Spotlight on a policy manager… Building a vision for our national freight network

As Head of Cities and Infrastructure Policy, I am responsible for all policy activity that relates to the physical environment that members operate in – anything from road and rail to warehousing, and associated planning and urban policy.

It’s quite a new role to Logistics UK, and my aspiration is for Logistics UK to be seen as the leading voice on transport infrastructure issues in the UK. We’ve done some great work and I want to build on that and make our voice louder.

My main priority is to build our vision for what a national freight network will look like and how to get there. We’re early in the journey and the onus is now on the logistics industry to set out what the vision is, and what we want and need to get there.

I am putting the call out to members to build a picture of what the main strategic routes used by the sector are, the barriers and the pinch points in the system. We can then work with key stakeholders across government and organisations responsible for improvements to make change and secure investment.

The Transport Committee has been reviewing road investment and this is a springboard for us to start engaging with members at Freight Councils around existing infrastructure schemes and if these have yielded the benefits they should have. As well as Freight Councils, we will be looking to engage with members through online and other events, and talking to local decision makers. I am keen to work with leaders in businesses and those who manage the strategic plan that delivers growth and success. Look out for opportunities to provide your feedback over the coming months.

The other part of my role is to engage with decision makers across organisations to determine who has responsibility for the different aspects of infrastructure improvements. Once we’ve built a picture from members and across various groups, the next stage is to effectively join up local, regional and member priorities. All the feedback will inform Logistics UK’s policy position and be used as the basis to influence government’s strategies as they are developed.

I’m keen to build a vision that is attention grabbing – a high level, clear statement on what the UK industry wants from the system, supported by what businesses want in each region.

My ask of members is to be open and proactive with us in sharing their views and frustrations with the infrastructure in which they operate. We need to build the whole picture – and that means giving us your local as well as national view. I am based in the north east of England and I have spent the vast majority of my career working in regional policy, so one thing I’m keen to focus on is bringing local voices to the forefront – I understand the regional investment frustrations.

To get involved in infrastructure planning, I encourage members to join one of the existing working groups, such as the environment, warehousing, van policy or innovation working group. These are the main groups that discuss infrastructure issues. It’s a topic that spans everything we do, so these working groups all have a key role to play.

As well as infrastructure challenges, I am keen to get more feedback from members on planning and planning issues. Typically, this an area where we receive less engagement, yet it is essential to support the industry. I encourage business leaders and colleagues working on planning to take the opportunities through working groups, events and surveys to feed in their thoughts on what they need from planning policy.

*www.logistics.org.uk/campaigns/better-infrastructure

Published On: 23/03/2023 16:00:46

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