Annual Business Review2016/2017

01Managing economic investment

We are managing economic investmentprogrammes that are allowing the public sector to invest £200m which is securing more than £2bn of investment from the private sector.

Highlights of 2016/17Scottish Futures Trust

03Leading on hub programme

We are leading on the hub programmethat has developed and has underconstruction over £1bn of community-basedprojects which are supporting 9,000 jobs.

05Award recognition

Community projects, deliveredthrough our hub programme received15 design awards.

074G capability innovation

We developed a pathfinder to bring 4G to the remote island of Coll, which as well as supporting the local community and local businesses, will also be used by the Home Office for its Emergency Services Network

02Investment in affordable-rent homes

We have secured £400m of additionalinvestment to allow 2,700 affordable-rent

homes to be built.

04Significant LED street light savings

Our LED street lighting spend-to-saveprogramme is on track to secure £1.2bn of

energy and maintenance savings.

06Public sector savings of over £200m

Through our New Ways of Working programme,Scotland’s public sector has saved over £200m

by using their buildings more effectively.

08On track to hit five-year target

With this year’s benefits and savingsestimated at £138m, we remain on track to

secure our five-year corporate target of£500-£750m of benefits and savings.

I have pleasure in presenting SFT’s AnnualBusiness Review for theyear ending 31 March 2017.

As an infrastructure delivery company owned byScottish Government, SFT works with manydifferent public and private sector partners to helpplan future investment, deliver major infrastructureprogrammes, deploy innovative financingapproaches to build new infrastructure, as well asimprove the management of existing buildings.

Improving the planning and delivery ofinfrastructure is vital in delivering and achievingsustainable economic growth across Scotland. Theimpact on the economy can be felt either directly increating jobs now during construction, or indirectlyfrom unlocking investment by the private sector tocreate longer-term employment in the productionand services sector.

We have also been very pleased to see schools,colleges and health and social care centres procuredthrough our programmes, winning many awards fortheir design. Good design leaves a lasting legacy, notjust in the visual impact within communities, but alsoby the functional design helping support theimprovement in the delivery of public services.

Some examples of this work in action and theprogress we have made are highlighted below:

> In the SFT led Scotland’s Schools for the Futureprogramme, the 50th school opened andcollectively 30,000 pupils are now benefittingfrom new and inspiring learning environments;

> Across the hub programme, over 100community-based buildings are now open and afurther 60, valued at over £1.1bn, are underconstruction supporting over 9,000 jobs;

> During 2016/17 our surplus property teamgenerated over £50m from the sale of surpluspublic properties which will be invested back tothe public sector;

> Our housing team has created and initiatedinnovative housing programmes to deliver 2,700mid-market rent homes totalling £400m ofadditional investment, with more than half ofthem already built and occupied;

> Our Growth Accelerator programme hasunlocked £850m of additional economicinvestment into the heart of Edinburgh asconstruction gets underway on one of the mostsignificant city-centre regeneration projects tobe seen anywhere in the UK;

Chairman’s Statement

Cover Image:

City of Glasgow College City Campus (fundedthrough SFT's Non Profit Distributing programme),was one of only six building across the UKshortlisted for the 2017 RIBA Stirling Award

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> Two additional Tax Incremental Financingprojects have been given the green light toproceed that will deliver substantial economicbenefits and support hundreds of jobs inScotland;

> Our asset management team has aidedScotland’s public sector save over £200mthrough the more efficient use of its properties,including a reduction in the amount of Counciloffice space it uses by 30% over the past fiveyears; and

> Our Street Lighting programme has enabled 28%of Scotland’s 900,000 street lamps to bereplaced by energy-efficient LEDs, helpingcouncils save £12m a year, saving 71,000 tonnesof CO2 annually.

The benefits of the work we do with partners ismeasured in a number of ways; one is financial andanother is the wider benefit across society.

Across our work programmes, significant financialbenefits have been generated with the estimatedvalue of benefits for 2016/17 to be £138m. As a result,we remain on course to achieve our five-yearcorporate plan target of securing £500m - £750m ofsavings and benefits between 2014 and 2019.

Our work also makes a positive impact on society asit helps protect jobs and create employment andtraining opportunities. Our £850m GrowthAccelerator initiative in Edinburgh is estimated tosupport 3,000 long-term jobs. Other benefits flowthrough our low carbon work stream where theteam’s work is making a significant contribution toreach Scotland’s carbon reduction targets byensuring new buildings are as energy efficient aspossible. This work is very much at the heart of ouroverall drive and purpose.

