Public and private sectors unite on 12-point plan to deliver investment

As local authorities across the UK grapple with declining budgets and rising costs, just three options of financing remain open to them – raising council tax, securing central government funding, or attracting private sector investment. Raising council tax is a political non-starter, while a flood of funding from central government is something of a pipedream. That means that securing private sector investment and proper partnership is the only option if the UK really is to build back better. To enable this, EG has established a public sector forum to sit alongside its investor and advisory forums with the aim of finally creating a go-to document allowing public and private sectors to do better business together. The three groups collectively represent the large majority of the real estate sector, with key local authority leaders, major investors and the top advisers all members. “We live in unprecedented times,” said Jackie Sadek, EG public sector forum chair and chair of the UK Innovation Corridor. “Foreign direct and domestic investment has become ever more important, nay crucial, to our local and national economies. Put simply, the need to align potential investors with local leaders and form on-the-ground partnerships is greater than it has ever been.  “The EG public sector forum has come together as a group of local authority leaders, networkers and facilitators, to think afresh about how we can work with investors more productively.” Working with advice from the EG investor forum, chaired by Andy Martin, former UK chief executive of BNP Paribas Real Estate, the EG public sector forum has created a Working in Partnership guide, offering a simple 12-point plan to functional, equitable and profitable partnerships, with case studies outlining just how fruitful a truly collaborative approach can be. The document – freely available to all public and private bodies – offers practical advice for both sides of a potential partnership, reminding investors that local authorities are not corporates and that the complexity of the political environment and the local government decision-making process needs to be properly considered and understood throughout any potential partnership process. The report calls on investors and developers to be mindful of communities, and procurement processes and warns that local government is driven by more than profit. For public sector bodies keen to secure private sector investment, the report provides 12 practical measures: Offer a key point of contact. Agree a long-term strategy, across political parties, to provide stability for investors. Offer a joined-up approach to planning, spanning boundaries and reducing costs of reports. Be clear about your asks on planning gain, section 106 and community infrastructure levy. Promote your area, not just a site. Find the innovation in your area. Tell a story about the key sectors you have locally. Be honest about your local infrastructure. Build partnerships with trust. Be able to have conversations about energy capacity for developments. Be forward thinking on the green agenda and social responsibility. Prepare well for networking events: know your offer and sell it. Martin said: “We should welcome this initiative from the grass roots of government. Progress will only be made in partnership between public and private stakeholders. “We recognise the essential role local authorities can play in both moderating the discussion and unlocking a future path to prosperity, not least through their site-enabling role. Good plans attract good funding and without these, the investment needed to create new jobs and housing through regeneration and renewal is lost.” EG editor Samantha McClary added: “For more than 165 years, EG has stood alongside the property sector as its guide and critical friend. Over that time, we have watched an industry transform and adapt. In that time, we have also seen the industry get left behind, as public – and perhaps governmental – perception outweighs the true purpose of the country’s real estate sector. “Real estate is and always will be about place. It is about creating homes, workplaces, destinations and the places in between for all of us. It is about wealth and health, for people, the planet and for UK plc. But to really deliver on that true purpose, it needs a new personality. It needs a new look that can change that perception once and for all. It needs to be seen as a true partner by those that build and invest, by those that control and protect place, and by those who offer the services to enable. “And that is why, as this industry’s critical and forever friend, EG finds its purpose in bringing the public sector, private capital and real estate’s professionals together to build a better UK.” The report comes on back of the Harrington review of foreign direct investment, published last November, which concluded that the UK was missing out on investments that have gone to competitor countries with clearer industrial strategies and stronger government support. It found that most of the UK’s competitor countries have about 12% of GDP in business investment compared to our 10% – a difference of about £50bn a year. Download your copy of the report here and join EG at launch of the Working in Partnership guide in the Tournament Gallery at UKREiiF at 3pm today.