A Charter for Change
Building for Public Good
Following the General Election, decision makers must put the right policy and legislation in place to enable the public sector to operate more efficiently - using the built environment as a catalyst to drive productivity, resilience and economic growth.
This charter sets out our key recommendations for the new government to action across areas such as devolution, skills development, strategic asset management and decarbonisation.
What is "Building for Public Good: A Charter for Change"?
SCAPE is one of the UK's leading public sector procurement authorities, representing the voices of the public and private sectors across construction and the built environment. In order to support the government, we have launched 'Building for Public Good: A Charter for Change.' which calls for swift, decisive action from policymakers through a variety of legislative and policy changes, in order to accelerate the recovery of the public estate.
This document is a collaborative piece of work from the SCAPE Group; which includes input from the following companies: Arc Partnership, Construction Waste Portal, Lungfish Architects and SCAPE.
Within the charter, we advocate for construction to be used as the vehicle for change and to create safer, greener assets and infrastructure, with notable proposals for consideration such as:
- Spearheading a national recruitment campaign for construction
- Introducing stringent waste reduction targets, and
- Reinstating the Chief Construction Advisor role within Central Government
Continue reading to explore our recommendations, or scroll to the end of the page to download the full document and find out how these changes will help to drive meaningful change.
Recommendation 1: Building a brighter future
Keep the construction skills and labour gap on the national agenda and build a brighter future for the industry.
Attracting new talent is crucial for driving innovation, maintaining quality standards, and meeting the demands of an evolving industry. We are calling on the government to invest in the future-proofed digital and green skills the UK needs to build safe, sustainable assets.
In the charter, we identify key steps the government could take to achieve a brighter future for the built environment industry.
Recommendation 2: Enabling efficient building
With an ageing public estate and the need to adapt our built environment, building safety and efficiency is critical.
Investment in long-term strategic asset management including digital portfolios will support the smarter, more sustainable construction of built environment assets and infrastructure.
Our Building for Public Good: A Charter for Change explains how our government can achieve this.
Recommendation 3: Empowering local government
Ensure local government organisations has adequate autonomy, clear direction and long-term funding to unlock regional growth and the best outcomes for local communities.
Continuing to support devolution, the government can ensure that urban planning and infrastructure projects meet the requirements of residents and deliver targeted community benefits aligned to local needs.
In our policy document, we set out key steps we recommend the government should follow to further support and empower local government organisations.
Recommendation 4: supporting sustainable construction
Mitigate the environmental impact of construction waste and maximise the use of resources to create healthier, more resilient communities.
Our ask to the government is to mandate a more sustainable approach to construction by setting strict targets, embedding standards like PAS402 for waste management and refreshing the Environment Act.
In our Charter for Change, we explain vital steps the government should consider for supporting sustainable construction.
Discover how we can drive change by downloading our charter.
Learn more about recommendations we believe are vital to improve the safety, sustainability, and economic productivity of our future public estate.