We very much look forward to continuing to workwith partners in the public and private sector tohelp drive the efficient and effective delivery and useof infrastructure in Scotland, and through that,supporting long-term economic growth.

Ian RussellChairman

Date: 20 November 2017

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In working towards that aim, employing anddeveloping the right team of people is crucial. Sincebecoming fully operational in 2009, SFT has built a70-strong professional team who have the specificskills and expertise to deliver, support and improvepublic sector infrastructure investment, right acrossScotland.

Their work is underpinned by our four values, ofbeing Bold, Collaborative, Dynamic and Ambitious. Infollowing these guiding principles, our teams

contribute significantly to creating award-winningbuildings delivered through innovative programmeswhich secures additional investment and supportseconomic growth.

These teams lead and support wide and variedprogrammes of work which have been groupedunder six headings - SFT home - SFT invest - SFTbuild - SFT connect - SFT green - SFT place - andthis 2016/17 Annual Business Review provides asummary of the significant progress being made.

Principal Activity

As an arm’s length company owned by Scottish Government, SFT’s aim is:

‘to improve the efficiency and effectiveness ofinfrastructure investment and use in Scotland by

working collaboratively with public bodies and industry,leading to better value for money and ultimately

improved public services.’

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SFT home SFT invest SFT build SFT connect SFT green SFT place

SFT home

Increasing the supply and improving the quality ofhousing across Scotland remains a key priority forSFT, and our housing team has been very successfulin developing and delivering innovative approachesto increase the supply of affordable housing.

Working with many of Scotland’s councils along withScottish Government, our team has enabled theconstruction of 2,700 energy-efficient, quality,affordable-rent homes; homes that would not havebeen built without SFT’s involvement. Many of thesenew homes have been built by small or mediumsized housebuilders and represent nearly £400m ofadditional investment in the affordable housingsector.

SFT’s work has shown there is huge demand formid-market rent properties. Over the past 12months our team has been working with the City ofEdinburgh Council on a new initiative to deliver atleast 1,500 more new homes for mid-market andmarket rent, which, subject to final approvals will seea further investment of £245m made acrossEdinburgh.

Business Review

National Housing Trust

CASE STUDY

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SFT’s National Housing Trust (NHT) hasincreased the number of affordable-rent homesacross Scotland and is acting as a catalyst forgreater numbers to be built.Since the handover to The City of EdinburghCouncil of its first NHT development in January2013, demand for affordable and mid-marketrent housing has continued to outstrip supplyright across the city.With contracts in place to deliver just under 600NHT homes at several sites across Edinburgh(including the Western Harbour Development inNewhaven as pictured) and tenant applicationshabitually more than ten times the number ofavailable homes, the success of the NHTprogramme has triggered larger scaleaffordable and mid-market rent housingdevelopments to progress by the Council andmany registered social landlords.Today, thanks to the NHT programme, thereare some 2,000 more mid-market rent homes,creating a diverse range of housing which areable to meet the demands of an expanding city.

After securing planningpermission from City ofEdinburgh Council in late2016 to demolish the StJames Centre (pictured left),TH Real Estate is investing£850m into the area which,when complete, will quicklybecome a world-classdestination, boasting aluxury five-star hotel, 150exclusive apartments, 30restaurants, 850,000 sq ftof first-class retail spaceand a deluxe multi-screencinema.

Edinburgh St. James

CASE STUDY

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SFT invest

Our investment team continues to explore the bestfunding and financing solutions in pursuit of ouroverall objective of securing the best value forinfrastructure investment in Scotland.

A hugely significant programme our team has developedand leads on is the Growth Accelerator approach. Withina relatively short space of time, this programme hassecured massive levels of inward investment withconstruction well underway in two locations.

In Edinburgh, the Growth Accelerator is unlocking£850m of additional economic investment asdemolition of the St James Centre has begun to makeway for one of the most significant city-centreregeneration projects to be seen anywhere in the UK.

In delivering the new Edinburgh St James, allstakeholders are committed to the establishment of

a new Training Academy which will developemployment and training opportunities in the retail,leisure and catering industries, targeting some of thecapital’s most deprived areas. It is predicted that thisregeneration project will generate up to 3,000permanent new jobs for many years to come.

