Paul Frainer

Government advisor, consultant and thought leader specialising in place, infrastructure and investment, planning reform (including digital), local government reorganisation and devolution.

Proven track record in private sector consulting across central and local government, driving agile delivery, overseeing major organisational change programmes, complex project management and up-skilling, coaching and mentoring.

Qualified strategic planner and economic development professional, adept at spatial planning, strategic visioning, partnership management, networking, and investment strategy.

Current projects:

• The Good Economy - Local Government Pension Scheme White Paper (Mar - Aug 25). Lead on drating sections on institutional investment into local government and critical dependencies relating to devolution and LGR in relation to economic growth and place based impact investing
• Prior and Partners - Essex County Council (Feb 25 - Ongoing) Spatial Development Strategy (SDS) Routemap including interdependencies with local Growth Plan (LGP), Devolution Priority Programme (DPP) and Local Government Reorganisation (LGR). Programme design and critical dependency mapping including twin tracking evidence bases for LGP/SDS and DPP business case. Advisory on government funding and development of geospatial data platform and digitisation.
• Local Government Association Planning Advisory Service (PAS) Mar 25 - Ongoing) Planning committee reform, advisory work on new changes to planning committees from the Place and Infrastructure Bill and capturing value from committees to design new structures and national delegation
• Independent Advisor (Oct 2024 - Ongoing) - Member of the Strategic Planning Advisory Group hosted by Prior and Partners, helping Government shape a new era of spatial development strategies and and aligning with implementation of the devolution white paper. Supporting priority programme authorities as they begin to prepare devolution proposals for autumn 2025 and helping address complex interconnected dependencies with emerging Local Growth Plans (LGPs).

Advising on digital, investment, and local government devolution and reorganisation in relation to strategic planning and new spatial development strategies.

• Independent Advisor (Oct 2024 - Ongoing) - Member of the Strategic Planning Advisory Group hosted by Prior and Partners, helping Government shape a new era of spatial development strategies and and aligning with implementation of the devolution white paper. Supporting priority programme authorities as they begin to prepare devolution proposals for autumn 2025 and helping address complex interconnected dependencies with emerging Local Growth Plans (LGPs) addressing the following areas:
• Programme – Planning high level programmes for SDS preparation aligned to the specific Priority Programme timescales.
• Team, Skills and Capacity – Appraising the current and future capacity, resourcing and skills required to implement strategic planning and the related delivery ecosystem, (Investment frameworks, data, digital and governance). Ensuring the ask from government is baked into the emerging devolution negotiations.
• SDS Evidence Base – Identifying expected evidence required to support SDS preparation including the extent to which existing and published evidence associated to Local Plans could be utilised and incorporated.
• Stakeholder Mapping – Mapping the relevant national and strategic stakeholder context and key partnerships including regional cross boundary collaboration to establish the likely roles different stakeholder could / should hold in the process of SDS preparation. Setting out hierarchy of needs and risk across key partners locally and high level options/mitigations
• Engagement - Establishing a draft engagement and consultation strategies for SDS preparation.
• Mapping High level Interdependencies between LGPs / SDS’ - ensuring the alignment of horizontal constraints to growth with Government and ensuring the remit of MSA’s and any MOU with government can use SDS’s to assist with the heavy lifting on these (Specifically relating to water, energy, transport infrastructure and high value sector growth)
• Aligning LGPs and SDSs’ route-maps as investment frameworks to both draw new institutional private investment and align suitable public investment and governance fit for long term growth and market security.
• Scoping the digital elements of geospatial data platforms, place based impact investment and digitised evidence bases to de-fragment and aggregate data, and provide efficient integration and alignment with other policy and strategy to fast track investment decisions and capacity gap mapping.

Place Based Impact Investment Advisory. Specifically shaping the market and connecting institutional capital to place requirements for new infrastructure, supply chains and businesses that delivers real benefits to local people and places in collaboration with others.

Provision of advice, guidance, written content and support relating to the interdependencies between policy changes that affect LGPS pooling and Place Based Impact Investing, especially but not limited to:

• LGPS and Combined Authority Advisory - Investment matching and pipeline, criteria and impact measurement
• Local Government Reform and Devolution - Strategic Planning and the reintroduction of statutory strategic plans as investment frameworks
• Local Growth Plans and interdependencies for institutional investment alignment of investment strategy to investable opportunities at sub regional geographies
• HMG Policy implications from planning reform and related reorganisations
• Digital and innovation - Proposition ROI and opportunities mapping - high level RTM, Product partner agreements and costing)
  

Senior Partner Place and Infrastructure, consulting lead for digitising planning, transport, and local government. Providing integrated advisory, change management and digital transformation consulting across local government reorganisation and devolution, planning reform, investment, housing, environment energy and net zero.

