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Projects and News

Stirling City Deal goes forward

The UK Autumn Statement on 23 November 2016 saw Stirling’s City Deal announced by the Chancellor of the Exchequer.

Caledonian Economics supported the Council, alongside Turner and Townsend, in developing their City Deal programme.  The components of the City Deal plan include:

  • a Digital District founded on Smart Cities principles ;
  • further developments on the River Forth as a leisure and tourism resource;
  • a new Civic and Harbour quarter; and,
  • plans for a City Park in the shadow of Stirling Castle.

The Caledonian Economics team worked closely with colleagues at Turner and Townsend and the Council to develop the economic impact assessment for each of the projects.

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.

 

 

Government of the Republic of Uruguay

Working with Castalia Strategic Advisers and with support from the Inter-American Development Bank we advised the Government of Uruguay and Corporación Nacional para el Desarrollo (CND) on the development of financial and technical aspects of the Uruguayan early years education PPP programme.  This will create up to 60 kindergartens and family support centres to support the national poverty reduction and social inclusion policy.

Our responsibilities included project  financial modelling, international best practice studies and the development of bespoke technical documentation which drew on our extensive experience of PPP transactions and implementation.

Healthcare PPP Programme, Turkey

We have been selected as preferred bidder, alongside partners in Istanbul, Ankara and Warsaw, to assist the Government of Turkey and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development with the design and implementation of the Ministry of Health Monitoring Unit for the national Healthcare PPP programme.

This is the largest Healthcare PPP programme in the world and will deliver at least 14 new hospitals with over 26,000 beds.

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.

Scottish Borders Council – Kelso High School

Scottish Borders Council’s replacement for Kelso High School reached financial close on 19 February 2016.  The new school for 850 pupils will be built and serviced by Hub South East Scotland under a 25 year hub/DBFM/PPP contract.

We supported the Council’s internal team throughout the process.   Our services included liaison with central government to confirm the financial support package, testing and interrogation of the commercial financial model, and liaison with the technical and legal team to ensure that the model, payment mechanism and contract were consistent and reflected the position agreed between the parties during the contract negotiations.