Procurement The time, cost and complexity of procurement was a near universal cause for complaint amongst interviewees. One of the common concerns surrounding procurement was that it was a lengthy process which acted as a deterrent to investors. Interviewee D confirmed that in the procurement process, the demands of OJEU is the biggest barrier to the wider use of the model, discouraging potential private sector investors from participating in a complex, costly and demanding process when they are not guaranteed success, observing that: get some developers who see there is an OJEU process which “You has to be entered into first and straight away say no, we are not bidding for that!” There are some structures, such as co-investment partnerships, that avoid the requirement to follow OJEU process, which demonstrate how quickly LABVs can be put in place. For example, one city council achieved financial closure on its LABV within eight months. Where development is being procured, full OJEU process is unavoidable, however, as experience and knowledge grows, timescales may be reduced from 2-3 years to twelve months. Interviewee F agreed that the procurement process is becoming quicker: City Council are going about this process in a speedy manner “yyyyyy and hope to have full closure and a partner selected within 12 18 – months” Each individual local authority is different and the overall aims and objectives of the partnership should determine both the appropriate model to be used which will in
Procurement The time, cost and complexity of procurement was a near universal cause for complaint amongst interviewees. One of the common concerns surrounding procurement was that it was a lengthy process which acted as a deterrent to investors. Interviewee D confirmed that in the procurement process, the demands of OJEU is the biggest barrier to the wider use of the model, discouraging potential private sector investors from participating in a complex, costly and demanding process when they are not guaranteed success, observing that: “You get some developers who see there is an OJEU process which has to be entered into first and straight away say no, we are not bidding for that!” There are some structures, such as co-investment partnerships, that avoid the requirement to follow OJEU process, which demonstrate how quickly LABVs can be put in place. For example, one city council achieved financial closure on its LABV within eight months. Where development is being procured, full OJEU process is unavoidable, however, as experience and knowledge grows, timescales may be reduced from 2-3 years to twelve months. Interviewee F agreed that the procurement process is becoming quicker: “yyyyyy City Council are going about this process in a speedy manner and hope to have full closure and a partner selected within 12 – 18 months” Each individual local authority is different and the overall aims and objectives of the partnership should determine both the appropriate model to be used which will in