Infrastructure Delivery Pipeline 2026

Introduction

Our Infrastructure Pipeline contains projects over £5 million and programmes over £20 million. The Future Pipeline sets out projects that are being explored to determine if there is a case for investment. If a project is likely to have a strong, positive impact on a policy challenge, it then moves into the Development Pipeline, and an outline business case will be developed. Once the business case and funding are agreed the project moves into the Delivery Pipeline. This process is illustrated in annex C.

Alongside the Infrastructure Pipeline, we are publishing a consultation on our 10-year Infrastructure Strategy. This is an evolution from the previous Infrastructure Investment Plan (IIP), which combined strategy and pipeline.

The Strategy sets the framework for infrastructure decisions in Budgets and Spending Reviews, with the decisions taken in Spending Reviews and annual Budgets defining the Scottish Government’s portfolio of infrastructure investments. The Infrastructure Pipeline will be refreshed as part of each Scottish Spending Review, with updates made at annual budgets.

We will report on progress delivering the projects and programmes set out in the Delivery Pipeline every six months. We are working to improve transparency further and will continue to engage with Audit Scotland and the Scottish Parliament’s Public Audit Committee to provide the most useful information to the public and the Scottish Parliament.

Fiscal and Economic Context

Certainty on funding is essential when setting out a future programme of infrastructure investment. The UK Spending Review has provided greater clarity over our allocations for the next four years, enabling us to set out a new pipeline to deliver the infrastructure Scotland needs. However, without full financial levers and borrowing powers, we are doing that within a constrained funding envelope.

The UK Autumn Budget, published in November 2025, reduced Scotland’s CDEL block grant by 0.3 per cent in real terms by 2029–30 (on current inflation assumptions). This is compounded by historic real-terms cuts to our block grant by the previous UK Government. Combined with inflation-driven cost increases, the 2025 Medium Term Financial Strategy showed that without urgent reprioritisation there would be a capital shortfall of £2.1 billion by 2029–30.

Rising construction costs, up almost 30 per cent since pre-pandemic levels, combined with additional investment demand, supply-chain disruptions and workforce shortages, all placed significant cost pressures on the capital programmes set out in our 2021 Infrastructure Investment Plan.

Public sector investment provides the construction sector with a steady stream of projects enabling them to support employment, invest in equipment and skills development. To better understand the deliverability of our plans we are working with Scottish Futures Trust (SFT) to better understand Scotland’s construction market capacity. Initial analysis includes the known pipelines of construction activity in Scotland and identifies specific challenges of large-scale projects on the construction capacity in a sector or region. Through effective planning and delivery, and early market engagement, the market will be able to deliver the plans set out in this pipeline. However, there are ongoing pressures to supply chains and risks to market capacity. These include specific risks associated with the delivery of construction projects in rural areas due to labour constraints and logistics. The analysis of market capacity will continue to provide improved insights and best support the Infrastructure Delivery Pipeline.

Revenue Funding – making the most of public investment

The Scottish Government will continue to deploy revenue-funded models where these clearly enhance value for money, affordability and the certainty of infrastructure investment over the medium term. This approach remains grounded in the fiscal parameters set out in the Medium-Term Financial Strategy and the constraints on capital, requiring careful and coordinated sequencing between resource-funded and capital-funded interventions. We believe there is good rationale for exploring the use of these models in the context of our constrained fiscal environment, as they will unlock additional investment to support our economy and deliver sustainable public services.

Mutual Investment Model

Primary and Community Care Investment Programme

We are actively exploring the use of private financing structures to support the delivery of primary care facilities. Our expectation is that, through a Mutual Investment Model (MIM), a significant programme of community health centres can be delivered over the coming decade.

To support the Health and Social Care Service Renewal Framework, our aim is to form a primary care programme that supports the health and wellbeing needs of local communities, ensures the long-term resilience of the service and its property estate, and provides the necessary capacity in support of a continued shift towards community-focused care. Our ambition is to support this transition by creating a network of local care and wellbeing centres across Scotland, building on our comprehensive coverage of existing primary and community care centres. A first tranche of investment will progress through the development of three initial projects. These will create and pilot a standardised approach towards design and procurement which will be used to improve the efficiency of delivery of all future schemes. The three projects, selected for their health, population demographic and estate needs, will be in the following areas:

1. Port Glasgow

2. East Calder and East Livingston

3. Cowdenbeath and Lochgelly

Other projects for inclusion in the first tranche:

• South/West Edinburgh
• Edinburgh City
• Cumbernauld area of Lanarkshire
• Hamilton area of Lanarkshire
• South Glasgow, Langside
• East Dunbartonshire
• West area of Ayr
• Inverness and Nairn
• Kincardine

Funding for the above twelve schemes is likely to have a capital (design and construction) value of over £500 million. Furthermore, once this first tranche of projects enters the design stage, then further iterations can develop with a greater focus on smaller health centres in more rural parts of the country.

