Pipeline Tracking Routemap
Having a clear strategic overview of proposed projects can put Towns in a stronger position to realise their ambitions. This portfolio view can be used in several ways, including to create consensus around possible future interventions and to engage with politicians, prospective investors and other key stakeholders to continue to bring vision to reality.
The Towns Fund Delivery Partner has designed this simple Portfolio Template and Dashboard to help you set out your pipeline of potential projects and to look at these through different lenses.
The spreadsheet includes a page with instructions and definitions to help you use the Template and Dashboard. You will also find a short tutorial video below.
Commercial Models and Attracting Investment
This paper provides guidance on considerations for Towns on the commercial structure of a project for which they have received a Towns Fund allocation. It provides this information in the context of understanding the structure and content of a Business Case.
Drawing on experience of running HM Treasury’s Better Business Case (BBC) training for circa 80 regeneration officers from the 101 Towns involved in the Towns Fund programme, and for members of the central DLUHC team, including the common questions raised, this guidance specifically considers the commercial case in parallel with the use of private / alternate financing.
An Introduction to 20-minute Neighbourhoods
This short learning burst provides an introduction to 20 minute neighbourhoods, giving a brief history of the concept and outlining how the Covid-19 pandemic has resulted in an increased desire to have local services available. The presentation also provides some case study examples and key considerations for implementing a 20 minute neighbourhood. A copy of the presentation slides is also available for download.
Economic Case: Best Practice Annex C - Culture and Heritage
This short guide is supplementary to the Economic Case: Best Practice Guide, and provides guidance on how to quantify and monetise economic benefits related to culture and heritage interventions.
This short guide is supplementary to the Economic Case: Best Practice Guide, and provides guidance on how to quantify and monetise economic benefits related to culture and heritage interventions.
The step-by-step guide on estimating economic benefits covers:
Tools and resources
Identifying economic benefits
Methodologies of quantifying benefits
General appraisal considerations
What if the benefits cannot be quantified?
Consultation top tips
This document serves as guidance for towns who are seeking to consult stakeholders and the public. Its purpose is to provide practical advice and ideas on the consultation process.
This document serves as guidance for towns who are seeking to consult stakeholders and the public during the planning process. Its purpose is to provide practical advice and ideas on the consultation process, as well as providing valuable information regarding the differences between statutory and non-statutory consultees.
Economic Case: Best Practice Annex B - Development
This annex to our Economic Best Practice guide provides additional guidance on how to quantify and monetise economic benefits related to development and land-based interventions.
This short guide is supplementary to the Economic Case: Best Practice Guide, and provides additional information on how to quantify and monetise economic benefits related to development and land-based interventions, primarily residential, commercial and/or mixed-use development.
The step-by-step guide on estimating economic benefits covers:
Tools and resources
Identifying market failures
Identifying economic benefits
How to calculate economic benefits
Site-specific LVU
Wider LVU
Public realm improvements
Case study
Key considerations
TFDP Business Case template
The Towns Fund Delivery Partner (TFDP) have prepared an optional business case template for the Towns Fund programme, along with a summary document template and proportionality guide.
The Towns Fund Delivery Partner (TFDP) have prepared an optional Business Case template for the Towns Fund programme. This template should help Towns establish a sound structure for their Business Cases in line with both government guidance and best practice.
Please note that this template will be regularly updated with changes in guidance or policy, and Towns should check back regularly to see any updates. A change control note has been added to the front of the document to inform users of the updates made.
The Business Case template document also provides the accompanying guidance and resource:
Summary Document: as part of the business case process, a Summary Document must be submitted to MHCLG. The Summary Document is mandatory, and must be approved by MHCLG before funding can be released.
Proportionality Guide: for each of the five cases, we set out key questions and considerations to help you gauge the level of detail required for your business case. At the end of the document, you can use the Proportionality Tool to assess where each business case falls on the scale of these key questions, which should help you understand the level of detail required for your business case.
We have published a blog, which introduces the template to Towns.
The template was updated to version 4 on 19th August 2021
Stage 2 Support Offer
We are working to support you in developing robust and considered Business Cases and projects that will help you achieve positive change in your Town. This document summarises what is on offer during Stage 2 up to October 2021.
As the Towns Fund Delivery Partner, we are working to support you in developing robust and considered Business Cases and projects that will help you achieve positive change in your Town. Your Town Coordinator will work with you to guide you through the resources available and ensure you can access appropriate support throughout each stage of the Towns Fund process. This document summarises what is on offer during Stage 2 up to October 2021.
