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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.

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Social Value 101

This guidance introduces the topic of social value, and provides an insight into what social value is in development and infrastructure projects

With significant Towns Fund investment planned matched with potentially socio-economic challenges exacerbated by the Covid-19 crisis, there is now more than ever a need/opportunity for development and infrastructure projects to create additional social value over their lifecycle and help to rebuild local economies.

This document provides an insight into what social value is in development and infrastructure projects and seeks to answer the following questions:

  • What is driving the need to articulate and deliver social value

  • How to define social value in the built environment

  • How social value links to the Towns Fund’s outcome led approach and the Theory of Change

  • How social value can be set out in business cases and embedded in to all stages of a project’s life cycle

  • What to consider in social value impact measurement

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An Introduction to Housing & Homelessness

This guidance document, produced by our expert Sally Caldwell, provides an introduction to housing and homelessness and provides the economic context to the topic.

Our Housing, Homelessness and Repurposing Buildings expert Sally Caldwell, has produced this introductory guidance document. The document provides a brief introduction to housing and homelessness. It aims to:

Help you think about whether housing is a significant element of economic development for your town

Help you navigate data on housing and homelessness, including what impact these issues have on economic development and the wider community

Make the links between housing and homelessness and other aspects of economic, social and environmental impacts

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An Introduction to Strategy Planning

The purpose of this document is to provide an overview for towns to develop their strategy for their Town Investment Plan.

The purpose of this document is to provide an overview for towns to develop their strategy for their Town Investment Plan.

The information is intentionally presented at a high level. Please contact your Town Coordinator if you require more detailed strategy support or to request more detailed guidance or workshops in this area.

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An Introduction to Education, Skills & Enterprise

Our Education and Skills team have provided an introductory guide, highlighting the key considerations for towns when designing projects.

Our Education and Skills team have provided an introductory guide, highlighting the key considerations for towns when designing projects.

The guide has been designed to help towns consider education and skills in supporting and driving forward their TIP ambitions, as well as reflect upon the intrinsic link between skills and employment, and the role of skills development in enabling learning opportunities.

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EIA Screening Guidance

It is advised that towns undertake an internal EIA Screening exercise for all projects in their TIPs. This guide sets out the process.

Our Environmental specialists have put together a short guide to the Environmental Impact Assessment Screening process. This note provides Towns with a brief introduction of the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) Regulations and overview of the EIA process.

It is recommended that Towns undertake an internal EIA Screening exercise for all projects in their Towns Investment Plan to ensure that sufficient time and budget for the EIA process is factored into the project programme and budget. This note sets out the steps for EIA Screening as well as providing a checklist for Towns to screen projects against.

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Stakeholder and Community Audit Guidance

A guidance document providing an overview of the types of information to consider when developing your Business Case or delivery plan and identifying stakeholders to proactively engage in the process.

To develop a successful Business Case or delivery plan you will need to actively engage with key stakeholders within your town. A shared vision and commitment from a range of stakeholders, showing how they have played (and will continue to play) an active role in the development of your project, will go some way to demonstrating that you have secured buy-in from the local community.

This document, produced by Copper, provides an overview of the types of information to consider when developing your Business Case or delivery plan and identifying stakeholders to proactively engage in the process.

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Stakeholder Engagement Plan Guidance

This document provides you with initial guidance when developing your approach to stakeholder engagement, and a template that can be followed to establish a stakeholder engagement plan.

Written by our communication and engagement experts at Copper Consultancy, this guidance document aims to assist towns with preparing a plan for engaging, communicating and consulting with their local community and key stakeholders.

The document provides you with initial guidance when developing your approach to stakeholder engagement, and a template that can be followed to establish a stakeholder engagement plan. However, the approach to stakeholder engagement can and should differ according to local objectives, challenges and other specific characteristics of your town.

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Including Health and Wellbeing in Your TIP

This document sets out some high-level considerations for health and wellbeing as you develop your TIP.

It also sets out a format for engaging more in-depth with health and wellbeing in your TIP development, if you require 1-to-1 support in this area.

The Towns Fund Delivery Partner will be able to help you incorporate health and wellbeing into your Town Investment Plan through:

  • Providing web content and blogs on the TownsFund.org.uk website

  • Hosting group workshops with towns

  • Providing 1-to-1 support, as requested through your Town Coordinator

This document sets out some high-level considerations for health and Wellbeing as you develop your TIP. It also sets out a format for engaging more in-depth with health and wellbeing in your TIP development, if you require 1-to-1 support in this area.

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