Ebbsfleet Development Corporation (EDC), subsidy to Ebbsfleet Garden City Trust

The Ebbsfleet Development Corporation (EDC), subsidy to Ebbsfleet Garden City Trust has an estimated value of £40,013,000 and consists of the transfer of five income generating assets, as well as the provision of grant funding to acquire a sixth asset. The subsidy is intended to support the long-term management of strategic community spaces by the Trust by providing it with an income and is part of the exit strategy of EDC.

Our key takeaways from the Subsidy Advice Unit (SAU) report are:

• Assessments should clearly explain the counterfactuals, and where the subsidy consists of the transfer of assets, this should include explaining who would otherwise own each asset and the impact this might have on the management of every asset.
• Assessments should clearly set out the policy objective and demonstrate how all aspects of the subsidy link to this objective.
• Where monitoring methods are proposed to ensure that the subsidy remains proportionate, the planned operation of the monitoring should be described in detail, as well as what actions would be taken if issues were identified.
• Assessments should always set out the potential competition and investment impacts that the subsidy might have on relevant markets. This includes describing the relevant markets in detail in the assessment.
• When undertaking the balancing exercise in the assessment, benefits of the subsidy should be explained in the context of the likely counterfactuals.

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