Our market-leading subsidy control team advises all levels of government, private and third sector organisations on compliance with the subsidy control and legacy state aid regimes. We’re one of the largest subsidy control teams in the country.
From national grant funding schemes to public sector loans, guarantees and joint ventures, we advise on all aspects of the regime in a variety of sectors. We support both funding bodies and recipients so understand each party’s objectives and requirements. This enables us to provide tailored solutions suitable for all parties.
We advise clients on subsidy control challenges and audits, and our contacts with leading counsel and consultants in this niche area mean we’re able to assemble market-leading teams to support clients through these processes.
Subsidy control law is complex and changing rapidly, so clear advice from sector experts is critical to ensuring compliance and eliminating legal risk. Subsidy control opinions are also often required to unlock public funding for projects.
Advising Derby City Council on its contribution of grant funding towards the development of the Derby Smartparc Development. This is a key development for the economic development of Derby and consists of a 140-acre high tech food manufacturing campus which will create up to 5000 new jobs. The value of the development is estimated to be £300m.
Advising the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (DBEIS) on the state aid and subsidy control aspects of its £320m Heat Network Investment Project and the successor Green Heat Networks Fund – including drafting national guidance for the scheme and reviewing legal opinions from fund applicants.
Advising Canal & River Trust on several grant funding projects, including under the Towns Fund and Levelling Up Fund.
Advising 50+ applicants for LEP funding (including private and public sector applicants and universities) on the state aid compliance of their projects. This included drafting formal opinions where necessary. These projects included those focussing on skills development, career support, opportunity development and job creation and business growth and viability.
"The contract was carried out to a high standard while WEFO itself was unsure itself how the work was to be undertaken from the outset and altered the requirements slightly part-way through the contract. Browne Jacobson were helpful and were in contact throughout."
"Both quickly and efficiently Browne Jacobson were able to understand the complicated nature of the proposed scheme of redevelopment and they provided excellent knowledge of this specialised area of law and sensible solutions to assist. Their service levels were excellent and they were always on hand."
"Browne Jacobson’s approach was professional, responsive and thorough in supporting us to achieve our aims. The advice given was clearly explained and consistently solution based. Key staff were always accommodating, offered clear examples that demonstrated the impact of alternative decisions and were never patronising."
"The firm’s expert advice has spanned the broad range of legal work-streams involved in the project, and has been consistently sound and practical. The lawyers involved have impressed the client team with their diligence and ability to work to demanding timescales, as well as their successful working relationship with the internal Legal team."
In July, the long-awaited statutory guidance on the Subsidy Control Act 2022 (Act) was published in draft form (Draft Guidance). A consultation on the draft guidance has recently ended and the results have not yet been published – it may therefore change before the final version is published.
When carrying out a mix of activities it can be less clear if it is 'economic'. We look at the impact on local authorities & charities.
We waited more than a year for it, but the wait is over – we finally have a domestic case on the new subsidy control regime.
In this on-demand session, Alex Kynoch and Angelica Hymers explore the practicalities of complying with the new Subsidy Control Bill, and the impact of illustrative guidance and policy statements recently published by the Government.
It has been a turbulent couple of years for those involved in subsidy control, and 2022 will be equally challenging. The Subsidy Control Bill (Bill) will take effect in 2022.
2022 is the year in which the UK’s new post-Brexit subsidy control regime will take effect. The new Subsidy Control Bill will form the backbone of the UK’s new subsidy control regime. The new Bill will replace the EU’s state aid rules, which applied until the end of the Brexit transition period.
In the first part of this article, we discussed the application of the Subsidy Control Principles. In part 2, we look at how Streamlined Subsidy Schemes will be used to grant certain subsidies more quickly, and at the enforcement and transparency provisions of the Bill.
The repeal of the State aid rules and their replacement by the regime stemming from the UK-EU Trade and Co-operation Agreement (TCA) in 2021 meant that practitioners and public bodies had to acclimatise to a new, more flexible but less certain approach.
Browne Jacobson’s specialist government and infrastructure team have advised Canford Renewable Energy Ltd on the delivery of its Dorset Green H2 facility.
It is vitally important that public bodies make use of this opportunity to have their views heard and to shape the future of the new subsidy control regime.
The Department for Business, Energy & Industrial Strategy has just launched its consultation on the future of subsidy control law (previously known as state aid) in the UK.
Until a formal subsidy regime is put in place funding bodies must grapple with the complex and challenging exercise of legal obligations from the UK-EU TCA and numerous trade agreements to grant funding.
The UK’s state aid rules change from 1 January 2021 we will bring you up to speed on the new position.
From 1 January 2021 the state aid principles set out in the Trade and Co-Operation Agreement are incorporated into law by the EU (Future Relationship) Act 2020.
The case of Istituto nazionale per l’assicurazione contro gli infortuni sul lavoro (INAIL) v Zennaro Giuseppe Legnami Sas di Zennaro Mauro & C concerns the application of the De Minimis Regulation.
Are measures adopted by publicly owned companies state resources for the purposes of state aid rules?
The European Commission has taken this decision due to the effects of the current crisis and after consultation with member states.
An update on current issues including avoiding legal challenge to procurement decisions, public decision making, state aid and commercial and supply chain.
The new State aid Temporary Framework has been adapted by the European Commission due to the disruption that the coronavirus has caused.
The European Commission has adopted a Temporary State Aid Framework to increase Member States’ ability to support their economies in the light of the COVID-19 pandemic. It did the same thing in 2008 as a response to the global financial crisis.
This webinar will set out the basics of state aid rules and is accessible to lawyers and non-lawyers. We will work through practical examples and provide tips on how state aid assessments can be streamlined to avoid the delays and disruptions often associated with state aid compliance.
This month includes public procurement, planning, the Clean Air Bill, rent regulation, and in loco parentis in schools.
This month includes construction and the environment, clean air, legal privilege, dissipation of assets to avoid care home fees, state aid, Freedom of Information Act 2000, Part 36 case update.
State aid is a key concern for public bodies establishing and funding commercial entities, whether wholly or jointly owned.
Public and private bodies throughout the country are exploring their options for developing new networks and expanding existing networks, both with and without central government support.
This month includes local government re-organisation, social care, Litigants in Person, state aid and the draft Registration of Overseas Entities Bill.
A recent commission decision regarding the reacquisition of the Hamburg District Heating Network (Decision) has given some useful insight in to ensuring that investment in to a district heating scheme by a public body is done in a way which is compliant with state aid principles, specifically the market economy operator principle (MEOP).
Browne Jacobson has announced the promotion of 12 lawyers to its new senior associate role.
As private businesses, public bodies and universities alike strive to gain a competitive advantage, each increasingly look to each other to develop next generation products and services.
