Construction National

A £9 BILLION building budget was unveiled by Scottish ministers as they backed a construction-led stimulus to prevent the country tumbling back into recession.
The SNP Government said it was switching £750 million pencilled in for government departments towards infrastructure spending, including the new Forth road crossing and construction work on schools and homes.

Along with moves to lever in private cADVERTISEMENTash to pay for building work on hospitals in Aberdeen and Edinburgh, ministers said they had filled in a cut to their capital budget, handed to them last year by the UK government.

Those spending plans had suggested that Scottish ministers cut their spending on capital projects by 36 per cent by 2014-15.

The infrastructure work is seen by SNP ministers as a key plank of the Scottish Government's economic strategy of boosting growth in the country. The hope is that it will boost the construction trade, maintain employment and so prevent the country from slipping into a double-dip recession.

As well as the £2bn Forth crossing, the cash stimulus will ensure the continued work on the huge new Southern General Hospital in Glasgow, as well as the V&A museum in Dundee.

Ministers also aim to plough as much as £6bn into other transport infrastructure projects, including the Edinburgh-Glasgow rail improvement scheme. The aim is to increase the number of trains between the two cities from six to 13 an hour, while cutting the journey time.

Mr Swinney also confirmed that the cash will be used to help pay for the long-awaited Borders rail link and the Aberdeen Western Peripheral bypass.

Ministers are also promising improvements to the M8 and announced yesterday that they would upgrade the A82 between Crianlarich and Pulpit Rock. Infrastructure minister Alex Neil said: "Overall, our investment will mean funding a new Forth Replacement Crossing. It will mean meeting our commitment to deliver 30,000 affordable homes over the life of this parliament. And it will mean a significant investment in our transport network, with key projects such as the Aberdeen bypass, Borders railway, and the Edinburgh-Glasgow rail improvements all supported."

Of the £9bn investment, about £2.5bn will be private money brought in by the SNP's so-called "Non-Profit-Distributing-Model". Mr Neil claimed last night this will ensure that the "obscene" sums made by firms under the old PFI system would be ended. Under the new system, returns on private cash will be capped.

Mr Salmond last week said support for infrastructure amounted to a 'Plan MacB'. He has called on the UK government similarly to spend more on capital projects - a move which would ensure a consequent increase in cash for Scottish ministers.

The extra funding for infrastructure projects was backed by business chiefs last night.