs
Scope
Programme, key milestones and dependencies
Geographical scope and cross-boundary matters
Support for Examination
Stakeholder Engagement
Format of Outputs

3. Checklist of detailed requirements for a commissioning brief

Commissioning Brief Section	Detailed Requirement for inclusion in the commissioning brief
A. Project Management and Governance
A1. Your Project Management arrangements.	Once a decision has been made to commission an IDP, a dedicated project manager should be identified to lead the procurement process as well as manage the commission itself. The project manager should have sufficient capacity to undertake these tasks as part of their overall work programme, and be clear on how decisions regarding procurement and commissioning are made as well as the governance of the commission itself. The project manager should ideally understand Local Plans and developer contributions, with the ability to liaise with other relevant teams within the council and, if possible, with key external stakeholder organisations. A project sponsor at senior management level can help secure support and buy-in from other parts of your council, which is often key to its success. The Project Manager should have the ‘agency’ to steer the project on a day-to-day basis with an agreed governance framework in place for key decisions, approvals or milestones during the programme, to involve the project sponsor when required, as well as for any interdependencies (for example to other evidence base studies and the Local Plan).
A2. Supplier-side Project Management arrangements	Includes in your brief a requirement for potential suppliers to set out how they will manage the project . This could include progress reporting, meetings with you as the client, and their quality control mechanisms within which the project sits. If you have minimum expectations for the frequency of meetings and the level of reporting, set these out. This will allow potential suppliers to price their proposal accordingly. The frequency of these meetings will be dependent on your circumstances and the timetable associated with the commission. These should be monthly at minimum but may need to be more frequent at certain stages in the project. You could also provide ?? what level of client-side support can be expected with setting up meetings with the client team . Whilst any administrative support may not be available, a point of contact who can access officer calendars will be helpful.
A3. Managing scope changes	Managing the scope of the IDP is an important part of the client project manager’s role and it is critical that the potential for changes is minimised. IDPs are often interdependent on significant programmes such as Local Plans and CIL Charging Schedules, each with their own programme risks. Changes to the programme, scope or stakeholder engagement requirements that increase or change over time, and in an unmanaged and unbudgeted way, can cause confusion and misunderstanding for both the council and supplier. It is therefore important that the brief explains how changes to the scope will be managed. This might include setting out a process to: Monitor the scope and project development; Determine the cause of the change and determining the magnitude of relevance; and Provide a governance process for both parties that documents, approves and communicates any changes and which takes account of any budgetary implications.
A4. Budget Setting and pricing	The brief should set out a clear approach as to how the supplier should outline their fee proposal. The exact form of this will be dependent upon your procurement requirements, but you should identify an overall maximum budget for the work. Within this budget the brief should require the supplier to provide a broken down cost plan that cross references with the project specification and stages of the programme. The cost plan must clearly show how each stage of the project will be resourced and priced. The number of days or hours allocated to each task should be realistic. The hourly / daily rates for all team members proposed to work on the project on behalf of the supplier could be requested. The brief should require all fees to be exclusive of VAT, and all other costs and expenses should be specified in line with your authorities’ terms of procurement.
B. Background Information
B1. National Planning Policy and Guidance and the CIL Regulations	The brief should direct the potential suppliers to the relevant parts of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), Planning Policy Guidance (PPG) and the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Regulations 2010 (as amended). The brief should not repeat large sections of these documents as it would be superfluous and could lead to confusion if not all matters were included. PPG is also subject to change and it is important that the potential suppliers are responsible for keeping up to date with any changes and reflecting them in their work. The brief should require potential suppliers to describe their proposed methodology for preparing an IDP in light of these requirements.
B2. Local and Regional Context	In the background information section of a commissioning brief, it is helpful to provide contextual information about the study area, your council, and other information relevant to the commission. In the case of an IDP this could include details and timescales of the current and emerging Local Plan (and / or CIL Charging Schedule if relevant), other key Local Plan information such as additional documents of evidence being prepared, and any available information about the growth context and spatial strategy the IDP is intended to respond to. You may also wish to include any specific information you are aware of in relation to current infrastructure challenges which need addressing.
