Tag Archives: Schools PPP

Angus Council – transaction adviser for two new primary schools

We are very pleased to have supported Angus Council on the procurement of replacements for Muirfield and Ladyloan Primary Schools in the coastal town of Arbroath, which reached financial close on 24 November 2017.  The new schools are being developed under a single Design-Build-Finance-Maintain contract with hub East Central.

Each school will have a capacity of approximately 335 primary pupils and 72 pre-school pupils.

We supported the Council’s in-house team in confirming that financial submissions from the private sector partner are within the various limits set by the Territory Partnering Agreement and we worked closely with the financing partners to achieve a successful financial close to the project. 

This continues our long relationship with Angus Council which including supporting the initial feasibility study, and subsequently acting as transaction advisor, for the Forfar and Carnoustie schools PPP.

Perth & Kinross – New Bertha Park High School Financial Close

The procurement of the new Bertha Park High School by Perth & Kinross Council reached financial close on 27 September 2017 . Built to accommodate pupil generated by the rapid expansion of the city, the new school will be developed under a single compact PPP contract between the Council and  hub East Central Scotland.

As the public sector Financial Transaction Adviser on this PPP we supported the Council’s in-house team and were responsible for assessing financial submissions from the private sector partner. This included confirming that returns, margins and fees are in line with the market and consistent with pre-agreed levels.  We worked closed with technical specialists to calibrate the payment mechanism, and supported commercial negotiations.

Caledonian Economics PPP Masterclasses

IMG_1915Senior public sector officials from central government departments in Beijing and several Chinese provinces including Jinan, Guangzhou and Hebei have taken part in our PPP Masterclasses this month.  This follows events we have run previously for government officials in Latvia and Uruguay and of course many training and development events in Scotland.

Our bespoke events draw from a menu of knowledge areas that covers all financial and commercial aspects of Public Private Partnerships.  They  provide an ideal opportunity to learn and share expertise that equip participants will skills to develop robust projects which deliver real social and economic benefits.

Our Event Leaders include some of the most experienced PPP practitioners in the world.  This professional team has worked at every stage in the PPP development process including sectoral strategy  development, feasibility and planning, transaction support, operational performance improvement, and rescue of distressed PPP projects.

Please contact us if you would like to know more about how we can help you shape better projects.

 

Dumfries and Galloway Schools PPP – Operational Support

We have been reappointed to provide financial advisory support to Dumfries and Galloway Council for the operational phase of the Smarter Schools PPP project.

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Stranraer Academy, refurbished and extended

This project was signed in 2008 and all eleven schools were operational by 2010.  The project was financed by a £127 million facility provided by HSBC and the European Investment Bank.

This reappointment continues our long relationship with the Council which spanned the project business case, tender preparation and evaluation, financial close, and project effectiveness assignments during the operational phase.

Education PPP – IDB, CAF and World Bank in Uruguay

Education PPP training Uruguay

Education PPP seminar

This October with Maria Jimena Cordoba from Castalia we provided a Education PPP training workshop for Uruguayan government agencies including Corporación Nacional de Desarollo (CND), Administración Nacional de Educación Pública (ANEP) and the Institute for Children and Adolescents (INAU) in Montevideo. The workshop covered international experience with Education PPP and management of  PPP contracts.

We also delivered a presentation on best practice in Education PPPs at a breakfast briefing event in Montevideo organised by the Inter-American Development Bank, the Development Bank of Latin America (CAF)  and the World Bank to promote the forthcoming Uruguay Kindergarten PPP project. 

Approximately 100 delegates from across  the Uruguayan PPP industry heard our presentation which described the Scottish experience of Education PPP over the last twenty years.

Aberdeen City – New South of the River Secondary School

Contracts were exchanged yesterday between Aberdeen City Council and hub North Scotland for the construction of a  new £45 million 1400 pupil school to service the south of the city.  This is being delivered under the Scottish hub/DBFM/PPP commercial structure.

We have supported the council throughout the project’s development, first in 2013 by helping develop the Educational Benefit Statement which underpinned the decision to create a new school by closing and merging Torry Academy and Kincorth Academy, and more recently as the Council’s financial advisers.

In this latter role we advised the Council throughout the procurement, testing and analysing the financial model, checking it was consistent with the technical solution and the central government funding offer, and ensuring it was fully optimised and delivering value for money across a range of inflation scenarios.

This continues a long relationship with the Council. We advised on the procurement of the ‘3Rs’ schools PPP from 2004 onwards, and in 2011 we assessed options for educational provision in the north western part of the city.

 

 

Latvijas Pašvaldību savienība (LPS), Latvian Association of Local and Regional Governments

Working with LPS, we delivered a half day seminar and web broadcast to around seventy representatives from Latvian municipalities and local government bodies.  The Webinar described the Scottish experience of PPP, its evolution to meet the particular social aspirations of the nation, and its relevance to other states of similar size and latitude.

Our Lady and St Patrick’s School – Financial Close

West Dunbartonshire Council’s new 1000 pupil Our Lady and St Patrick’s High School reached financial close on Thursday 31 March 2016.  The new school will be built and serviced by Hub West Scotland under a 25 year hub/DBFM/PPP contract.

We were West Dunbartonshire Council’s financial advisers on the project, advising on contract negotiations, financial model analysis and payment mechanism calibration.

Dumfries and Galloway Council – payment mechanism

We recently undertook a review of Dumfries and Galloway Council’s payment mechanism monitoring procedures for their Schools PPP programme.

Our work involved recalculating a sample of applicable deductions and a broader assessment of how their procedures worked in practice, noting any areas for improvement. We identified a number of potential efficiencies for the Council as a result of this review.

New Barrhead High School reaches Financial Close

East Renfrewshire Council’s new 850 pupil £25 million Barrhead High School reached financial close in March 2016.  The new school will be built and serviced by Hub West Scotland under a 25 year hub/DBFM/PPP contract.

We were East Renfrewshire Council’s financial advisers. Our role included analysis of the bidder’s financial model and funding structure, negotiation and calibration of the payment mechanism and liaison with the legal team to ensure a robust commercial solution.