Derby & Nottingham Transforming Cities Funding

ITP supported Derby and Nottingham City Council in unlocking £161m to enhance intra-city public and sustainable transport connectivity in Derby and Nottingham.

Project facts

Client: Nottingham City Council and Derby City Council
Location: East Midlands
Date: 2018 – 2025
Challenge: To secure funding from the UK Government to make significant infrastructure investments to improve Nottingham and Derby’s sustainable transport network, whilst working amid time constraints and a highly competitive bidding framework.
Solution: By working collaboratively with the two cities we developed a robust Strategic Outline Business Case which secured over £161 million in capital funding for sustainable transport improvements and was the only submission to receive the full amount of funding sought.

In 2018, the Government launched the £2.5bn Transforming Cities Fund (TCF), to support some of the largest city regions to bid competitively to improve intra-city public and sustainable transport connectivity.

ITP was initially appointed by Nottingham City Council to support the development of their Tranche 1 bid and after successfully unlocking £7.2 million, we were retained to prepare a joint bid with Derby City Council for Tranche 2, unlocking a further £161 million.

Since then, our role has transitioned to project assurance, preparing Full Business Cases for all 17 projects including a new pedestrian and cyclist bridge across the River Trent, numerous new cycle routes and public transport improvements.

How did we do it?

Through a series of collaborative workshops with the two councils we discussed the current transport network and future transport-related issued to identify gaps and opportunities.

From this we developed a long list of potential schemes and, using a scoring framework based on the aims and objectives of the Transforming Cities Fund criteria, sifted the schemes to a preferred shortlist.

The shortlisted schemes were rigorously assessed using strategic modelling techniques such as TUBA, DfT’s Active Mode Appraisal Toolkit, TfL’s Valuing Urban Realm Toolkit, as well as bespoke WebTAG-compliant spreadsheet models, to calculate the potential impacts.

These impact assessments were carried out for low, medium and high value packages, in line with DfT’s guidance, and were then combined into a complex, multi-package economic appraisal.

The outputs of our appraisal fed into our Strategic Outline Business Case for the bid which included the Strategic, Economic, Financial, Commercial and Management cases funding, and included extensive mapping, infographics and visualisations.

In March 2020, the Department for Transport awarded Derby and Nottingham City Council full funding for the 'high value' scenario of £161m - the only city region to achieve this.

Following the funding award, we’ve supported both councils to prepare Full Business Cases for all 17 projects delivered through the programme, providing an assurance role to the project promoters for the most high-risk, long-term projects during project delivery.

It is a very positive reflection of the work to develop the programme, and to prioritise to an appropriate size of package.

Chris CarterHead of Transport Strategy, Nottingham City Council

Real-world impact

The funding ITP secured to improve transport connections is now becoming a reality with a new flagship TCF-funded pedestrian and cyclist bridge under construction.

The bridge will connect Trent Basin’s growing residential community to the north with Holme Pierrepont, riverside walks, and key sports venues like the Nottingham Forest's City Ground and Trent Bridge Cricket Ground to the south.

With links to nearby high-quality cycle routes and sustainable transport connections through to the city centre and along the river, this bridge will make walking and cycling safer and more accessible for all and boost inter-city connectivity and low-carbon travel.

This is one example of ITP’s track record of successfully unlocking transport funds on behalf of clients. The key to our success has been the pragmatic and proportionate approach we have adopted to economic appraisal and business case development, informed by our thorough understanding of the costs and benefits of transport schemes and our familiarity with the evidence base. We make use of the most appropriate assessment tools available and use the most relevant data sources, while carefully documenting our approach and evidence in a transparent way that funding decision-makers can follow.

Please contact us to learn more about our appraisal and business case projects, or if you need support unlocking funding for sustainable transport initiatives.

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