B3. Background information to be made available to the supplier.	It will be helpful to identify what information will be provided to the supplier during the inception / mobilisation stage, and what further information will be available at key stages of the programme. The list below is not exhaustive, but this information could include: At the start of the commission: GIS mapping including base-mapping of the area, and relevant layers that may be useful (for example from the Local Plan) Housing and population data and projections to inform any needs assessments The overall growth parameters or a summary of the spatial strategy or growth options that can be shared with stakeholders (which may include housing targets, employment land, economic / jobs growth & site information) Relevant Local Plan documents or evidence Other council or infrastructure provider plans or strategies A list of contacts for stakeholder engagement. If you are expecting the supplier to use housing or population projections as part of the study, it is important to ensure consistent data is used (or ensure appropriate mitigations or caveats are provided in the IDP), as other service providers may be using different data. At the start of the commission, it may be helpful to agree the list of information that chosen supplier requires is set out in a ‘Request for Information’ which you could request as part of the project inception stage. At later stages in the study, as further detail emerges from your Local Plan process, it may be helpful to share further information on site allocations, growth areas, and any associated GIS, housing and population data. It may also be helpful to provide the full list of Local Plan evidence base documents you have, or will be producing, and when they are likely to be available; as well as plans or strategies for each infrastructure type you envisage as informing the IDP.
C. Specification
C1. Role and Purpose	A ‘role and purpose’ section of your commissioning brief can provide information regarding the specific role or roles the IDP will play, for example in relation to being evidence to support the Local Plan, as well as its potential wider role in relation to a CIL Charging Schedule or supporting your CIL spending strategy or governance processes. This can helpfully contextualise the specific role of an IDP as a being about meeting the needs of development, not remedying existing issues, normally within the context of a local plan and / or to inform approaches to developer contributions. If the IDP is also intended to provide an input into the whole Local Plan Viability Assessment, you should make this clear. If so, the IDP will need to identify costs (and timing of costs) as robustly as possible, with suitable caveats or conditions against these where necessary.
C2. Services sought under the contract.	Having set out the background on why the work is being commissioned and how it will be used, the brief should set out a summary of the objectives of the commission, what services are being sought, or the outputs you require. To ensure the IDP is sufficiently robust to support Local Plan adoption, it will need to be informed by relevant evidence and data, as well as a comprehensive programme of engagement with key stakeholders. To effectively support you CIL governance processes, you could state that the IDP will require to remain a ‘live’ document and be accessible, shareable and communicable with other stakeholders. To support this, the output will need to be provided in a format that can easily be updated.
C3. Methodology	A section of your brief covering methodology can be used to provide an outline of the different stages the IDP is expected to cover, aligned with the Local Plan if relevant. This could include: A Stage 1 IDP: to include a baseline assessment of existing infrastructure provision, and any current issues or constraints in terms of the demand for or supply of infrastructure, which could inform or be part of consultation on a Local Plan Regulations, Regulation 18 version of the Local Plan or consultation on the vision and strategy. A Stage 2 IDP: this would be the full IDP report / strategy and infrastructure project schedule relating to the preferred option for growth, which will be used as part of the Local Plan Regulations, Regulation 19 Consultation or Draft Plan under the Levelling up and Regeneration Act system of plan making, and through to Examination and adoption of the Local Plan. An analysis of the current position (including existing provision and capacity) A summary of the key risks, challenges and opportunities for each infrastructure category in relation to the delivery of the Plan Prioritisation of infrastructure projects or types linked to the delivery of the Local Plan Details of current planned projects required to meet demand arising from the Local Plan, and any additional projects or provision needed to meet demand. Funding sources. If you require the IDP to include scenario testing on different options on an emerging spatial strategy, or specific sites, you should specify this along with the number of options or sites that should be tested. The brief should specify what the IDP at each stage is expected to include; for example, it could specify that the Stage 2 IDP should set out the local, regional, and national policy context, the methodology used for the IDP, and that the report should provide relevant analysis of each infrastructure category setting out the necessary infrastructure required to support the Local Plan. It can be useful to specify what analysis is required to be included in an assessment of infrastructure need, for example: If more detail is required on the infrastructure required for a strategic site (or sites) this should be specified, along with the level of detail required (e.g. costs or space requirements). You may wish to make it clear that infrastructure providers will be expected to undertake needs assessments or capacity calculations, using data, evidence and stakeholder engagement undertaken and provided as part of the IDP process. You may wish to also state in the brief whether you expect cost information to be provided by infrastructure providers, or where this is not available, that the supplier should provide cost estimates (and so will need to include the appropriate expertise as part of the team). It may be helpful to state that it is recognised that cost information may only be able to be provided for planned projects, with indictive cost ranges on projects at feasibility or aspiration stage. The IDP should therefore make it clear that cost information is indicative where applicable and subject to change. IDPs can be structured in different ways, for example thematically (by infrastructure category, to make it easier for infrastructure providers to see information relevant to them), or spatially (for example by settlement area, or groups of wards, which may be more suitable for those engaging with your ISP alongside the Local Plan). You want to define this in your brief and ask potential suppliers to consider and outline the most appropriate structure. The IDP should include a schedule of planned / proposed infrastructure projects necessary to support the development of the area. The brief could specify what at a minimum this should include, for example: The infrastructure projects necessary to support the objectives of the Local Plan policies and proposals Relevant delivery partners and stakeholders Timeframes for delivery Known and projected costs Possible funding sources, amount of available funding, and any funding gaps; and Prioritisation of infrastructure projects in relation to the delivery of the Plan and its policies. Given the inherent uncertainty and changing nature of infrastructure delivery, particularly in the latter stages of the plan period, you could ask potential suppliers to set out infrastructure into different time periods, with varying degrees of detail and uncertainty appropriate to each. More certainty should be sought regarding projects to be delivered in the first 5 years of the Plan.