During 2016, Dundee City Council was granted itsown Growth Accelerator which has secured £175m ofadditional economic investment from the privatesector into the city’s Waterfront area. This will ensurethe first phase of the Waterfront development will becompleted sooner and is where the gravity defyingand architecturally breath-taking V&A museum isbeing built. When open in 2018, it is anticipated thatthe V&A will attract hundreds of thousands of newvisitors to Dundee, helping as part of the overallwaterfront development to secure additional, long-term economic benefit to the city and wider areas.

In a similar vein, our Tax Incremental Financing (TIF)economic investment programme has continued toexpand. In addition to the four existing TIF projectsunderway in Fife, Glasgow, Falkirk and Argyll & Bute,two additional projects in North Ayrshire and againin Fife were unveiled during 2016/17.

The TIF and Growth Accelerator programmes willenable the public sector’s anticipated investment of£200m to attract more than £2bn of investmentfrom the private sector.

Across our well-established Non-Profit Distributing(NPD) revenue funded programme many projectsare reaching completion. During 2016/17 the City ofGlasgow College City Campus opened as did theKilmarnock Campus, part of Ayrshire College. Theyjoin the two other NPD funded college buildingsalready open, Inverness College and the RiversideCampus in Glasgow, again part of the City ofGlasgow College.

Outstanding design has been at the core of thesecollege buildings. During the past year, the RiversideCampus received numerous architecture and designawards, the most notable being the RoyalIncorporation of Architects in Scotland (RIAS) award.

Judges commented: “Located at the edge of amajor crossing of the River Clyde, the site marks agateway in the city and projects the College’simportance as a civic institution as well ascreating a new landmark.”

The Riverside Campus was also one of only sevenprojects (the only one in Scotland) to be shortlistedfor the 2016 Royal Institute of British ArchitectsStirling Award (RIBA), narrowly missing out to thewinner. It is widely recognised that shortlisting is initself a considerable honour with this being only thesixth building in Scotland nominated since the RIBAStirling Prize started 21 years ago.

And continuing Glasgow College’s haul of designawards, the City Campus also picked up a RIASaward in 2017 and has similarly been shortlisted forthe 2017 RIBA Stirling award, this year one of onlysix buildings across the UK to do so.

RIBA President, Jane Duncan, has said of theshortlisted projects:

“The RIBA Stirling Prize is awarded to the buildingthat has made the biggest contribution to theevolution of architecture in a given year.

“This year’s shortlisted schemes showexceptionally creative, beautifully considered andcarefully detailed buildings that have made everysingle penny count. Commissioned at the end ofthe recession, they are an accolade to a creativeprofession at the top of its game.

“Each of these outstanding projects has transformedtheir local area and delights those who are luckyenough to visit, live, study or work in them.”

Now that all colleges are operational, they areproviding more than 50,000 students with world-class learning environments thereby helping themto fulfil their career ambitions.

Of the two major NPD funded road projects, theM8/M73/M74 motorway improvements has beencompleted, directly connecting Edinburgh andGlasgow by motorway for the first time. This link,one of the busiest parts of Scotland’s motorwaynetwork, is already benefitting thousands of roadusers daily by reducing congestion and significantlycutting down journey times, with the aim of savingup to 20 minutes at peak times.

Construction continues at pace on the AberdeenWestern Peripheral Route (AWPR), the second NPDroad project. When fully operational it is estimatedthe AWPR will deliver £6bn of wider economic benefitto the area as well as dramatically improve traveltimes in the north east of Scotland.

And across Scotland’s NHS estate, during the yearthe NPD funded Acute Mental Health and NorthAyrshire Community Hospital opened, with a furtherfour acute health projects worth £450m inconstruction, including the Royal Hospital for SickChildren and Department of Clinical Neurosciences.

When all complete, they will become first-class,modern hospital and health facilities capable ofdelivering the very finest in healthcare for thebenefit of many communities across Scotland.

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Inverness College

CASE STUDY

Having been funded through the NPDprogramme, construction of the £45m InvernessCollege could start much sooner. This in turnallowed the College to open in August 2015 and itis now home to over 7,000 students fromScotland, the rest of the UK, Europe and furtherafield. Whilst the College is making a positiveimpact on students’ future career paths, it is alsosupporting the economy.

The College is the anchor organisation on theInverness Campus, which is a strategic businesspark developed by Highlands and IslandsEnterprise (HIE) situated on the outskirts of theCity. As well as having the very best teachingfacilities, the College boasts the latest computertechnology as well as a first-class research centreand is expert in designing and deliveringeducation, training and development programmeswhich is helping attract businesses across a widerange of sectors to locate to the Campus.

