{"id":79978,"date":"2020-07-27T11:05:49","date_gmt":"2020-07-27T10:05:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/?p=79978"},"modified":"2020-07-27T11:05:49","modified_gmt":"2020-07-27T10:05:49","slug":"scotlands-infrastructure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/scotlands-infrastructure\/79978\/","title":{"rendered":"Covid-19 reinforces urgency for new approach to Scotland\u2019s infrastructure"},"content":{"rendered":"<h2>An independent, specialist body to provide strategic long-term infrastructure advice may be key to delivering Scotland\u2019s inclusive, net-zero carbon economy<\/h2>\n<p>A report by the <a href=\"https:\/\/infrastructurecommission.scot\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Infrastructure Commission for Scotland<\/a> (ICS) has made several recommendations for delivering Scotland\u2019s infrastructure.<\/p>\n<h3>The key recommendations include:<\/h3>\n<ul>\n<li>Giving an independent, specialist body the remit to provide strategic, long-term infrastructure advice to Scottish government;<\/li>\n<li>Enshrining the Place Principle and implementing a one public sector approach to planning and developing sustainable places; and<\/li>\n<li>Establishing a Construction Accord to strengthen the future relationship between the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/construction-framework-provider\/77833\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">public sector<\/a> and the construction industry.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>The ICS\u2019s report builds on the ICS\u2019s initial \u2018<a href=\"https:\/\/infrastructurecommission.scot\/page\/key-findings-report\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Key Findings<\/a>\u2019 report published in January 2020 and follows a further period of extensive stakeholder engagement, both pre and during the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/covid-19-construction-news\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">Covid-19 pandemic<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Its focus remains the delivery of an inclusive, net-zero carbon economy, the importance of which has only been amplified by the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>To achieve this, ICS recommends that by early 2021 an independent specialist body be given the responsibility to help prioritise the infrastructure needed to enable an inclusive, net-zero carbon economy and to develop a 30-year infrastructure strategy that is reinforced by a long-term needs assessment.<\/p>\n<p>The independent body would sit outside the political decision-making system to enable it to operate in a transparent way, building confidence across the public and private sectors. This would allow the body to challenge government while also undertaking tactical public engagement to inform the long-term strategy.<\/p>\n<p>ICS also recommend that Scottish Government enshrine the use by all stakeholders of the Place Principle. This would support the creation of sustainable places and help enable a \u201cone public sector approach\u201d to infrastructure which is central to achieving a net-zero carbon and inclusive growth economy.<\/p>\n<h3>Returning to a thriving construction sector<\/h3>\n<p>The ICS also recognises the importance of a thriving construction sector being key for the delivery of Scotland\u2019s long-term infrastructure requirements.<\/p>\n<p>While work is already underway to increase productivity and raise capability of the construction sector, ICS notes that in light of the Covid-19 pandemic, there is an opportunity for the construction sector to strengthen its future working relationship and practice.<\/p>\n<p>Ian Russell, chair of the Infrastructure Commission for Scotland, said: \u201cInfrastructure has a vital role to play in the delivery of an inclusive, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/energy-news\/scotland-green-investment-programme\/64649\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">net-zero carbon economy<\/a> and Covid-19 has amplified the need for urgent action and change for economic, social and natural infrastructure.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Commission is recommending that an independent, specialist body be given responsibility for providing government with strategic, long-term infrastructure advice and enshrining the place principle within planning practice.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Other recommendations in the report include harnessing a heightened focus on <a href=\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/digital-technology-in-planning\/74863\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener noreferrer\">digital technology<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Recognising the increasing importance of high-quality data to infrastructure assets of all types, the ICS advises that a digital data co-ordination, standards and facilitation role is established by the end of 2021 to support the development and use of data for the infrastructure sector.<\/p>\n<p>Cabinet secretary for infrastructure, Michael Matheson, commented: \u201cInfrastructure will play a critical role in the years ahead as we plan our strategic economic recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe Commission\u2019s Phase 1 report has already helped to shape our next five-year Infrastructure Investment Plan, details of which I look forward to announcing in September. This Plan will incorporate a response to the Commission\u2019s Phase 1 findings.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ian Russell, added: \u201cWe are clear that the implementation of all of the recommendations made in our Phase 1 and Phase 2 reports \u2013 some of which we acknowledge will necessitate a fundamentally different way of prioritising, planning and delivering infrastructure investment \u2013 will make a significant contribution to the successful creation of an inclusive net-zero carbon economy.&#8221;<\/p>\n<div class=\"mk-custom-module-container\">\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>An independent, specialist body to provide strategic long-term infrastructure advice may be key to delivering Scotland\u2019s inclusive, net-zero carbon economy.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":16,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[304],"tags":[693,676,54592,688,908,279,276,579,465],"stakeholder_rel_tag":[],"contributor_rel_tag":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-79978","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-planning-construction-news","7":"tag-climate-change","8":"tag-construction","9":"tag-coronavirus","10":"tag-digital-construction","11":"tag-economy","12":"tag-environment","13":"tag-government","14":"tag-infrastructure","15":"tag-sustainable-construction"},"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.9 (Yoast SEO v26.9) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Covid-19 reinforces urgency for new approach to Scotland\u2019s infrastructure<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"An independent, specialist body to provide strategic long-term infrastructure advice may be key to delivering Scotland\u2019s inclusive, net-zero carbon economy\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/scotlands-infrastructure\/79978\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Covid-19 reinforces urgency for new approach to Scotland\u2019s infrastructure\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An independent, specialist body to provide strategic long-term infrastructure advice may be key to delivering Scotland\u2019s inclusive, net-zero carbon economy.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.pbctoday.co.uk\/news\/planning-construction-news\/scotlands-infrastructure\/79978\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Planning, Building &amp; 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