Investment Planning and Prioritisation Group report: quarter 4 2021 to 2022

Section 3 - Progress of the development of interventions with Level 1 and 2 appraisals

This section provides an overview of the progress of interventions that are subject to Level 1 and 2 appraisals^[3], together with a view of when these are expected to reach future appraisal stages. The full list of interventions with Level 1 and 2 appraisals, with an indication of the anticipated timing, is shown in Appendix 2.

Highlights from project investment appraisals completed within the quarter are included in Table 1.

Table 1 – Project Investment Appraisal Highlights

Loch Katrine land management project

Stage 3a (G50)

March 2022

Scottish Water's Loch Katrine Estate in the Loch Lomond and Trossachs National Park comprises 9,500 Hectares and is leased to Forestry and Land Scotland (FLS) on a 150-year tenancy. FLS in partnership with Scottish Water, is developing a Land Management Plan that has now gone out to public consultation. The project will increase woodland on the estate for both carbon capture and biodiversity and will make a significant to Scottish Waters net zero commitment.

The project also has the potential to demonstrate the benefits of the partnership approach taken with FLS to improve carbon and biodiversity, as well as engagement with the local community.

The Stage 3a PIA has been shared and stakeholder engagement session undertaken in May 2022.

Newfield Trunk main project

Stage 3a (G50)

March 2022

This project addresses the highest-ranking Recurring Customer Interruptions (RCI) Need across Scotland, with 66 recorded trunk main bursts over the past 10 years, and non-compliance with the RCI MA. A project to resolve the risk of repeated interruptions to supply for 277 properties within the Newfield Water Supply Zone and address resilience and growth in the area has been developed.

The Stage 3a PIA has been shared and stakeholder engagement session undertaken in May 2022.

Daer WTW

Stage 2 (G40)

March 2022

In the period from August 2021 to October 2021, the Daer supply zone experienced a serious water quality incident when high levels of manganese in the water leaving Daer WTW caused numerous discolouration exceedances and thousands of customer complaints. As a result, we have provided DWQR with a Letter of Commitment for the WTWs.

Daer was originally confirmed for investment through IPPF with the needs agreed with the DWQR being: microbiology, disinfection by-product (DBP) compliance, lead, operational technology, and the subsequent addition of discolouration.

The PIA will be shared with stakeholders at Stage 3a (preferred option).

An overview of the appraisals at Stage 2/3a/b/4 that were forecast to be completed during quarter 4 2021-22 and the actual appraisals delivered is shown (Table 2) below. This also includes additions to the forecast post-December 2021.

Points to note are:

• 42 project investment appraisals were included in the Quarter 3 forecast to achieve Stage 2, 3a, b or 4 within the quarter (Quarter 4):
• There were 10 additions to the forecast (accelerations and re-prioritisation)
• 2 projects were closed down/removed from Level 1/2 PIA requirements due to lower complexity requirements.

Of the 50 remaining total projects:

• 23 PIA were completed within Quarter 4
• 2 projects were waivered from a Level 2 to Level 3.

Three themes emerge from reviewing why the remaining 25 projects did not meet their forecasts, these are:

• Re-prioritisation and reviewing needs within the Water Programme (9). Several projects have been reforecast (in agreement with DWQR) for later delivery as several projects were accelerated as these projects have a greater priority than the others originally programmed.
• Technical information availability (7). Appropriate time needs to be built in to make sure the technical evidence base and assurance is robust enough to progress to the next appraisal stage, and sufficient resource is available for the capacity of projects.
• Scope and costing (within Stage 3a and 3b) (7) Appropriate time to be built in to allow for initial costing, and changes of scope to be reflected in later Appraisal stages.
• Miscellaneous/singular reasons (2)

The forecast for 2022-23 is shown below (Table 3) and the details are provided in Appendix 2.