Part 2: Subsidy control requirements Chapter 2: Prohibitions and other requirements Section 29: Services of public economic interest
Services of Public Economic Interest (SPEI) are public services that would not be supplied (or would not be supplied under the required conditions) without public intervention, and which are of particular importance to society. Examples of an SPEI could include social housing or rural public transport services.
	A public authority can only award a subsidy for the delivery of a SPEI if it does so in a transparent manner and it is satisfied that the value of the subsidy is restricted to what is necessary to deliver that service. Public authorities should take into consideration the cost of delivering the service and what would be a reasonable profit for the enterprise delivering the task when deciding the value of the subsidy.
	Subsections (4) and (5) set out the steps a public authority has to take to award a SPEI subsidy in a transparent manner.
	Public authorities must review a SPEI subsidy to ensure it remains what is necessary to deliver the service and, if the compensation is above what is necessary, then the public authority must recover the excess. Public authorities must conduct such a review at least every three years and upon final delivery of the service of public economic interest.
	The subsidy control principles in Schedule 1 only apply to the award of a subsidy for the delivery of an SPEI insofar as applying them does not obstruct the delivery of the service.