Success of hub Programme sees value of completed community projects rise

Since becoming fully operational in 2012, the five companies delivering the Scotland-wide hub community infrastructure programme have completed 223 community projects worth over £2.5bn.

A further 70 projects are in construction or in development, with those being built supporting over 5,000 Scottish based jobs.

Managed by infrastructure experts the Scottish Futures Trust (SFT), the hub Programme brings the public and private sectors together with the aim of delivering improved public services from high-quality community buildings, built by five hub companies under public-private ownership spread across Scotland.

David MacDonald, National hub Programme Director at SFT, explained: “The hub programme is a unique way to develop and deliver high quality community facilities, providing public bodies with an efficient and cost-effective way of getting their projects into construction and deliver wider social value.

“Delivering construction projects with associated community benefits has been long recognised as an important facet of the hub Programme. The latest quarterly hub dashboard figures show that Scottish SMEs have been awarded 80% of hub construction contracts that are supporting over 5,000 local jobs, and 314 graduates and over 1,100 new apprenticeship positions have been created helping to further support local economies.”

Projects in development in the hub Programme, include the £60m health and social care hub in Parkhead being developed by hub West in partnership with NHS Greater Glasgow & Clyde (NHSGGC).  This health and social care led project is bringing a number of Glasgow City Council and NHSGGC services together under one roof, that includes primary and social care services as well as Glasgow City Council library services.

Speaking of the health centre, Tom Steele, Director of Estates and Facilities at NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde, said: “Our ambition is to provide a new hub designed to improve the health and wellbeing of people and communities across the North East of Glasgow. The hub will be the largest primary care development we’ve ever committed to and a pioneering project, as our first ever net zero carbon facility. It is our firm belief that the hub will be a beacon for sustainability, as well as a focal point for improving lives within the local area.

“By co-locating teams and services in one place, people will be able to access the support they need, alongside excellent community resources, helping to reduce inequality and improve health.”

Town centre regeneration is a growing area of where the hub Programme’s expertise is delivering improved outcomes.  hub West supported West Dunbartonshire Council to develop a strategy for relocating its operational offices from the outskirts of Dumbarton to town centre locations, one of which had remained derelict for over 45 years. The transformation of the derelict building by hub West’s local supply chain has been pivotal in regenerating the town centre to deliver positive change.

Examples of other projects delivered across the hub Programme include:

• East Lothian Council recently gave the green light for construction to start on its £47m Wallyford new learning campus to be delivered by hub South East and is the first to start on site within Scottish Government’s Learning Estate Investment Programme (LEIP)
• The 117th and last school in the SFT-managed Scotland’s Schools for the Future programme (Lossiemouth High School) was completed and handed over to Moray Council by hub North
• The new £50m Madras College opened in St Andrews after being handed over to Fife Council by hub East Central in plenty of time to welcome many new pupils at the start of the new school term last month
• hub South West recently handed over the new £20m Lockhart Campus to North Ayrshire Council that is providing a first-class educational experience to children with a diverse range of additional support needs
• The 100th tenant received keys to a brand-new house at South Lanarkshire Council’s biggest housing development, delivered by hub South West