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SFT build

Well-designed buildings, built for community use,have the power to transform lives and be upliftingfor local communities. Through our build programme,new schools and community buildings are doing justthat – creating employment, helping theenvironment, as well as providing locals with much-improved places for them to learn, access health andsocial care services, play sport or work.

The Scotland-wide hub programme sits firmly withinour build programme and is based upon a

partnership approach to deliver new communityfacilities which are built by five hub companiesspread across Scotland.

Since becoming fully operational in 2012, hubcompanies have built over 100 community-basedbuildings with a further 60, valued at £1.1bn underconstruction, providing an economic stimulus in theareas where they are built. The vast majority of thiswork is being awarded to many hundreds of SMEswhich is supporting over 9,000 jobs.

Supporting Employment

CASE STUDY

Laura Wilson who was previouslya site administration assistant ona hub site was invited by BAM tobecome a trainee site managerafter demonstrating aneagerness to learn and showingreal zeal for the constructionindustry.

BAM put her through college andis now funding her studies for aBA Hons degree in Constructionand Project Management atNapier University in Edinburgh,which Laura will complete overthe next five years as shecontinues to work onconstruction projects deliveredthrough the hub programme.

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Eastwood Health and Care Centre

CASE STUDY

Enhancing the use of buildings for communities andimproving the quality of their design are importantelements of our work. Over the past year our teamshave been buoyed by the steady stream of goodnews where numerous hub projects have picked uphighly-coveted industry awards – 15 in total.

A highlight during this past financial year was theopening of our “Reference Design” Health and CareCentre in Eastwood in East Renfrewshire, whichduring 2017 received an award at the ScottishDesign Awards, a RIAS award and a prestigiousdesign award at the European Healthcare Awards.This is a joint, benchmark project between NHSGreater Glasgow & Clyde and East RenfrewshireCouncil, delivered by hub West and developed toaccelerate the plan to bring health and social caretogether and to help make services more accessibleto the public.

SFT has continued to lead on the £1.8bn Scotland’sSchools for the Future programme.

The Eastwood Health and Care Centre in theWilliamwood area of East Renfrewshire hasbrought together the services of EastRenfrewshire Council and NHS Greater Glasgow& Clyde into a unique, community-focussedserviced building employing ‘agile’ workingprinciples.

This joint occupancy allows the community toaccess multiple services in one location in a

central setting with easy access. It incorporatesGP practices, integrated health & social careservices, it has a community hub facility and acafe that serves as a focal point for both thecommunity and professionals alike.

The reference design used for this building wasdeveloped and supported by SFT as anapproach to be shared with others to improvefuture health centres across Scotland.

These schools are designed to meet advances innew teaching methods and technology, with thelocal community very much at their heart. Typicallythey are open out-with normal school hours and areproviding the local community with access to first-class health, leisure and education facilities.

Of the 112 schools in the programme, 50 are openwhich are benefiting some 30,000 pupils who arebeing educated in first-class environments and afurther 42 schools are being built, with the remainingschools in the final stages of development and design.

The ways in which pupils learn are ever-changing soit is vital the environment where they are taughtkeeps pace. In 2014, Scottish Government launchedits £5m Inspiring Learning Spaces programme aimedat trialling new approaches to learning and teachingmethods, with SFT managing the programme funds.

Across the programme, SFT has worked with 21councils on their creative and ambitious projects.

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Alford Community Campus

CASE STUDY

Many local authorities are now extending theuse of their secondary school for localcommunities to use as well as incorporatingnurseries and primary schools into thebuilding so even more people can benefit.

Alford Community Campus in Aberdeenshireis one such building. It provides educationfacilities for children and pupils aged 3-18, ithas a 25m four lane swimming pool,community library, indoor and outdoorsports facilities available for the communityto use as well as being the base forAberdeenshire Council’s Community Learningand Development team.

Their ideas are being shared and are providing allScotland’s councils with a variety of new approachesto help shape future investment.

Scottish Government is set to nearly double parents’entitlement to free childcare for pre-school children.To support this expanded Early Learning andChildcare initiative and building on the experience ofmanaging the school investment programme, SFT’seducation team is collating data across all 32 councils’existing buildings, to inform decision making onfuture infrastructure investment to support theinitiative.

As part of SFT’s support to the ConstructionProcurement Review, SFT has been leading on thepromotion of Building Information Modelling, or BIMas it is referred to across the world. This digitaltechnology allows architects, engineers and all thoseinvolved in the construction industry to share

information more easily and work better together.

