{"id":159104,"date":"2026-02-06T10:09:19","date_gmt":"2026-02-06T10:09:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/?p=159104"},"modified":"2026-02-06T10:09:19","modified_gmt":"2026-02-06T10:09:19","slug":"ciob-systems-not-siloes-from-next-devolved-governments-scotland-wales","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/ciob-systems-not-siloes-from-next-devolved-governments-scotland-wales\/159104\/","title":{"rendered":"CIOB: Systems, not siloes, from next devolved governments in Scotland and Wales"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jocelyne Fleming, CIOB policy and public affairs lead for Scotland and David Kirby, CIOB policy and public affairs lead for Wales, discuss what the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) wants to see following the Scottish and Welsh government elections<\/h2>\n

With elections approaching at both Holyrood and the Senedd, the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) has published two national manifestos setting out what the next Scottish<\/a> and Welsh<\/a> Governments must do to better support their built environment sectors.<\/p>\n

While the policy contexts diffescotr, the underlying issues are strikingly similar. Both nations face complex, interlinked barriers to increasing housing supply, meeting climate change targets, improving building safety, and addressing inequality. In both countries, delivery is being undermined by a policymaking approach that remains too fragmented to match the scale of the challenges ahead.<\/p>\n

Ambitious targets can be achieved with the right methods<\/h3>\n

Successive governments in both jurisdictions have rightly set ambitious objectives for net zero, housing, building safety, and the Just Transition. However, ambition alone is not enough. Achieving these objectives will depend on whether the systems that underpin delivery are fit for purpose.<\/p>\n

Concerningly, policy is too often developed and implemented in siloes, by portfolio, by programme, or by individual funding stream, without sufficient regard for how decisions in one part of government affect outcomes elsewhere. In the built environment, this fragmentation has real-world consequences. Well-intentioned policies fail to land, delivery slows, costs rise, and households are left dealing with the fallout.<\/p>\n

Nowhere is this more apparent than in efforts to improve the quality, safety and energy performance of existing buildings. Retrofitting homes, maintaining ageing stock, addressing fuel poverty, responding to safety risks, and delivering net zero cannot be treated as discrete challenges. They are deeply interconnected. Policies on heat, housing supply, skills, building standards, local government capacity, and funding design all interact, and when they are misaligned, progress stalls.<\/p>\n

Though not without its own challenges, the industry is not the limiting factor. The construction sectors in Scotland and Wales are willing and capable partners. The challenges stem from the absence of a coherent, system-wide framework that enables delivery at pace and scale.<\/p>\n

CIOB\u2019s Scottish and Welsh manifestos respond to this shared problem from two national perspectives. Together, they make a simple case: if governments want better outcomes, they need to move away from siloed approaches and towards whole-system policymaking.<\/p>\n

Scotland: From ambition to delivery<\/h3>\n

Scotland approaches this election facing profound and interconnected challenges: a formally declared housing emergency; ambitious climate change targets; and the need to deliver a Just Transition that works for people and communities across the country. Each of these objectives depends, fundamentally, on a well-functioning built environment and a construction sector that is properly supported to deliver.<\/p>\n

The manifesto sets out three clear priority areas where CIOB believes urgent, cross-portfolio action is needed\u202ffrom\u202fthe next Scottish Government to better support the nation\u2019s construction and built environment sector. The three priorities relate to retrofitting and energy efficiency, the construction skills gap, and building quality and safety.<\/p>\n

CIOB\u2019s manifesto priorities and recommendations for the next Scottish Government are:<\/p>\n

Priority 1 – Retrofit and energy efficiency<\/h4>\n