C4. Outputs	You may wish to specify what specific outputs you require from each stage, and the key elements of each. This may include: Inception Stage: A Project Initiation Document. this should provide further detail to that provided in the tender: Request for Information (you may ask for initial requests to be set out in responses to your Brief), Project Plan, Engagement Plan Project Management arrangements. Stage 1 Report: Baseline audit of existing and planned provision, including maps showing the location of infrastructure, and any contextual information on current known issues regarding the demand for or provision of infrastructure by category. A high-level assessment of growth scenarios or options by infrastructure category, considering the relationship between infrastructure requirement and each growth scenario. Stage 2 Report A report and accompanying schedule for the preferred option for growth, setting out the infrastructure necessary to support the spatial option proposed based on an assessment of need, in accordance with national planning policy requirements. This would also include a description of the methodology and process use to produce the IDP (including an audit of the engagement process). A detailed schedule setting out future infrastructure requirements for each infrastructure type.
C5. Scope	You should define the infrastructure categories and specific types of infrastructure in the brief the brief is expected to cover. Our guidance on navigating infrastructure planning identifies the types and sub-types of infrastructure you may want to consider.
C6. Programme, key milestones and dependencies	It will be useful to provide with as much certainty as you can information regarding the programme and key milestones that the project should align to, specifically your Local Plan timetable and any key dependencies on other decisions or sources of evidence. The requirement for outputs within short and unrealistic timeframes should be avoided (especially where engagement with a range of stakeholders is required, which can take time to agree, organise and undertake and can be subject to the timeframes of other organisations). Where there is uncertainty, this should be highlighted and estimated timelines provided where possible. You could ask that potential suppliers suggest an alternative programme if they do not consider the one provided in the brief to be realistic. As far as possible the programme should also include what is required of the suppliers in relation to number and frequency of meetings with the Project Manager and team, plus details of other meetings that may be required.
C7. Geographical scope and cross-boundary matters	In your brief you should ensure potential suppliers state how they will address the Duty to Co-operate requirements or define how you expect them to if you already have processes in place, to enable the preparation of a sound and effective IDP (and therefore Local Plan). THis might include how many other Local Authorities you will require to be consulted. If relevant, the effect of larger scale planned growth and infrastructure projects (including NSIPs) that may cross local authority boundaries will also need to be considered.
C8. Support for Examination	You may require the chosen supplier to provide support during the Independent Examination, for example to draft responses to the Planning Inspectors queries or appear at Examination Hearings. As the scale and scope of this element of the brief cannot realistically be specified at this stage, it may be more appropriate to request that the price for this will be separate to the cost for the IDP, and that potential suppliers are asked to provide day rates of suitable qualified members of the team who will provide this service.
C9. Stakeholder Engagement	The brief should ask that potential suppliers set out their approach to stakeholder engagement as part of their response – i.e. to provide an outline of a stakeholder engagement plan for the IDP. This could cover the number of ‘rounds’ of engagement, and how engagement will be undertaken. You may wish to specify how many meetings or workshops you will require, in order to allow potential suppliers to price these accordingly, but you may wish to allow scope for developers to define these. At least one round of engagement should be included during a Stage 1 of an IDP, and during this stage you should look for potential suppliers to focus on identifying issues to inform qualitative and quantitative analysis regarding current infrastructure supply, and existing deficiencies or capacities, and potentially scenario testing these against spatial strategy options. During the Stage 2, it would be expected that stakeholders will be able to provide details on the projects required to support growth in the Local Plan, albeit on the understanding less certainty is possible in the later stages of the Plan period.
C10. Format of Outputs	Specify any requirements regarding the format in which outputs are provided. For example, there may be a requirement for an output of the IDP which will be published as part of the evidence base for the Local Plan for which a ‘static’ format such as a PDF will be suitable, but a different format may be required to support its wider role to support your CIL governance process and spending strategy. You could therefore request in the brief that the IDP is also be produced and delivered in content and format that will enable to it to be kept up to date and be readily accessible, communicable and shareable with internal and external stakeholders. At a minimum, potential suppliers should take into account any published national standards. In addition to these, you could further guidelines regarding the use of data, such as: Data collected in the IDP project schedule should follow standardised formats such that it is consistent across different projects All data should be collected in a format which is machine readable. The chosen supplier should engage with any data team in your Council to ensure that data is stored in adherence to the council’s requirements,