A recording of the recent Town Resource Showcase webinar can also be found on the website.
This document was updated on 4th August 2021.
Project Initiation Document template
This template sets out a standard Project Initiation Document template with clear instructions as to what to capture in each section.
A Project Initiation Document can help you to mitigate risks as you progress towards the project initiation stage. It will also create a good foundation from which to develop a business case. The purpose of a Project Initiation Document (sometimes called a “PID”) is to record basic, but important, information to better define the project.
TFDP have developed this Project Initiation Document template, which clearly sets out what to capture in each section.
Please see our blog for further details of the benefits of Project Initiation Documents. If you have any questions about how to use the template, please contact your Town Coordinator.
Board Report Template
We have developed this simple, editable Board Report template which you can use to ensure that your Board stays sighted on the information which is most important for them to see.
As Boards evolve into their new responsibilities in the Business Case development stage, they will need to be kept informed of progress being made, have visibility of risks and be able to focus on the issues and decisions which need their steer. Putting in place a standard Board Report, which covers the key headlines, gives assurance to Board members and enables the precious time that they have to be focused on the key matters at hand.
We have developed a simple, editable Board Report template which you can use to ensure that your Board stays sighted on the information which is most important for them to see.
We have provided the template in both excel and word format. The excel template has a tab with instructions, and you can also download instructions on how to use the word template below.
Please read our accompanying blog to further understand the benefits of using this template.
Engaging with hard to reach groups
Hard to reach or seldom heard groups are defined as people that are typically under-represented in the planning or development process, or in wider public life.
This could include ethnic or language minorities, people with disabilities, young people, the elderly, people with low literacy levels and people who simply don’t think their participation will make a difference as their voice will not be heard. These groups may be difficult to engage with because they do not feel empowered to do so, or due to barriers which can be overcome.
This guide seeks to help Towns in engaging with such groups.
Updates to TAG
DfT recently announced forthcoming changes to the Transport Appraisal Guidance (TAG) to be published officially in the guidance in July 2021. This document provides an overview of the key updates.
The Department for Transport (DfT) recently announced forthcoming changes to the Transport Appraisal Guidance (TAG) to be published officially in the guidance in July 2021. These include changes to:
Optimism Bias
Appraisal period and residual values
Capturing Local context
Uncertainty toolkit
Landscape monetisation guidance
This document provides an overview of the key updates to DfT’s Transport Appraisal Guidance (TAG). These changes should be considered by towns appraising transport projects, especially the Economic Case.
Building a strong brand for your Town Deal
This guidance considers how Towns can take the contents of their TIP and turn it into a narrative and brand identity under which component projects become more than just the sum of their parts.
A Town Investment Plan (TIP) is more than just a bid document to unlock investment in selected projects. Good TIPs set out a clear and compelling vision for the Town’s future which stakeholders and the public feel they have helped to shape and can buy into going forward.
This guidance considers how Towns can take the contents of their TIP and turn it into a narrative and brand identity under which component projects become more than just the sum of their parts.
So don’t let your TIP sit on a shelf gathering dust. Put it to work as you move through Stage 2 and on towards project delivery.
We’ve created this interactive toolkit to help you build an action plan for your next steps. You can fill this in online or print out and brainstorm with your team.
Distributional and place-based analysis
This guide provides detail about the questions that Towns should consider in approaching the distributional analysis required in their Business Cases. It also identifies the place based analysis that can be applied where appropriate, with signposting to relevant guidance documents.
As you progress the Business Case for each of your projects, the Economic Case will provide an assessment of the overall value for money of each project through its Benefit/Cost Ratio (BCR).
However, an overall BCR alone does not demonstrate how the impacts of the project could vary between different groups – for instance, people in different income bands or people of different ages or spatial areas.
The revised Green Book, published in November 2020, set out a requirement to identify the potential distributional impacts on different groups of people, and to produce place-based analysis for proposals with a geographical defined focus. The Delivery Partner produced a blog and guide on the revisions to the Green Book.
This guide goes into more detail about the questions that Towns should consider in approaching the distributional analysis required. It also identifies the place based analysis that can be applied where appropriate, with signposting to relevant guidance documents.
Economic Case: Best Practice Annex A - Active Travel
This short guide is supplementary to the Economic Case: Best Practice Guide, and provides additional information on how to quantify and monetise economic benefits related to active travel projects
This short guide is supplementary to the Economic Case: Best Practice Guide, and provides additional information on how to quantify and monetise economic benefits related to active travel projects, primarily projects designed to incentivise, facilitate and/or increase cycling and walking levels within a defined study area.
