SINCE its launch last July, Scotland’s public bodies and private sector construction businesses have welcomed the benefits delivered by the Construction Pipeline Forecast Tool, the Scottish Futures Trust has revealed.
The pipeline has been ‘refreshed’ and now contains an expanded list of projects, with a value of £11 billion, while the number of registered website users exceeds 600.
Managed by the Scottish Futures Trust, the forecast tool was one of the actions to emerge from the Scottish Construction Leadership Forum’s Recovery Plan, published in October 2020.
By registering on the website, businesses can access details of over 1,500 future infrastructure projects that have been submitted by 45 Scottish public bodies.
The aim is to help businesses plan better and maintain their investment in skills and future training needs by providing greater transparency on future construction workload.
For the public sector, the pipeline is said to encourage greater collaboration between public sector organisations through a greater understanding of their respective investment pipelines.
Peter Reekie, chief executive of the Scottish Futures Trust and chair of the executive group of the Scottish Construction Leadership Forum, said, “The work of the Scottish Futures Trust (SFT) in ensuring the Construction Pipeline Forecast Tool remains current and relevant, and provides the construction sector with vital information to help them manage their businesses effectively and plan for future work.
“This is the first update since the tool’s launch last summer. The next update is planned for June 2022 where we anticipate continued support by public bodies submitting details of their infrastructure projects and increase the number of projects and awareness.”
Stuart Parker, MD of Morgan Sindall, Scotland, member of the Construction Scotland Industry Leadership Group and chair of the Pipeline & Commercials sub-group, added, “The tool has already provided invaluable insight for our business as we plan ahead, and we welcome the continued management by SFT and support by public bodies in providing their data. I would welcome public sector bodies whose projects are not included to engage with the Scottish Futures Trust and support this key initiative.”