Commissioning Brief Section

Detailed Requirement for inclusion in the commissioning brief

A. Project Management and Governance

A1. Your Project Management arrangements.

A project sponsor at senior management level can help secure support and buy-in from other parts of your council, which is often key to its success.

A2. Supplier-side Project Management arrangements

Includes in your brief a requirement for potential suppliers to set out how they will manage the project . This could include progress reporting, meetings with you as the client, and their quality control mechanisms within which the project sits.

If you have minimum expectations for the frequency of meetings and the level of reporting, set these out. This will allow potential suppliers to price their proposal accordingly. The frequency of these meetings will be dependent on your circumstances and the timetable associated with the commission. These should be monthly at minimum but may need to be more frequent at certain stages in the project.

You could also provide ?? what level of client-side support can be expected with setting up meetings with the client team . Whilst any administrative support may not be available, a point of contact who can access officer calendars will be helpful.

A3. Managing scope changes

Managing the scope of the IDP is an important part of the client project manager’s role and it is critical that the potential for changes is minimised. IDPs are often interdependent on significant programmes such as Local Plans and CIL Charging Schedules, each with their own programme risks.

Changes to the programme, scope or stakeholder engagement requirements that increase or change over time, and in an unmanaged and unbudgeted way, can cause confusion and misunderstanding for both the council and supplier. It is therefore important that the brief explains how changes to the scope will be managed. This might include setting out a process to:

Monitor the scope and project development;
Determine the cause of the change and determining the magnitude of relevance; and
Provide a governance process for both parties that documents, approves and communicates any changes and which takes account of any budgetary implications.