The step-by-step guide on estimating economic benefits covers:
Tools and resources
Identifying economic benefits
How to calculate economic benefits
Key considerations
Economic Case: Best Practice Guide
This guide provides Towns with general guidance for producing the Economic Case, from the approach to the Economic Case, to the Value for Money assessment.
This guidance is relevant for assisting Towns in developing compliant and effective Business Cases. The document will provide Towns with general guidance for producing the Economic Case, from the approach to the Economic Case, to the Value for Money assessment.
Accompanying this guidance, TFDP will be issuing separate supplementary annexes on how to quantify benefits by project types. The supplementary guidance will outline the potential benefits to consider, the relevant Green Book or appraisal guidance to comply with, quantification of benefits methodology, data requirements and more.
Links to these annexes will be added to this page, as they are made available.
Maximising Value for Money through Social Value
The purpose of this document is to show practical ways to include social value in your projects and business cases to increase the Value for Money.
The recent publication of the new Green Book and the Government's Social Value in Procurement Policy note signals an increasing focus is on the wider strategic benefits of public investment, and we hope this will be a useful guide to understand how to incorporate it in your business cases.
By looking at your projects through the lens of social value, you will be better able to describe the wider economic and social benefits that they can result in for your communities. Whilst this won’t entirely replace the traditional economic appraisal, it will help to explore and uncover some of the less quantifiable elements of your projects, which are never-the-less important .
The purpose of this document is to show practical ways to include social value in your projects and Business Cases to increase the Value for Money.
Meeting the Public Sector Equality Duty
The Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) is an important part of all decision making for the public sector, and the Towns Fund is no exception. This guide and template provides key information for Towns.
The Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) is an important part of all decision making for the public sector, and the Towns Fund is no exception. All public bodies, including local authorities, have a duty to consider how their policies or decisions affect the nine ‘protected characteristics’ under the Equality Act 2010.
There are no additional or specific Towns Fund requirements for the PSED. However, in order to make it easier to ensure that the PSED is considered and discharged, we have developed an optional assessment format which can be used as a framework for the PSED process and can be tailored to reflect local circumstances. The format includes separate assessments at project level and at the programme level, and it is important that impacts are considered in the round across the suite of projects proposed in your Town Investment Plan. (For example, there may be a more significant cumulative impact on a protected characteristic than when considered simply on a project-by-project basis).
We have included the Family Test in this optional assessment format. Whilst the Family Test only applies to government departments and not local authorities, you may choose to consider it alongside the protected characteristics.
As well as simply discharging the PSED for its own sake, assessing how projects and the wider programme impact on different groups of people is a valuable exercise in making sure that the Towns Fund investment benefits all and is as successful as possible. Following your assessment, there may be a need for further actions, including changing aspects of the projects or even re-prioritising projects. It is therefore doubly important that equalities and the PSED are robustly and proportionately considered.
Please speak to your Town Coordinator if you would like further support on what the PSED means for your Town.
Project Management Good Practice
This guide is intended to introduce the topic, and provide high level advice on the elements of project management. It sets out current best, or good practice that may be appropriate for Towns.
This guide is intended to introduce Towns to the basics of project management, and provide high level advice on the different elements of successful project management.
It sets out current best, or good practice that may be appropriate for Towns.
It can be used in the development of business cases
It can be used to develop the plans and ways of working
It will help you get your projects off to the best start
The guide also includes links to additional resources, such as guides, templates and good practice.
If you would benefit from more detailed support on any of the topics covered within this guidance you can book a one-to-one meeting with Alistair Godbold, our Project and Programme Management expert, using the Expert Drop-in Hour service.
Successfully Partnering for Health and Wellbeing Projects
This guidance document aims to assist Towns in understanding the typical local partners that can be drawn upon to enhance their Business Cases for Health and Wellbeing projects.
To effectively deliver Health and Wellbeing projects many Towns will need to seek out partnerships with others. This guidance document aims to assist Towns in understanding the typical local partners that can be drawn upon to enhance their Business Cases for Health and Wellbeing projects.
The guide provides an overview of the different types of partners, and uses real-life case studies to showcase the benefits of partnering.
If you would like to discuss the contents of this guide further with our Health and Wellbeing Experts, please book in a meeting using the Expert Drop-in Hour service.