Invitation to tender water and leakage regulatory framework

Summary of requirements

The Prosperity Fund Programme in Brazil seeks to appoint a Service Supplier (contractor, company or professional) with in depth knowledge of the water sector to deliver an analysis of the formulation and developments of the water and leakage regulatory framework in the United Kingdom mainly focused on - but not limited to - the following elements:

• the current policy, legal and regulatory frameworks relevant to water treatment and water losses, as well as the capacity of the relevant water utilities, public institutions and private sector to implement the legislation
• the notable challenges because of the privatization of the sector and how all the changes had affected the regulators (explore some case studies, OFWAT and Thames Water for instance)
• the opportunities created for private companies that provide products and services for the related sector in order to comply with regulatory demands

Focusing on the above areas, the study will have two objectives:

1. to provide an in-depth study around the UK water regulatory framework, flagging the best initiatives, lessons learned and what has been done to modernize it.
2. to identify and map relevant market opportunities and UK private companies within Non-revenue water sector to support the delivery of secondary benefits of the Prosperity Fund and strengthen UK companies' presence in Brazil.

Deliverables

Provide a study about the UK water regulatory framework, and its developments through the years (particularly from the privatization process until present). We aim to understand:

• how the British economic regulator (OFWAT) was able to promote a sustainable environment and stablish guidelines for competitive investments in the leakage and complementary sectors
• the standards and goals that private water utilities need to achieve in service quality, coverage and water losses
• the developments, best practices and lessons learned aroused during the process of creation and implementation of the UK's regulatory framework, and recommendation for replicability in other countries
• identify the subsectors that received more investments and what kind of opportunities these changes provided for private companies

Present the results in:

• partial report (1) in English with executive summary (by end of January)
• full Report (1) in both Portuguese and English, with executive summary (by end of February)
• final presentation via video conference to present main findings (first week of March)

Conditions

• kick-off meeting to align expectations around the study and at least 2 checkpoint meetings to discuss the development of the study (to be scheduled later)
• deliver 1 partial report or preliminary results until 31 January and present them during one checkpoint meeting
• deliver final report including a list of UK water utilities involved on the water leakage regulatory study by 28 February. Delivery dates are not negotiable and cannot be postponed
• the FCDO can help you providing contacts, however the successful company will be responsible for engagements and deliverables

Supplier requirements

Essential

• based in Brazil or United Kingdom and able to delivery this assessment virtually
• fluent in English
• robust knowledge and experience of water legislation in the UK and business development
• experience of developing studies around water sector regulations
• good communication skills to interact with a variety of stakeholders in both the private and public sectors
• flexibility to enable meetings with as many key stakeholders as possible and availability for meetings with the Prosperity Fund team based in Brazil

Desirable

• experience of working with the UK Government

Proposals

Please submit proposals via email to