A4. Budget Setting and pricing

The brief should set out a clear approach as to how the supplier should outline their fee proposal. The exact form of this will be dependent upon your procurement requirements, but you should identify an overall maximum budget for the work. Within this budget the brief should require the supplier to provide a broken down cost plan that cross references with the project specification and stages of the programme.

The cost plan must clearly show how each stage of the project will be resourced and priced. The number of days or hours allocated to each task should be realistic. The hourly / daily rates for all team members proposed to work on the project on behalf of the supplier could be requested.

The brief should require all fees to be exclusive of VAT, and all other costs and expenses should be specified in line with your authorities’ terms of procurement.

B. Background Information

B1. National Planning Policy and Guidance and the CIL Regulations

The brief should direct the potential suppliers to the relevant parts of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF), Planning Policy Guidance (PPG) and the Community Infrastructure Levy (CIL) Regulations 2010 (as amended).

The brief should not repeat large sections of these documents as it would be superfluous and could lead to confusion if not all matters were included. PPG is also subject to change and it is important that the potential suppliers are responsible for keeping up to date with any changes and reflecting them in their work.

The brief should require potential suppliers to describe their proposed methodology for preparing an IDP in light of these requirements.

B2. Local and Regional Context

In the background information section of a commissioning brief, it is helpful to provide contextual information about the study area, your council, and other information relevant to the commission.

In the case of an IDP this could include details and timescales of the current and emerging Local Plan (and / or CIL Charging Schedule if relevant), other key Local Plan information such as additional documents of evidence being prepared, and any available information about the growth context and spatial strategy the IDP is intended to respond to.

You may also wish to include any specific information you are aware of in relation to current infrastructure challenges which need addressing.

B3. Background information to be made available to the supplier.

It will be helpful to identify what information will be provided to the supplier during the inception / mobilisation stage, and what further information will be available at key stages of the programme. The list below is not exhaustive, but this information could include:

At the start of the commission:

GIS mapping including base-mapping of the area, and relevant layers that may be useful (for example from the Local Plan)
Housing and population data and projections to inform any needs assessments
The overall growth parameters or a summary of the spatial strategy or growth options that can be shared with stakeholders (which may include housing targets, employment land, economic / jobs growth & site information)
Relevant Local Plan documents or evidence
Other council or infrastructure provider plans or strategies
A list of contacts for stakeholder engagement.

If you are expecting the supplier to use housing or population projections as part of the study, it is important to ensure consistent data is used (or ensure appropriate mitigations or caveats are provided in the IDP), as other service providers may be using different data.

At the start of the commission, it may be helpful to agree the list of information that chosen supplier requires is set out in a ‘Request for Information’ which you could request as part of the project inception stage.

At later stages in the study, as further detail emerges from your Local Plan process, it may be helpful to share further information on site allocations, growth areas, and any associated GIS, housing and population data.

It may also be helpful to provide the full list of Local Plan evidence base documents you have, or will be producing, and when they are likely to be available; as well as plans or strategies for each infrastructure type you envisage as informing the IDP.

C. Specification

C1. Role and Purpose

A ‘role and purpose’ section of your commissioning brief can provide information regarding the specific role or roles the IDP will play, for example in relation to being evidence to support the Local Plan, as well as its potential wider role in relation to a CIL Charging Schedule or supporting your CIL spending strategy or governance processes.

This can helpfully contextualise the specific role of an IDP as a being about meeting the needs of development, not remedying existing issues, normally within the context of a local plan and / or to inform approaches to developer contributions.

If the IDP is also intended to provide an input into the whole Local Plan Viability Assessment, you should make this clear. If so, the IDP will need to identify costs (and timing of costs) as robustly as possible, with suitable caveats or conditions against these where necessary.

C2. Services sought under the contract.

Having set out the background on why the work is being commissioned and how it will be used, the brief should set out a summary of the objectives of the commission, what services are being sought, or the outputs you require. To ensure the IDP is sufficiently robust to support Local Plan adoption, it will need to be informed by relevant evidence and data, as well as a comprehensive programme of engagement with key stakeholders.

