CASE STUDY: PUBLIC SECTOR - DEVELOPMENT & REGENERATION
Electricity drought to Government investment. Electricity provision to unlock otherwise financially preventative development opportunities. Government Business Case for Ebbsfleet Development Corporation. SITUATION
Requirement to secure electricity for the Ebbsfleet Garden City (EGC), being a quarry there was no previous need for power provision. A Business Case for the Ebbsfleet Development Corporation (EDC) to gain HM Treasury investment via the Dept. of Communities & local Government (now the Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government) was required.
TASK
Research
and
develop
the
Business
Case
to
give
enable
housing
to
develop;
safeguard
the
confidence to HM Treasury that an investment of £30.1m would
electricity for private developer partners to build at
pace; and withstand scrutiny to improve corporate governance by ensuring openness, accountability, and transparency in decision-making.
ACTION
Working with a specialist in Utility Law & an Economist, Diligence provided the technical knowledge and experience from working within Distribution Network Operators (DNO), producing the Business Case.
Worked through the details of the Regulatory Framework to which the DNO abides, the Terms & Conditions of Business and the Legal Position on Government Investment, a method of recovering a minimum of 75% of the investment and ensure that both the EDC and the DNO were not at risk of contravening the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) relating to State Aid. Understanding the complexities and boundaries, we worked with the Infrastructure & Projects Authority (IPA) & Ofgem. This resulted in Connection Charge Change.
RESULT
Government
invested
£30.1m.
It
was
used
as
a
‘blueprint’ example for the ‘Housing Infrastructure Fund Supporting Document for Forward Funding.’
Government
&
Utilities
are
protected
in
the
provision of infrastructure by Government. Signalling the
way for other Local Authorities to become developers in their own right.
Challenges Never been done before Supporting Forward Funding with Public Funding Safeguarding capacity for Ebbsfleet development
Outcomes Successful Business Case approved by HM Treasury £30.1m investment from Central
Government LAs able to become developers Housing delivery at pace Used as example in the Housing Infrastructure Fund (HIF) Guidance
Significant Achievement
‘This infrastructure deal demonstrates our continued commitment to the Ebbsfleet project as a leading example of innovative and ambitious solutions to help fix our broken housing market and increase housing supply.’
Alok Sharma, Housing Minister 2017.
Credit: InsideHousing.co.uk, £30m
Electricity deal for Ebbsfleet Garden City. Luke Barratt, 27/07/2017
On 1 April 2017, an amended law was passed to ensure that
AT A GLANCE