The Scottish Government’s independent center of infrastructure expertise, Scottish Futures Trust (SFT), has published its latest five-year corporate plan that outlines how it will prioritize its work towards a vision of world-class infrastructure for the people of Scotland.

Recognizing that high-quality infrastructure underpins inclusive economic growth, sustainable communities and the effective provision of public services, Scottish Government has set a National Infrastructure Mission to increase infrastructure investment by up to GBP1.5 billion (US$1.9 billion) per annum over its GBP5.2 billion (US$6.7 billion) 2019-20 baseline, so that it reaches GBP6.7 billion (US$8.6 billion) in 2025-26. 

SFT has a unique role across the whole of Scotland, working with the public and private sectors, to:

• Plan asset investment and management effectively across sectors and places 
• Innovate in approaches to funding, financing and delivery 
• Deliver projects and programmes to drive life-cycle value and vibrant construction and related industries 
• Manage existing assets, estates and contracts productively 

SFT’s Corporate Plan sets out the outcomes it will work with partners to deliver, with a particular focus on:

• Enabling development in places where jobs can be created and homes built – bringing public and private sector partners together with a focus on infrastructure and innovative financing to unlock the potential of places and assets;
• Delivering investment programmes in public infrastructure effectively – especially programmes which span multiple organisations such as schools’ investment and elements of the National Infrastructure Mission which need new financing approaches to be delivered.

In supporting the National Infrastructure Mission to enable the low-carbon, digitally enabled economy of tomorrow, SFT sees an increased focus on:

• The low-carbon infrastructure where we are working to deliver better insulated buildings, de-carbonise heat and provide options to increase electric vehicle charging points
• The digital infrastructure where we are working on 5G technologies as well as rolling out masts to further increase 4G coverage in mobile ‘not-spots’
• Infrastructure technology with 3D computer modeling, virtual reality and laser scanning all amongst the new infrastructure technologies we are promoting to virtually build a new school or hospital to help flush out any design flaws before moving the building into the construction phase
• Maintenance and resilience where a renewed focus on making the best use of the assets we have through effective and joined-up use of buildings and focussed investment in condition can benefit users, the environment and free up the budget over the medium term to invest in transformation

Much of SFT’s infrastructure work is delivered in partnership with the Scottish construction industry. Recognising its importance to the economy SFT will seek to ensure a vibrant construction industry with increased productivity delivering well-designed and high-quality assets to its customers and fair and rewarding work to a diverse workforce.