Understanding the huge benefits BIM would haveacross the public sector, SFT led on a Scotland-widestakeholder engagement programme, guiding andinforming those responsible for construction in thepublic sector, on the benefits of BIM on their projects.

As a result of the engagement programme, SFTlaunched its BIM website in April 2017 as a bespokeresource for the public sector to use. On the back ofour work, Scottish Government issued a policy notein the same month stating that BIM must be used onmost future Scottish Government constructionprojects.

Reflecting the success of this ground-breaking work,over the course of the year several administrationsfrom across the world have been in touch with ourBIM team, seeing aspects of what is happening inScotland as market leading.

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SFT connect

For any country, securing the very best digitalconnectivity is an essential part of creating a successfuleconomy. Within SFT connect, our team is working withindustry to ensure the right mechanisms, partnershipsand commercial approaches are developed that willdeliver a world-class telecommunication infrastructurefor Scotland in a practical way.

Despite significant investment being made by boththe public and private sectors in digital infrastructureacross Scotland, there is a patchwork of unreliablelevels of mobile coverage in places where investmentby Mobile Network Operators is not seen ascommercially viable.

Such places, for example, are on Scotland’s islands.However, SFT’s digital and commercial expertise isbeginning to change that with a novel approach beingtaken on the island of Coll to deliver 4G which is alsoacting as a pathfinder for further projects.

SFT has also supported the Home Office on itsEmergency Services Network (ESN) programmewhere 4G mobile coverage will be used to replace thecurrent radio service. As part of the ESN, the HomeOffice will install its own mast infrastructure to fill gapsbetween its suppliers’ commercial road coveragewhere our team has influenced the delivery approach.

Because of SFT’s work, the new mast design will befuture-proofed to ensure other Mobile NetworkOperators can use it with minimal additionalinvestment to incentivise sharing across these rurallocations, and thus being able to provide additionalcoverage in rural areas.

Building on the success of the team’s ground-breakingwork to bring 4G connectivity to the Isle of Coll and thesupport provided to the Home Office’s EmergencyServices Network programme, the team has startedto develop a 4G infill programme for ScottishGovernment that will focus on installing future proofedmasts into areas where there will otherwise be nocoverage, even after the Mobile Network Operatorshave completed their investment.

To support the Scottish Government’s Digital Strategy,SFT is working to establish a 5G hub in partnershipwith industry and universities to ensure Scotland is atthe forefront of 5G research and development. Morerecently, SFT has led on the development andestablishment of the Scotland Innovation Partnership.SIP is an open framework to which companies orindividuals can contribute to support ScottishGovernment’s world-class digital connectivity vision as they progress the development of 5G using theextension of 4G rural coverage as a stepping stone.

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4G on Coll

CASE STUDY

Being able to use a mobile phone, no matterwhere you are, is regarded as a vital elementof modern living. But on the Isle of Coll, theremoteness and rugged landscape of theInner Hebridean island meant there has neverbeen a mobile reception which impactsnegatively on local businesses, the communityand tourist trade.

Working in partnership with numerousstakeholders SFT developed an innovative and

long-term solution to the islander’s problem witha state-of-the-art telecoms mast now owned andmaintained by ‘Development Coll’, with the mobilenetwork supplied by EE and Vodafone.

The Isle of Coll was the first Scottish island tohave 4G mobile coverage which is now openingup many commercial opportunities for localbusinesses that are taken for granted on themainland.

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SFT green

Our focus is to support the transition to a lowcarbon economy and to help Scotland reach itsclimate change targets. Not only does our workgenerate cost and carbon savings, but it supportslocal economic development and improves thequality of public buildings and assets.

Our street lighting replacement programme is oneinitiative that is making a big impact on climatechange targets. As of 31 March 2017, 28% ofScotland’s 900,000 street lamps had been replacedby energy-efficient LEDs helping Scotland’s councilssave over £12m a year in reduced energy costs andis saving Scotland 71,000 tonnes of CO2 annually.

Spend-to-save investment by Scotland’s councils onLED street lighting is projected to reach £300m by2021 which is estimated to secure £1.2bn of long-term savings across the LED replacementprogramme.

Our work with Scottish Government in launching theNon-Domestic Energy Efficiency Framework hasseen the first ten projects progress to procurementwith a capital value of over £10m generatingguaranteed savings in excess of £20m over a 20-year period.

