FEATURE
Next generation funding We are already seeing local authorities across the UK revisiting their masterplans for civic spaces and much needed economic hubs, like retail and leisure complexes. COVID-19 has ultimately brought into question the long-term viability of some these spaces and their role within communities.
There is now an opportunity through increased central funding to reshape and repurpose them. This is public sector spending at its best – designed to aid communities, stimulate the private sector and accelerate the wider recovery.
For example, we’ve already seen £900m committed to shovel-ready projects to be delivered within this financial year as part of the government’s £5bn ‘New Deal’. This is translating to improved hospitals, schools and civic infrastructure like roads.
“There is an opportunity for 2021 to be looked back upon
as the starting point for the next generation of public sector-led improvement to UK real estate.”
The Government’s Spending Review in the Autumn provided further evidence that an increase in public sector spending will be sustained throughout 2021 and beyond. At £4bn, the Chancellor’s new levelling-up fund promises much for those regions of the UK in need of stimulus to balance out our economy.
How local authorities access and utilise the funding, and at what speed, will be incredibly interesting as parts of the civil service, most notably the Treasury, move north.
This move will also see the new National Infrastructure Bank being run from the North, indicating a long-term commitment to steady infrastructure investment. Sceptics though have some reason to suggest that more will inevitably be needed to address historic underinvestment as the NIB was in some parts a necessity given it will replace lost funding from the EU’s European Investment Bank.
Of course, this huge increase in funding and subsequent development needs to be harnessed effectively if we
are to truly build back better. That process starts with better procurement.
With the right approach, we can ensure there are no accusations of ‘chumocracy’ at play and that every penny spent in the battle against COVID and its economic impacts are to the benefit of the taxpayer, creating social value along the way.
Construction Playbook Perhaps less widely-documented than the increase in government investment – but incredibly important to it – is the welcome introduction of the Government’s new Construction Playbook published in December.
At its core, the Playbook sets out a roadmap for how central government projects and programmes are commissioned, procured and delivered. In more aspirational terms, it provides a guide for ensuring that projects large or small leave a legacy that benefits local communities and economies. The hope is that contracting authorities, the wider public sector and their construction and consultancy delivery partners will follow this bible for best-practice as standard too.
With the UK having left the EU, it also provides a vision for how the public sector and its suppliers can support the transition to the low carbon economy. This sits alongside creating the foundations for new Public Contracts Regulations that simplify procurement processes and bake issues like social value, job creation, collaboration, value for money and investment in skills and innovation into the process.
It is with these elements in mind that we recently tendered our £14bn suite of frameworks for public sector projects across the UK. This pipeline of activity indicates that the public sector and the construction industry together have the intention and the opportunity to act as the beating heart of the national recovery through the next economic cycle.
Whether working within a public or private organisation, facilities managers should embrace this approach and the momentum it will give to transforming estates and making them fit for purpose for the brave new world in which we now find ourselves. By working in collaboration with teams that share your vision and can match it with a strong heritage in delivery, they can use COVID-19 as the catalyst for creating a world that everyone deserves.
www.scape.co.uk/
www.tomorrowsfm.com
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