SCAPE’s roundtable: Empowering the North to deliver its infrastructure, housing and transport

The conversation, chaired by SCAPE, was shaped by our Charter for Change, the comprehensive set of policy recommendations we published in the run up to the General Election. With a new government now in place, our discussion took Labour’s ambitious pledge to build 1.5 million homes as a starting point to discuss the connected themes of transport, infrastructure and housing and how we might address the key issues facing them.

One of the most pressing challenges identified was the significant skills gap in the construction industry. Despite market demand, bringing in and nurturing young talent remains difficult, not least because contractors need long visibility and confidence in their pipeline, before going through recruitment processes.

A lack of or inefficient funding, long approvals processes and rising inflation are just some of the issues that can jeopardise this sense of stability – all of which have been evident over recent years.

Around the table, there was a unanimous agreement that councils need consistent and better allocated funding from central government to maintain a healthy pipeline, which in turn will give contractors the confidence to hire more staff.

In addition, this would also allow local authorities to provide the private sector with a longer-term strategic pipeline for projects, rather than appointing contractors on a project-by-project basis, which would allow for value additions on projects.

Beyond government funding, our charter also recommends a national recruitment drive to help sustain the industry for the long term, and fostering strong public-private relationships and knowledge exchanges to ensure the built environment thrives. Our participants also agreed that we could all – including central government – place more value on what we’re trying to achieve as a collective. The public and private sectors aren’t in battle but rather working towards the same goal, whether that’s delivering housing, infrastructure, and transport, upskilling the workforce, or maximising the social value impact of our projects.

Social value was also a major conversation topic. Construction and infrastructure projects can be used as a lever for social value, but how do you avoid this becoming a box ticking exercise?

It was highlighted that social value can sometimes be seen as a negative to projects, rather than positively showcasing what a council can achieve for its local communities. Every council in the North looks at social value differently but collaboration is important. Working together is where we be most effective and make a real difference.

We discussed several avenues, including onboarding private sector partners early in the process to ensure long term planning and that they can get to know their communities. Working with a procurement partner that innately understands the sector’s potential as a social value driver – such as those, like SCAPE, that are Gold Standard Verified – also helps maximise delivery.

Amongst all participants, there was a sense that taking an increasingly regional approach to the public built environment is the only way to go. For example, the North has lots of mining villages with brownfield challenges, and some of its major economic drivers are jobs in logistics locations that are difficult to reach. The needs of these communities are vastly different to those in the South, but national housing and transport policies tend to be more southern-centric.

There needs to be a renewed sense of trust and transparency from central government that local authorities know their communities better than anyone, and they can work collaboratively with local construction partners to deliver for them.

With some positive affirmations coming from central government already and following a prolonged period of upheaval prior to this Government’s election, there was a tentative sense of optimism amongst our participants that more stable times are on the horizon, but this is needed sooner rather then later. Investment, regional level of support and national leadership is all needed.

After years of changing goalposts and short-term thinking necessitated by issues like Brexit and the pandemic, there is a sense the Government can now take the necessary steps to ensure efficient building and a brighter future for our public built environment.

We’re thankful to our guests for their time and enthusiasm and for facilitating a hugely insightful conversation. As part of our ongoing Charter for Change campaign, we’ll be hosting similar conversations throughout the country to get a full picture of what’s needed, and this discussion will set the tone for what we can expect.