Looking beyond finance boosts investment planning, industry group finds

Better value decisions will come from adopting an approach to investment planning that includes natural, social, human, intellectual and manufactured capital as well as finance, according to findings from a forum drawn from the water sector and its supply chain.

In a paper Driving best value decision-making within the water industry using a multi-capitals approach British Water subsidiary, the Water Industry Forum, along with ten water companies, industry regulators and consultancy, Atkins have sought to “illustrate how multi-capital approaches are being adopted and used.” They have also set out “key milestones and next steps” in developing the multi-capital approach. Those steps, according to the paper, include building on the UK Water Industry Research Future Asset Planning project led by Atkins, and work by different water companies, to establish a “common approach” to multi-capital decision making.

Principal consultant at Atkins, Monica Barker, said: the paper “demonstrates a real commitment across the industry to the principles we’re hoping to embed with its launch.” Executive director of the Water Industry Forum, Peter Drake, said: “This paper constitutes an important milestone in moving away from a purely financial approach to decision-making, to one that reflects the full value of nature.”

That shared approach, according to the forum, would apply to the next round of investment planning, including water resource management plans, drainage and wastewater management plans and the new Water Industry National Environment Programme.

The paper lays out a need to engage with regulators in building greater recognition of a multi-capital approach as a way of “demonstrating and maximising public value within the water sector, and to support alignment with other organisations and sectors to achieve further benefits”.