Call for new approach to meet infrastructure needs

Ministers have been urged to set up an independent body outside of politics to advise on Scotland’s infrastructure needs.

It is one of the key recommendations from the Infrastructure Commission for Scotland.

It also called for a “construction accord” to be drawn up between public bodies and the sector.

The commission said there is a need to “develop a more coherent and less fragmented approach to skills development and training in Scotland, which is more sharply focused on the needs of the construction sector, both in the immediate and longer terms”.

It has also recommended a registration scheme be set up for all apprenticeships in Scotland, saying this could raise the profile of careers in the construction industry “as well as helping to promote and support the delivery of quality in the sector”.

The commission was set up by the Scottish Government to look at the country’s infrastructure needs and challenges over the next three decades.

Its first report, published in January, focused on the desire to create an “inclusive net-zero carbon economy” but also warned difficult choices will need to be made to achieve this.

The report has recommended that by 2021 a new, independent, specialist body should be set up by ministers to develop a 30-year infrastructure needs assessment and strategy, which would then be refreshed every five years.

The “construction accord” should be drawn up by the first three months of 2021, it added.