Eastern New Energy (ENE) and South East New Energy (SENE) Project Summative Assessments

Project

Eastern New Energy (ENE) and South East New Energy (SENE) Project Summative Assessments

University of East London

In March 2023, Lichfields were appointed by the University of East London (UEL) to undertake Summative Assessments for the University’s two Low Carbon support programmes. The Eastern New Energy (ENE) and South East New Energy (SENE) were £6.2 million and £6.4 million projects delivered by the UEL alongside a consortium of regional partners.
The projects, which contributed towards ERDF Priority Axis 4: Supporting the Shift Towards a Low Carbon Economy, sought to accelerate the transition towards a low carbon economy across the project delivery areas. This included building a stronger local energy and low carbon economy by helping to remove barriers preventing rapidly decarbonising communities, buildings, transport, and lives.
The projects delivered a holistic range of interventions, working with businesses, local authorities, communities, organisations, households, and individuals to:
  • Better understand their energy needs to reduce consumption, and reduce carbon emissions;
     
  • Enable businesses to generate renewable energy;
     
  • Investigate between switching vehicle fleets to low carbon alternatives;
     
  • Develop and execute Net-Zero action plans;
     
  • Explore approaches to building affordable zero-carbon homes;
     
  • Retrofit existing homes;
     
  • Develop community and commercial energy projects; and
     
  • Design, develop and bring to market new low carbon products and services.
Lichfields undertook separate Summative Assessments for the projects, in accordance with ERDF Summative Assessment Guidance (ESIF-GN-1-033) and HM Treasury Magenta Book and Green Book for policy evaluation and economic appraisal. The purpose of the Summative Assessment was to reflect on the experience of implementing the projects, identifying the difference that the project made to beneficiaries, relevant partners, stakeholders, and the wider regional economy, assess whether the projects provided value for money, and identify lessons learned and any best practice approaches uncovered that could be used to inform future project design and delivery.
The deliverable outputs were comprehensive evaluation Summative Assessment reports submitted to DLUHC alongside standalone executive summaries. The reports covered project context, progress against contracted output targets, experience of implementing the projects in terms of delivery and management, outcomes and impacts associated with project delivery and value for money, as well as recommendations for policy-makers and project delivery teams looking to deliver future similar interventions.
 
Lichfields provided us with an excellent team with appropriate background and expertise to quickly get to grips with the project requirements. We were impressed with their ability to synthesize and appropriately work with large amounts of project information and background documentation. They utilised personable and effective communication with our project partners and end beneficiaries in their research process. The final reports captured the methodologies, value and future impact of our New Energy Projects clearly in a convincing, cohesive and visually appealing way.

Susan Keeping, ENE/SENE Project Manager, University of East London