Any deployment of MIM would be to deliver additional investment over and above constrained capital budgets assessed to be necessary to meet our investment ambitions. It would remain subject to full business case development and robust value for money assessment, informed by specialist advice from the Scottish Futures Trust.

Colleges

Subject to the conclusions of the Scottish Funding Council’s (SFC) 10-year College Infrastructure Investment Plan (CIIP), expected in 2026, and informed by the associated business case, Ministers may also bring forward a revenue-funded programme to support the provision of further education in Scotland. This would be aligned with the vision and principles of the Learning Estate Strategy. The development of the CIIP by SFC with the college sector is being supported by the Scottish Futures Trust.

Culture

In parallel, we will examine the feasibility of revenue-funded delivery models for culture storage facilities for our national collecting bodies, with business cases considering whole life performance, climate commitments, and value for money. Decisions on these proposals will be aligned with Spending Review parameters in 2026.

Developing a programme approach to revenue finance

We have asked the Scottish Futures Trust to lead on engagement with the market across these sectors to determine the optimum procurement, financing and contracting strategy across any programme of investment.

Outcomes-based Funding

The Government continues to apply outcomes-based revenue funding models that leverage local authority borrowing or financial capacity where this offers faster delivery and earlier benefits than waiting for CDEL funding. The proposals below, and any others that our local authority partners bring to us, will require full business case appraisal (including affordability, value for money and supported borrowing assessments) before formal commitments are made.

Our Schools Estate

A business case for a new school investment programme that would succeed the current Learning Estate Investment Programme is currently being developed with the Scottish Futures Trust and COSLA. Subject to approval, this would provide a clear successor to the existing programme as it reaches completion.

Support for Island Communities

Our new National Islands Plan provides a targeted programme of actions and investments that are collectively aimed at advancing social, economic and cultural prosperity among island communities. Population retention and attraction is the key objective of the Plan, underscoring the Scottish Government’s determination to sustain the long-term resilience of all our islands.

As we accelerate the transition to net zero, we recognise both the opportunities and unique challenges facing our island communities. These demand bold, collaborative action, leveraging the benefits of ScotWind and other developments. Close collaboration with all six island local authorities and impactful investments aligned with community priorities will be central to delivering the ambitions of the National Islands Plan across Scotland.

As part of this commitment, we will work with Shetland Islands Council, Orkney Islands Council, and Comhairle nan Eilean Siar, to agree a transformative mixed model funding package for social and economic infrastructure – an Accelerator Model.

This package needs to be both affordable and deliverable, designed to unlock opportunity and resilience for generations to come. It aims to deliver, among other things, an investment in net zero energy for public spaces, fixed link enhancements and improvements to infrastructure. This joint initiative should unlock hundreds of millions of investment in the three communities.

We aim to confirm this agreement as soon as possible, alongside the initial portfolio of projects commencing this year, incorporating staged value for money checkpoints and options for both public and private financing, marking a decisive step toward a fairer, greener, and more prosperous Scotland. Recognising the pace needed to support development, this year’s Budget allocates a strong package of overall funding to help kick start that investment and Ministers are committed to establishing and participating in a formal programme of joint work with each of the three Councils this year to agree the projects and outcomes to be funded in this and future years.

Whilst future annual investment to each of the three Councils may vary from year to year according to the stage of various projects, the final investment via the Accelerator Model, will be equitable across the three areas.

The above sets out the funding and financing models we are considering for these programmes, delivery models will be appraised as part of the business cases for the different programmes of investment.

Private Investment in Infrastructure

Whilst this Pipeline focuses on public investment in public infrastructure, the private sector has a vital role to play in delivering the infrastructure Scotland needs. Work is underway to strengthen private sector investment activity and explore financing opportunities and instruments.

Our record funding for affordable housing over the next four years leverages private investment and we are working to identify practical opportunities to increase private investment in Scotland, particularly in energy and housing, including from institutional investors and local government pension schemes. In natural capital markets there continues to be strong interest from private investors in investing in high-integrity carbon credits to support our work in nature restoration.

Securing Private Sector Investment

InvestScotland

In November 2025, we launched ‘InvestScotland’, a new portal that showcases investment opportunities and information for investors and provides a single point of entry to government.

Scottish National Investment Bank (SNIB)

Since its launch in 2020, SNIB has committed £991 million of investment to 49 companies, crowding in over £1.4 billion of additional capital. This includes a range of infrastructure projects across Scotland mainly in offshore wind, energy and housing.