To effectively support you CIL governance processes, you could state that the IDP will require to remain a ‘live’ document and be accessible, shareable and communicable with other stakeholders. To support this, the output will need to be provided in a format that can easily be updated.

C3. Methodology

A section of your brief covering methodology can be used to provide an outline of the different stages the IDP is expected to cover, aligned with the Local Plan if relevant. This could include:

A Stage 1 IDP: to include a baseline assessment of existing infrastructure provision, and any current issues or constraints in terms of the demand for or supply of infrastructure, which could inform or be part of consultation on a Local Plan Regulations, Regulation 18 version of the Local Plan or consultation on the vision and strategy.
A Stage 2 IDP: this would be the full IDP report / strategy and infrastructure project schedule relating to the preferred option for growth, which will be used as part of the Local Plan Regulations, Regulation 19 Consultation or Draft Plan under the Levelling up and Regeneration Act system of plan making, and through to Examination and adoption of the Local Plan.
An analysis of the current position (including existing provision and capacity)
A summary of the key risks, challenges and opportunities for each infrastructure category in relation to the delivery of the Plan
Prioritisation of infrastructure projects or types linked to the delivery of the Local Plan
Details of current planned projects required to meet demand arising from the Local Plan, and any additional projects or provision needed to meet demand.
Funding sources.

If you require the IDP to include scenario testing on different options on an emerging spatial strategy, or specific sites, you should specify this along with the number of options or sites that should be tested.

The brief should specify what the IDP at each stage is expected to include; for example, it could specify that the Stage 2 IDP should set out the local, regional, and national policy context, the methodology used for the IDP, and that the report should provide relevant analysis of each infrastructure category setting out the necessary infrastructure required to support the Local Plan.

It can be useful to specify what analysis is required to be included in an assessment of infrastructure need, for example:

If more detail is required on the infrastructure required for a strategic site (or sites) this should be specified, along with the level of detail required (e.g. costs or space requirements).

You may wish to make it clear that infrastructure providers will be expected to undertake needs assessments or capacity calculations, using data, evidence and stakeholder engagement undertaken and provided as part of the IDP process.

You may wish to also state in the brief whether you expect cost information to be provided by infrastructure providers, or where this is not available, that the supplier should provide cost estimates (and so will need to include the appropriate expertise as part of the team). It may be helpful to state that it is recognised that cost information may only be able to be provided for planned projects, with indictive cost ranges on projects at feasibility or aspiration stage. The IDP should therefore make it clear that cost information is indicative where applicable and subject to change.

IDPs can be structured in different ways, for example thematically (by infrastructure category, to make it easier for infrastructure providers to see information relevant to them), or spatially (for example by settlement area, or groups of wards, which may be more suitable for those engaging with your ISP alongside the Local Plan). You want to define this in your brief and ask potential suppliers to consider and outline the most appropriate structure.

The IDP should include a schedule of planned / proposed infrastructure projects necessary to support the development of the area. The brief could specify what at a minimum this should include, for example:

The infrastructure projects necessary to support the objectives of the Local Plan policies and proposals
Relevant delivery partners and stakeholders
Timeframes for delivery
Known and projected costs
Possible funding sources, amount of available funding, and any funding gaps; and
Prioritisation of infrastructure projects in relation to the delivery of the Plan and its policies.

Given the inherent uncertainty and changing nature of infrastructure delivery, particularly in the latter stages of the plan period, you could ask potential suppliers to set out infrastructure into different time periods, with varying degrees of detail and uncertainty appropriate to each. More certainty should be sought regarding projects to be delivered in the first 5 years of the Plan.

C4. Outputs

You may wish to specify what specific outputs you require from each stage, and the key elements of each. This may include:

Inception Stage:

A Project Initiation Document. this should provide further detail to that provided in the tender:
- Request for Information (you may ask for initial requests to be set out in responses to your Brief),
- Project Plan,
- Engagement Plan
- Project Management arrangements.

