Anthony Collins Solicitors LLP

For 50 years, we’ve been successfully combining market-leading legal expertise, with a commitment to excellence and long-term relationships underpinned by our core purpose – to improve lives, communities and society. Our social purpose has been recognised with a prestigious B Corp accreditation, meaning our advice, culture and commitments, align with the work and aspirations of our clients.

Our dedicated projects team consists of over 40 solicitors who regularly deal with heat networks (and the wider renewable energy sector), regeneration, highways, environment, waste, leisure and local authority investments to provide advice about subsidy control, procurement, competition law, real estate, planning, CPO, local authority powers, governance, and construction.

We have extensive experience supporting on low carbon heat network projects, including initial stage support and over the lifecycle of a heat network including, commercialisation, construction, expansion and resolving disputes about heat networks.

We provide support regarding:

• Understanding local authority powers relating to heat networks (powers to generate and sell heat, general power of competence and planning) and electricity and the overall governance approach to the project;
• Regulatory compliance in areas such as the sale of electricity and the class exemptions from the Electricity Act 1989, the Heat Network (Metering and Billing) Regulation 2014 or impact of any actual or upcoming regulatory issues arising from the Energy Act 2023, particularly the future role of OFGEM in regulating heat networks;
• The implications of different procurement approaches;
• Addressing the different outcomes which might arise from any proposed commercial strategy, delivery structure and contractual arrangements;
• Subsidy control advice ensuring that the project is planned so that it complies with the requirements and principles set out in the Subsidy Control Act 2022; and
• Navigating different funding arrangements for safeguarding local authority’s ability to recover VAT.]

Unlike many firms, we provide cutting-edge procurement and subsidy control advice alongside construction advice within a large construction and infrastructure team.  This innovative blend of skillsets is built around our local government focus, quite distinct from the traditional model of private practice firms.  Our understanding of opportunities to secure value for money through significant procurements is second to none. Our team includes a host of thought leaders on the subject of securing social value through infrastructure projects.

We are ranked in both Chambers and Partners and Legal 500 (Tier 1) for Local Government services, assuring you of the high-quality of our services and the breadth of our sector-expertise