2007-2013 Programmes : JESSICA
Joint European Support for Sustainable Investment in City Areas (JESSICA) is a new policy initiative of the European Commission, supported by the European Investment Bank
JESSICA Scotland
The Scottish Government and the European Investment Bank (EIB) has announced that a consortium led by Amber Infrastructure Ltd has been selected as preferred bidder to set up and manage a new £48 million investment fund that will support a range of regeneration projects across Scotland. The Fund is capitalised with resources from Scottish Government and the European Regional Development Fund.
The fund is part of the Joint European Support for Sustainable Investment in City Areas (JESSICA) initiative designed to lever significant co-investment from the public and private sectors in supporting urban renewal and jobs growth through revenue generating projects in the target 13 local authority areas in Lowlands and Uplands Scotland.
The JESSICA Urban Development Funds (UDFs) are operated by specialist fund managers and the EIB led a procurement exercise to select a successful fund manager candidate for the Scottish JESSICA UDF. The JESSICA Scotland Investment Board, which comprises senior Scottish Government officials and urban regeneration and specialist fund experts, endorsed the EIB's selection of the consortium led by Amber Infrastructure Ltd.
Amber Fund Management Limited (Amber) is the provider of fund management services, supported by ESEP Ltd, who bring significant knowledge of urban regeneration and a track record of managing Structural Funds Programmes in Scotland, as well as EKOS, King Sturge and the Royal Bank of Scotland.
The Fund will support a wide range of urban regeneration activity within a well defined, integrated, sustainable urban development plan. Eligible and investible projects will include the development of office and commercial space, key transport projects and investment in the energy sector. This latter activity will include support for innovative approaches to energy efficiency retrofit measures - in particular, those targeting the retrofit of existing social housing stock.
Financial support from the Fund is to be provided in the form of loans of investment capital, which will need to be repaid within an agreed timescale. The Fund is not able to provide support in the form of grants.
The main objectives of JESSICA are:
* To help the authorities in the Member States of the European Union exploit financial engineering mechanisms to support investment in sustainable urban development in the context of cohesion policy
* To provide new opportunities to Managing Authorities responsible for the next generation of cohesion policy
How JESSICA works
JESSICA allows the use of interim payments from Managing Authorities from Structural Funds through recyclable and recoverable financial mechanisms, essentially equity, guarantees and subordinated loans. Recovered funds may be reinvested through UDFs or returned to the Managing Authority to support other urban regeneration projects.
JESSICA offers new opportunities for the use of Structural Funds for the integrated development of urban areas and allows recycling of funds for revenue generating components of urban renewal and development programmes. Building on a market-driven approach that is essential for the success of UDFs, the Structural Funds used in JESSICA are expected both to leverage substantial amounts of investment into areas in need of economic development and social cohesion and to speed up their transformation.
The 13 local authority areas eligible for investment, determined by the Scottish Index of Multiple Deprivation are Clackmannanshire, Dundee, East Ayrshire, Edinburgh, Fife, Glasgow, Inverclyde, North Ayrshire, North Lanarkshire, Renfrewshire, South Lanarkshire, West Dunbartonshire and West Lothian.
More information on the JESSICA initiative can be found on the Scottish Government's website.
Information on Amber can be found at www.amberinfrastructure.com.
For more information please contact:
Michael McKernan
[email protected]
Tel: 0141 241 6150