Stage 1 Report:

Baseline audit of existing and planned provision, including maps showing the location of infrastructure, and any contextual information on current known issues regarding the demand for or provision of infrastructure by category.
A high-level assessment of growth scenarios or options by infrastructure category, considering the relationship between infrastructure requirement and each growth scenario.

Stage 2 Report

A report and accompanying schedule for the preferred option for growth, setting out the infrastructure necessary to support the spatial option proposed based on an assessment of need, in accordance with national planning policy requirements. This would also include a description of the methodology and process use to produce the IDP (including an audit of the engagement process).
A detailed schedule setting out future infrastructure requirements for each infrastructure type.

C5. Scope

You should define the infrastructure categories and specific types of infrastructure in the brief the brief is expected to cover.

Our guidance on navigating infrastructure planning identifies the types and sub-types of infrastructure you may want to consider.

C6. Programme, key milestones and dependencies

It will be useful to provide with as much certainty as you can information regarding the programme and key milestones that the project should align to, specifically your Local Plan timetable and any key dependencies on other decisions or sources of evidence.

The requirement for outputs within short and unrealistic timeframes should be avoided (especially where engagement with a range of stakeholders is required, which can take time to agree, organise and undertake and can be subject to the timeframes of other organisations). Where there is uncertainty, this should be highlighted and estimated timelines provided where possible. You could ask that potential suppliers suggest an alternative programme if they do not consider the one provided in the brief to be realistic.

As far as possible the programme should also include what is required of the suppliers in relation to number and frequency of meetings with the Project Manager and team, plus details of other meetings that may be required.

C7. Geographical scope and cross-boundary matters

In your brief you should ensure potential suppliers state how they will address the Duty to Co-operate requirements or define how you expect them to if you already have processes in place, to enable the preparation of a sound and effective IDP (and therefore Local Plan). THis might include how many other Local Authorities you will require to be consulted. If relevant, the effect of larger scale planned growth and infrastructure projects (including NSIPs) that may cross local authority boundaries will also need to be considered.

C8. Support for Examination

You may require the chosen supplier to provide support during the Independent Examination, for example to draft responses to the Planning Inspectors queries or appear at Examination Hearings.

As the scale and scope of this element of the brief cannot realistically be specified at this stage, it may be more appropriate to request that the price for this will be separate to the cost for the IDP, and that potential suppliers are asked to provide day rates of suitable qualified members of the team who will provide this service.

C9. Stakeholder Engagement

The brief should ask that potential suppliers set out their approach to stakeholder engagement as part of their response – i.e. to provide an outline of a stakeholder engagement plan for the IDP. This could cover the number of ‘rounds’ of engagement, and how engagement will be undertaken.

You may wish to specify how many meetings or workshops you will require, in order to allow potential suppliers to price these accordingly, but you may wish to allow scope for developers to define these.

At least one round of engagement should be included during a Stage 1 of an IDP, and during this stage you should look for potential suppliers to focus on identifying issues to inform qualitative and quantitative analysis regarding current infrastructure supply, and existing deficiencies or capacities, and potentially scenario testing these against spatial strategy options.

During the Stage 2, it would be expected that stakeholders will be able to provide details on the projects required to support growth in the Local Plan, albeit on the understanding less certainty is possible in the later stages of the Plan period.

C10. Format of Outputs

Specify any requirements regarding the format in which outputs are provided. For example, there may be a requirement for an output of the IDP which will be published as part of the evidence base for the Local Plan for which a ‘static’ format such as a PDF will be suitable, but a different format may be required to support its wider role to support your CIL governance process and spending strategy.

You could therefore request in the brief that the IDP is also be produced and delivered in content and format that will enable to it to be kept up to date and be readily accessible, communicable and shareable with internal and external stakeholders.

At a minimum, potential suppliers should take into account any published national standards. In addition to these, you could further guidelines regarding the use of data, such as:

Data collected in the IDP project schedule should follow standardised formats such that it is consistent across different projects
All data should be collected in a format which is machine readable.
The chosen supplier should engage with any data team in your Council to ensure that data is stored in adherence to the council’s requirements,