Insights

A bridge over troubled water: how do we pay for it?

Plan to spend Earlier this month, the seventeen English and Welsh water companies published their PR24 business plans. These set out what each company proposes to spend and deliver from 2025 to 2030. Ofwat will spend the next seven months assessing the plans. It will then publish its draft determinations in mid-2024 and final determinations […]

02 Nov, 2023

2023 infrastructure policy and regulation outlook

Josh Buckland Mark Caines

Overview Following a year of crisis-fuelled focus on resilience, especially in the energy and water sectors, 2023 will raise an even more difficult question – how do you fund investment in long-term resilience during a period of economic uncertainty? Government budgets are under pressure, and the continuing cost-of-living crisis means there is limited scope to […]

16 Feb, 2023

REMA: Just rearranging the furniture, or rebuilding the whole house?

James Diggle Josh Buckland Mark Caines

Why now? At a first glance, the Government’s Review of Electricity Market Arrangements (REMA) might look like a technical exercise, only of interest to energy geeks. However, once you dig under the surface, it becomes clear that the process could ultimately lead to the most significant set of reforms to the way we run the […]

29 Jul, 2022

Return to independents?

Mark Caines

The Competition and Markets Authority has a lot on its plate. Brexit has increased its merger caseload; it is home to the new Digital Markets Unit; and it is in the midst of a debate about whether the competition policy framework is fit for purpose. It cannot help that it is also repeatedly asked to […]

18 Jun, 2021

What next in football broadcasting?

Mark Caines

We set out our views on what is a highly turbulent time for football clubs and sports broadcasters. After ten years of heavy investment in football rights, BT is considering selling a stake in BT Sport. Regardless of whether the historic investment has been a success, now is a challenging time for a sale. Any investment in football faces a complex mix of political, policy, regulatory and […]

08 May, 2021

Writer: Mark Caines