The Construction Pipeline Forecast Tool was developed by the Scottish Futures Trust to provide the construction sector with greater clarity on future Scottish public sector projects, allowing businesses to plan and resource accordingly.

In its recent six-month refresh, the Forecast Tool now has details of planned projects from 45 public bodies for the next five years, out to 2030.

Paul Dodd, senior associate director at the Scottish Futures Trust, said: “The increase in the number of public bodies submitting their project details onto this platform will be welcome news to the businesses the length and breadth of Scotland that are using the Forecast Tool.

“The increase in the total value of projects contained in the pipeline although welcomed, does not directly indicate an increase in new opportunities but more the increase in public bodies submitting data. Public bodies continue to manage their ongoing challenges in relation to funding, inflation and prioritisation of their capital projects.

“That said, the Forecast Tool does provide improved transparency on the existing and planned pipeline for the public sector in Scotland, and will continue to support businesses to plan and prepare for future opportunities.”

As well as the recent update, following feedback from users a number of new features have been introduced, including a way to allow users to find out the ‘funding status’ of a project. This new feature is in addition to the many others that includes a filter to find a project’s location or the amount of investment planned per sector, such as across civil engineering, housing or education.

The Forecast Tool also encourages greater collaboration between public sector organisations through a better understanding of their respective construction pipelines and to share knowledge and best practice.

Of the 1,232 projects listed on the free-to-use platform, 50% are below £2 million in value, emphasising the focus on providing major commercial opportunities to the many thousands of SMEs that make up Scotland’s construction sector.

John Gunn co-chair of the Pipeline Working Group for Scotland’s Transformation Action Plan, said: “It is positive to have more public bodies supporting the Construction Pipeline Forecast Tool. The tool provides a valuable resource for industry to improve transparency and support the delivery and planning of Scotland’s public sector construction pipeline.”