The Bank has committed £35 million of funding for the expansion of Aberdeen Harbour, the largest marine infrastructure project in the UK. This will strengthen Aberdeen’s position as a key port hub for the UK’s large-scale energy transition efforts, with the expanded South Harbour facility providing greater land and water access for offshore wind developers. Haventus, the owner of Ardersier Port, secured a £50 million credit facility from the Bank, as part of a £100 million joint credit facility with the National Wealth Fund (formerly UK Infrastructure Bank) to significantly increase the offshore wind port capacity, supporting the transition to net zero in Scotland and the UK. This is one of the largest industrial regeneration projects in the Highlands in decades and will re-establish the port as a major local employer, supporting and creating hundreds of jobs.

The Bank has committed up to £50 million to support the Pentland Floating Offshore Wind Farm off the coast of Dounreay, developed by funds managed by Copenhagen Infrastructure Partners P/S, alongside Great British Energy and the National Wealth Fund. This pioneering facility will generate enough green electricity to power up to 70,000 homes once operational. More than 1,000 jobs are expected to be created and supported throughout construction and operation. Highview, an energy storage pioneer, has secured £45 million from the Bank to enable the build of ‘stability island’, which will deliver crucial grid stability services. The business has secured £130 million in funding to begin work on a planned 3.2 GWh hybrid long-duration energy storage (LDES) solution to improve grid resilience across south-west Scotland.

Recent investments made by the Bank in housing, including a £50 million investment in Octopus Capital’s Affordable Housing Fund, demonstrate the Bank’s key role in attracting private investment to this sector in Scotland.

Enterprise agencies

In the last five years, our enterprise agencies have invested in capital projects across Scotland, crowding in additional capital and supporting job creation.

Scottish Enterprise (SE) has supported a significant number of projects expected to deliver around £4.6 billion of capital investment. This includes SE funding awards of over £89 million in Regional Selective Assistance capital investment grant support directly to Scottish businesses – expected to leverage a further £1.37 billion capital investment. Over the same period, SE has supported the creation or safeguarding of an estimated 90,000 jobs.

A key focus for SE over recent years has been the development of a significant site in Glasgow’s Broomielaw. SE is seeking a private sector development partner to deliver a world class, sustainable mixed-use development comprising office, commercial, lab, residential, hotel and leisure uses, as well as dedicated public open space. This has the potential to leverage in about £150 million of private infrastructure investment in creating around 169,000 square metres of development, accommodating circa 4,800 FTEs.

SE has also been a key facilitator of AMIDS, a Glasgow City Region City Deal funded project (c.£39 million infrastructure investment), which helps Scotland’s manufacturing sector by growing local, national and global manufacturing supply chain and acting as a magnet for advanced manufacturing companies to locate and invest in Scotland. The overall development value exceeds £200 million. SE also contributed significantly to the establishment of anchor institutions at the site, including National Manufacturing Institute Scotland (NMIS) and Medicine Manufacturing Innovation Centre (MMIC), and has now agreed a joint venture with a private sector developer to deliver the 75,000 square metres of consented development at an estimated £200 million gross development value.

Highlands and Islands Enterprise (HIE) has invested £254.6 million in capital projects with a total project cost of £1.24 billion since April 2021. These investments have attracted £986.7 million of funding, of which £846.4 million was leveraged from the private sector. The investments are forecast to support 3,368 jobs and, additionally, 5,160 employment opportunities (jobs that are not directly supported at the time of the investment but are enabled downstream), alongside an increase in turnover of £2.58 billion. Projects spanned new capital assets for businesses, communities and social enterprises to support innovation, productivity, community wealth building, and growth opportunities alongside investments by HIE in enabling property infrastructure to support regional economic development.

HIE is providing up to £10 million in grant funding for the Port of Nigg to increase capacity and capabilities, helping to attract new opportunities and investment. HIE is also providing up to £24 million in grant funding for Kishorn Port to expand the dry dock and develop land for manufacturing floating offshore wind foundations. This project is forecast to support up to 1,500 jobs, contributing significantly to the West Highland economy. Both projects form part of the Scottish Government’s strategic investment of up to £500 million over five years, which aims to support market certainty, create a highly productive, competitive offshore wind economy and support thousands of jobs, while leveraging significant private investment in the infrastructure and manufacturing facilities critical to growing the sector.

South of Scotland Enterprise (SOSE) has invested significantly in infrastructure across the South of Scotland over the same period, supporting capital projects worth more than £43 million and leveraging over £250 million of additional private and third-party investment. This activity has underpinned major developments, such as property acquisitions, enabled works at sites like Tweedbank and Chapelcross, and contributed to job creation and safeguarding, with around 10,000 jobs supported since SOSE’s launch.