33. Meetings (and especially negotiation meetings which take place after any "first pass" through the issues) should be held at the offices of the Authority's legal advisers which should (by this stage of the process) be a comfortable "home ground" for the IPT's negotiators. This should be the rule of thumb. In general the Authority is not equipped to host a complex series of meetings - it has neither the document support, the catering or the facility for breakout rooms that are required. Shifting meetings to the offices of another parties' advisers is not generally sensible - it deprives your own team of their immediate support network and (arguably) can put you on the back foot. Psychologically, it is useful to effectively announce that the project is entering its endgame by moving to a fresh venue - the fact that you are holding meetings in the legal adviser's offices heralds that there is some light at the end of the tunnel (even if it may not feel like that at all times) and - crucially - that it is your tunnel. The Authority needs to control meetings as far as possible and a key part of this control is choice of venue wherever you ultimately decide to host the meetings.
34. By having meetings in its legal advisers offices the Authority is also providing itself with the maximum possible access to the strength in depth of the company concerned - so that, for example, if a point arises on an environmental indemnity (or whatever) the relevant specialist advice is more likely to be readily at hand allowing momentum and confidence to be maintained.