THE Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) has published its policy manifesto ahead of the Scottish Parliament election on May 7.
As a charity representing and advocating for Scotland’s 4,000 architects, RIAS is calling for a rethink of policies affecting Scotland’s built environment in order to tackle key issues including the housing emergency, growing fuel poverty, poor productivity, and historic failures to prioritise building safety.
Renewal: Building Beyond Crisis sets out seven clear actions to renew Scotland’s buildings and places:
- Stabilise capital investment: committing to stable capital funding and ending a boom-and bust cycle that harms investment, delivery and businesses
- Overhaul broken public procurement policy: valuing Scottish SMEs, replacing the current race to the bottom with a transparent procurement system that focuses on long-term public value
- Revitalise Scotland’s diminished planning system: through well-resourced planning departments, greater co-operation with professional bodies and industry, and measures to support local action by communities
- Ensure Building Regulations support climate policy goals: prioritising the conservation and adaptation of existing buildings, tackling construction emissions and aligning regulations with net zero targets, circular economy principles and local supply chains
- Remove barriers to community-led regeneration: tackle failures to repair tenements, re-use gap sites and surplus buildings, simplify funding for regeneration and remove perverse disincentives such as VAT on repairs
- Invest in construction skills to avoid delays and delivery failure: create a funded pathway into built environment professions for all ages, and address skills gaps in retrofit, repair and building safety
- Stop the endless policy churn and start re-purposing and rebuilding: redirect Government thinking into innovation and investment, and reduce institutional duplication and barriers to delivery
Launching the RIAS manifesto ahead of the Scottish Parliament elections, RIAS president Karen Anderson, said, “Our manifesto provides the next Scottish Parliament with a clear set of measures that harness our built environment to promote health, protect the planet and sustain a thriving economy. It is a chance for MSPs to break free from a vicious cycle where short-term thinking in public investment has created crises affecting our health, our homes, our public services and our economy.
“The best projects in Scotland demonstrate clearly that architects have a key role to play in shaping Scotland’s renewal, and we want to work together with MSPs to deliver the buildings and places that communities deserve.”