Responsible for setting and delivering sector growth strategy for local government and place and infrastructure, ensuring business growth and a balanced portfolio. Working across sales and delivery cycle from business development, pre sales and proposition development, through to large complex bids, project mobilisation, delivery and upsell.

Notable work and projects:

• MHCLG Planning Reform Programme (£9.5m 2022, £19m 2024) Part of bid team for converting this programme and acting project Director for a number of key statements of work.
• DfT Connectivity Tool (Embargoed and Strictly Confidential) Ongoing - Senior stakeholder work to build business case and profile of development of the tool as a cross departmental (MHCLG, DEFRA, DESNZ) integrated data strategic planning tool for Combined Authorities implementing forthcoming strategic planning remit as part of proposed Planning and Infrastructure Bill and future Devolution
• BEIS Matrix Partner £7.5m. Helped secure initial government shared service work to design and procure an ERP platform across multiple departments.
• MHCLG Future Councils Specialists £9m. Led bid to convert Future Councils and Local Digital Programme. Project Director across complex work packages leading digital, data and design teams and acting as SME for the programme.
• West of England Combined Authority Future Transport Zone - Designing vision for the to trial new, innovative & green transport solutions that are centred around user needs and outcomes
• Greater Cambridgeshire Housing Monitoring, Site Selection Data programme and Proptech AI enhanced consultation < £250k Ongoing. Proposal development lead and Project Sponsor/Director across a multi supplier/multi disciplinary team with continued upsell.
• Corserv (Cornwall Council) Local Government Reform Governance Review Advisory role to board on structuring Corserv and it’s group of companies including; Governance and structure, assurance, relationships with subsidiaries and central services and future operating model
• Lancashire County Council Digital Transformation and Corporate Core redesign/TOM implementation £700k. Developed, converted and sponsored complex transformation programme to deliver corporate core TOM and multiple packages of service redesign, data and automation across customer services, highways and SEND, including Power BI data analytics and automation for schools census data.

Chief Officer for Strategic Planning and Economic Development and Programme Director for design and implementing the shared services of c. 200 FTEs. Member of both councils senior leadership teams and related board roles including Connecting Cambridgeshire, SMART Cambridgeshire and the OxCam ARC place and environment board.

Notable projects and work:

• SRO directly responsible for delivering place, planning and economic policy including; the Greater Cambridge Local Plan, North East Cambridge Quarter Regeneration AAP, Local Industrial Strategy and the Greater Cambridge Economic Strategy. Strategic lead for commercialisation of the internal place consultancy team as a trading body developing the business plan to sell services to other councils.
• Programme Director Shared Service Transformation, including design and digital leads, bringing together South Cambridgeshire District Council and Cambridge City Councils planning services into a single entity comprising the largest planning service in SE England. including large scale technology implementation and associated business transformation and people change.
• Digital Planning Lead for data driven plan making, monitoring and community engagement working with MHCLG and national partners
• SRO for assets and economic strategy to guide asset management and investment strategies for the authority's £300m capital and commercial investment program and Enterprise Zones lead.
• SRO for sub regional and regional strategic planning and Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority representation: DTC, East West Rail, Cambridge Autonomous Metro (CAM), GCP transport schemes, Non-Statutory Spatial Framework (NSSF), CaMKOx Arc National Infrastructure Program, London Stansted Cambridge Consortium (LSCC),

Head of Partnerships and Development and part of Essex County Council wider senior leadership team, responsible for developing the councils commercial portfolio in place and built environment.

Notable projects and work:

• Strategic leadership and direction of growth of Place Services commercial business delivering built and natural environment consulting to over 50 councils and wider business development in housing, capital/infrastructure delivery, highways and environmental services.
• Development of the Digital Platform Essex Design Guide as a pioneering project in the digitising planning space.
• Place Lead on North Essex Garden Communities (NEGC) Innovation group to advise and provide place input on strategic planning
• Consortium Bid Lead for Innovate UK funding for digital programs related to planning and infrastructure including Building Information Models (BIM), evidence base repositories and use of AI in improved service delivery

Senior Technical Officer responsible for the Management of a £5million long term arboricultural and streets and open spaces works contract for the borough including managing contractors, budget, and partners.

Principal consultant responsible for establishing and leading high performing teams to deliver a broad range of major infrastructure programmes including: Kent County Council Highways and Schools Outsourced contract, Crossrail and Operation Stack and Southeast Water pipeline renewal planning.