How purpose-driven infrastructure can build trust in the water sector

24 April 2025

A new guide offers a practical framework to embed social value at the heart of major infrastructure projects, helping to deliver lasting benefits for communities and improve project outcomes

Water infrastructure is vital for a thriving society, providing essential services that sustain life and enhance wellbeing. However, the significance of these projects is often overshadowed by concerns about disruptions, rising customer bills and social and environmental impacts. These issues can lead to mistrust in the water industry and a lack of support for essential projects, resulting in delays and increased costs for consumers.

With plans to invest approximately £104 billion in water and sewage infrastructure between 2025 and 2030, nearly doubling the expenditure compared to the previous five years, it is crucial for the industry to work together to alleviate concerns and build trust. This involves not only showcasing the inherent value the industry provides to society, but also highlighting the social benefits that can be delivered to local communities throughout these projects.

"Purpose-driven Delivery", a guide recently developed by Jacobs in collaboration with the Major Projects Association and the Major Projects Social Value Forum, offers a comprehensive framework for embedding social value into major infrastructure projects. This article explores the significance of this approach in the water industry, and highlights project case studies to demonstrate the effectiveness of strategically considering social value throughout planning, delivery and operation.

“Purpose-driven” infrastructure

The "Purpose-driven Delivery” guide is based on research with over 40 organisations in major infrastructure sectors like rail, residential, nuclear and water. It draws on insights from 20 projects and emphasises placing people at the centre of decision-making throughout a project's lifecycle.

A key principle of "purpose-driven delivery" is to align project objectives with broader societal goals. This approach goes beyond asset delivery and engineering solutions to consider its societal purpose, focusing on broader outcomes like improved health, wellbeing, economic development and environmental protection and enhancement opportunities. The guide offers practical steps to help projects understand their societal context. By doing so, projects can advance the value they deliver to society through their design, delivery and operations in a way that aligns with this purpose.

This approach not only enables projects to improve societal benefits, but also reduces project delivery risks and create a compelling narrative about their value that remains consistent through every stage of the scheme.

The guide explains that “this approach isn’t about increasing costs but strategically investing time and effort to achieve better outcomes for both the project and society”. The methodologies applied are designed to complement and enhance existing decision-making processes by proving a more holistic understanding of what is valuable to society, and what should be valued by the project.

Applying social value in infrastructure delivery: case studies

The guide includes case studies from rail, residential, nuclear and water, many of which offer important learnings for the water and environmental sectors.

Thames Tideway Tunnel, London

The Thames Tideway Tunnel project will reduce sewage overflows into the River Thames. Beyond its technical achievements, the project has made significant strides in delivering broader societal benefits through early consideration of its purpose and a strategic focus on delivering benefits beyond the direct delivery of the "super sewer".

Engagement with over 300,000 people during the project’s consultation phase, which involved an extensive period of public exhibitions and meetings, revealed a sense of disconnection with the River Thames. These findings lead to the Tideway's company vision of "reconnecting London with the Thames", which fostered a purpose-driven culture that helped the Tideway team and their vast supply chain deliver wider social, economic and environmental benefits across the capital. These wider legacy benefits include three acres of new public space along the Thames, enhancing quality of life for London’s residents and visitors.

Tideway in Hammersmith. Credit: Stewart Turkington.

This reconnection ambition led to a major focus on using the river to manage the logistics of such a vast infrastructure project in central London. Doing so avoided over 660,000 HGV journeys and saved 24,000 tonnes of CO2e. This in turn drove a need for Tideway to invest in critical skills to help manage these river logistics. Tideway helped create the Thames Skills Academy (TSA), which delivers training programmes for inland waterway competencies and works with employers to address skills gaps on the tidal Thames. Working with the TSA, Tideway has trained 103 new boatmasters to work on the Thames.

By placing social value and purpose at the heart of delivery, Tideway delivered a measurable positive return on its investment in this wider legacy, with £1.72 of social benefit returned for every £1 spent on the social value programme (only benefits over and above those required in consenting were measured). What is more, focusing on legacy and purpose has improved the project's reputation and gained community support, while addressing key delivery challenges such as inner-city logistics and attracting skilled labour during a national shortage.

Tideway tunnel after completion. Credit: Tideway London

Transpennine Route Upgrade (TRU), Northern England

The TRU project is a multi-billion-pound programme to deliver more frequent, reliable and greener travel between Manchester, Huddersfield, Leeds and York. While not a water infrastructure project, it offers valuable insights for the water sector.

From the start, the TRU programme placed social value at the heart of delivery. The Department for Transport (DfT) went beyond traditional means of assessing scheme benefits, which usually includes an economic appraisal and cost benefit analysis. By applying social value techniques, TRU added to and complimented the existing approach to validate the business case. This also informed the strategy through design and delivery to advance social, economic and environmental benefits.

An analysis of the programme’s social value was conducted using HM Treasury Green Book guidance – the UK government's framework for investment decision-making. This enabled the programme to assess potential wellbeing impacts and benefits beyond traditional economic and environmental evaluations. The analysis helped us understand the programme's potential effects on people's wellbeing and quality of life.

Additionally, the programme helped develop the most appropriate design and construction methods by modelling the benefits and disbenefits of different options. This led to a greater understanding of how to mitigate negative impacts on communities and passengers, and identified opportunities to increase societal value through our design and delivery of the scheme.

Consequently, an industry first, enterprise-wide Sustainable Development Strategy was established. Drawing commitments from Network Rail, DfT, train operators and supply chain partners, it created a united focus to deliver environmental, social and economic benefits throughout the project lifecycle. The strategy articulated the programme’s aspirations to create thousands of new jobs, boost local spending, reduce carbon emissions, improve air quality and enhance community wellbeing through volunteering, investment and managing negative impacts.

The benefits of this approach are already being experienced. The initial wellbeing assessment has yielded significant advantages in employment, skill development and growth opportunities. These benefits continue even during the peak of construction, which can be disruptive to passengers. As of April 2025, more than 360 apprentices have been employed by the programme, and 66 per cent of its expenditure outside the TRU framework has been allocated within 25 miles of the route. Tens of thousands of work experience days have been provided to support both young people and adults, with 15,000 of these days specifically helping young people gain the necessary skills and experience to secure employment.

Applying this learning to water infrastructure

The concept of embedding ‘purpose’ at the core of business operations is well-established within the water sector. Major UK water companies and bodies consistently highlight their dedication to environmental and social wellbeing. For instance, Ofwat aims to “improve life through water”, while Anglian Water’s purpose is to “conduct its business and operations for the benefit of members as a whole, delivering long-term value for its customers, the region and the communities it serves”.

This focus on purpose is partly driven by the environmental, social and governance (ESG) agenda, which has become increasingly crucial in the water and environmental sectors for attracting finance and investment, as well as demonstrating responsible business practices. However, has the water sector truly integrated purpose into decision-making?

The guide offers valuable insights: showcasing examples where social value influences investment evaluations and helps design a cohesive vision for projects, serving as a golden thread through design, procurement and operation.

A key point of the guide is that social value approaches should not significantly increase costs or obscure decisions on scope. Instead, they should systematically consider how investments can deliver the greatest value through every aspect of their delivery and operation from the outset. The report cautions against “tokenistic social value” and unfounded claims of large monetised social value, which can lead to accusations of “social value washing”.

When executed effectively, this approach enhances project acceptance and success, while contributing to long-term community sustainability and resilience.

Jacobs is a CIWEM business partner. Read more about our partnership offering here. You can also learn about CIWEM's River and Coastal Group here.

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Sarah Rial is social outcomes, equity and health lead at Jacobs