LBAP Funding Strategy Workshop

1
LBAPFunding StrategyWorkshop

• East of England Biodiversity Forum
• GO-East, Cambridge
• June 17, 2008

2
Workshop overview

• Overview of the process
• Illustrated example Beds Luton Floodplain
  Grazing Marsh HAP
• Pulling everything together into a strategy
• Case study Mid Beds planning obligations SPD

3
In a nutshell

• Eliminate zero-cost items
• Identify delivery mechanisms for whats left
• Calculate costs using the costing tables
• Determine the most appropriate funders
• Identify barriers to funding

4
1. zero-cost items

• These items are still important for implementing
  the BAP
• They are simply not considered further in the
  funding strategy itself
• Can also include de minimus items, which
  require only very small amounts (e.g., lt 100)

5
1. zero-cost items

• are those that
• would be undertaken as part of normal work
  programmes, and dont require additional funding
• have an existing identified budget (e.g., funding
  has already been raised)
• are driven and/or paid for by other policy areas
• can be met within existing budgets

6
1. zero-cost items

• You might also want to eliminate
• duplicate items (check your BAP carefully for
  these!)
• actions that nobody signed up for (and likely
  wont get done)
• irrelevant or ambiguous stuff
• what were we thinking?!?

7
2. Delivery mechanisms

• How are you going to actually do each of these
  actions?
• Some actions might require several delivery
  mechanisms
• Be specific!

8
2. Delivery mechanisms

• Example
• Achieve favourable condition of the Heather Webb
  CWS

9
2. Delivery mechanisms

• How are we going to do this?

10
3. Costing out everything

• Use costing tables to determine how much each
  delivery mechanism will cost
• Dont forget inflation! Some of the tables are
  old things are more expensive now
• Consider keeping one-time and annual costs
  separate

11
3. Costing out everything

• Example to maintain the 0.0003 ha Heather Webb
  CWS requires
• land purchase (one-time)
• regular grazing (annual)

12
3. Costing out everything

• Sources of info costing tables
• UK Biodiversity Group. Tranche 2 Action Plans
  Cost estimates species
• GHK Consulting Ltd. UK Biodiversity Action Plan
  Preparing Costings for Species and Habitat Action
  Plans Revising the costs of delivering habitat
  action plans

13
3. Costing out everything

• Sources of info other
• HLS handbook
• National Statistics Retail Prices Index (for
  inflation figures)
• per diem rates for FWAG, countryside project
  staff etc
• experience from other projects
• Record your source!

14
3. Costing out everything

• Identify and list your assumptions
• What data are your figures based on?
• How have you made your decisions?
• How has staff time been allocated?

15
4. Find the funders

• Who is best placed to fund each delivery
  mechanism?
• landfill tax?
• local authorities?
• charitable trusts?
• businesses?
• Defra?
• Natural England?

16
4. Find the funders

• Dont limit yourself to the usual suspects!
• Check out a range of funders
• www.funderfinder.org
• www.access-funds.co.uk
• www.grant-tracker.org
• www.charity-commission.gov.uk

17
5. Barriers to funding

• Think about these as you look for funders
• Common barriers include
• projects on private land
• inaccessible sites
• landowner advisory projects

18
Illustrated example

• Beds Luton Floodplain Grazing Marsh HAP

19
Pulling together your strategy

• Summarise the needs for each habitat and species
• How much money is needed?
• One-time
• Annually
• Who are the key funders identified?
• How do the costs break down?

20
Pulling together your strategy

• Summarise your plan of action for each habitat
  and species
• Which funders should be approached?
• By whom?
• How?
• Can actions be lumped together into
  habitat/species projects?

21
Illustrated example

• Back to floodplain grazing marsh
• Costs to deliver the plan
• 65K one-time
• 30.6K annually
• Key funders
• planning gain
• local authorities
• Defra (HLS)

22
Pulling together your strategy

• Now, take a look at all of your summaries
• Are there similarities/synergies in approaches?
• Can you make bigger projects from actions in
  different HAPs and SAPs?

23
Pulling together your strategy

• Sum it all up
• How much money do you need?
• Which funders should be approached first, and for
  what?
• Recommendations for meeting shortfalls

24
Why bother?

• Case study Mid-Bedfordshire Planning Obligations
  SPD

25
Case study

• A compulsory charge on every new dwelling in
  Mid-Bedfordshire District
• To cover infrastructure costs
• schools
• transport
• health care
• green infrastructure
• etc.

26
Case study

• Mid Beds Executive approved a planning
  obligations charge that includes 1529 for green
  infrastructure
• Of this, 770.54 is specifically for biodiversity
• More money will come from archaeology and
  landscape pots in the 1529

27
Case study

• 173.89 of the 770.24 is for wetland projects,
  which include floodplain grazing marsh (FGM)

28
Case study

• In this case, figures for habitat creation and
  restoration were calculated separately
• This is because the costs are different (remember
  the costing tables?)
• For FGM there is only restoration in Mid Beds, no
  habitat creation

29
Case study

• Going through the wetland HAPs, all the
  restoration sites in Mid Beds were extracted and
  added up
• This came to 30.5 ha
• 12.0 of this is FGM

30
Case study

• HAP actions covered are

31
Case study

• FGM sites include
• Flitton Moor (3.5 ha, owned by the County
  Council)
• Priestley Farm (6 ha, owned by Beds CC but in
  tenancy)
• Westoning Moor (2 ha, privately owned)
• Land purchase not needed/ not an option

32
Remember where these figures came from?
33
Why bother?

• EA/NE comes calling, has some cash but needs to
  know NOW what you want to do and how much its
  going to cost because they need to get the budget
  spent asap

5135.00
34
Why bother?

• You discover one of your contacts might have some
  cash for data acquisition, since you hounded them
  so much about it

35
Why bother?

• You discover a new grant fund but the bid
  deadline is tomorrow

4703.00
36
Why bother?

• Gives you quick access to figures for when an
  opportunity comes up
• The early bird gets the worm! Even if the
  deadline isnt that tight youll impress them
  that you were so quick!

37
Sounds like a lot of work
It is.
38
Dont worry, though

• Its definitely worthwhile
• Quick access to figures and resource needs
• You will get to know your BAP a LOT better
• It will help with your next BAP review

39
Dont worry, though

• Remember youre dealing with a subset of your
  entire BAP
• Youve eliminated the zero-cost items
• Youll probably end up culling some stuff on top
  of that

40
Dont worry, though

• Im never going to get everyone to do all that
  work!
• Dont. Do something yourself and then ask people
  to check it for you
• If they cant be bothered to respond then keep
  going

41
Dont worry, though

• It gets easier as you get into it

Good luck!