As a key partner in Scotland’s Low CarbonInfrastructure Transition Programme, our team hashelped invest more than £68m in low-carbonprojects that will attract match-funding and deliverlow carbon technology innovation and secure widereconomic benefits to local areas.

West DunbartonshireStreet Lighting

CASE STUDY

West Dunbartonshire Council replacing

16,500street lamps to LEDs

65% reduction of electricity bill

- will save

£20mfrom future budgets.

West Dunbartonshire Council wasone of the first councils to getinvolved in SFT’s pilot streetlighting programme and to trialSFT’s innovative and award-winning Street Lighting Toolkit.

It quickly became apparent toWest Dunbartonshire Council thatby replacing all its 16,500 lamps, itcould cut its energy bill by 65%thereby saving £0.5m a year.Such has been the success of theprogramme that the Council is ontrack to save £20m from itsfuture budgets.

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Huge advancements are being made as to howpublic buildings are used and maintained. In turn thisis supporting the delivery of improved publicservices and significant progress is being made withmuch of our activity focusing on offices and the saleof surplus properties.

The driving force behind public service reform acrossScotland is to create a more efficient and effectivepublic sector for the benefit of people living andworking there. To support this, buildings are key andour team is providing practical support to progress arange of collaborative projects, both large and small,demonstrated recently when the Care Inspectoraterelocated 100 of its staff to Renfrewshire Council’shead office in March 2017, which has achievedefficiency savings for both organisations.

Following guidance prepared by our team, the publicsector has embraced a “Smarter Workplaces”programme and is pursuing much higherperformance and occupancy levels for its buildings.

On the office estate, for example, and demonstratingtheir commitment to a programme of change,Scotland’s local authorities, emergency services andthe NHS have already achieved significant revenuesavings of over £200m and have also reduced theamount of office space they use by on average 30%.

Similarly, as part of our ongoing programme withScottish Government, over £20m of annual revenuesavings have been achieved from the better use ofexisting buildings and the release of all, or part of, 50buildings.

SFT’s team of property specialists are collaboratingwith many public bodies to streamline the disposalof surplus properties. The recent sale of VictoriaHospital by NHS Greater Glasgow and Clyde hasproduced both capital receipts and revenue savingsas well as allowing 500 new houses to be built bythe Sanctuary Group – one of the UK’s leading sociallandlords.

Over the year, our support to the public sector hasresulted in more ambitious projects moving quickerto market and achieving greater cash returns. In thecase of the NHS alone, over the past year, over£50m of property sales have been generated,allowing reinvestment in new health and social carefacilities.

Our team has championed a “one public sectorapproach”, which is being embedded in the framingof policy and the prioritisation of infrastructureinvestment, that has led to the creation of a smaller,leaner and greener estate. This approach willcontinue.

SFT place

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Smarter Workplaces

CASE STUDY

Scottish Government’s Social SecurityDirectorate at Atlantic Quay in Glasgow is thelatest to sign-up to SFT’s Smarter Workplacesprogramme.

Previously, as with many other public andprivate sector organisations, each member ofstaff at the Directorate had their own desk andstorage. Today, desks are now shared andmore informal meeting space has been createdwhich also includes small quiet pods forconcentrated work. An increase in laptops,

video conferencing and Skype usage are makingit easier to work from different spaces and on themove.

As a result, across all directorates at AtlanticQuay, the Smarter Workplaces programme hasseen staff numbers increase 50% to 900 which isallowing Scottish Government to exit from otheroffice space. Importantly, this is also aboutproviding first-class working environmentsallowing staff to feel more connected to theirwider organisation and enabling collaborativeworking between departments.

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The financial estimate is one measure of thebenefits flowing from SFT’s work. We havepreviously highlighted some of the wider benefitssuch as: the impact of improving digital connectivityon rural economies; the carbon savings from streetlighting and energy efficiency programmes; and howapproaches supporting economic investment, suchas the Growth Accelerator, unlocks privateinvestment and creates long term employment.Work is currently underway to consider better waysto capture, collate and present the wider benefits.Next year’s annual report will include more detail onthis work.

SFT’s Benefit Methodology and Model are availablein the publications section of Scottish FuturesTrust’s website.

Every year we provide a financial estimate of thebenefits delivered by SFT’s work. Given the diverseand long-term nature of SFT’s work programmes,the methodology is based upon an in-yearcalculation approach which is then considered on a10-year rolling average basis. This methodology hasbeen independently validated by both the LondonSchool of Economics and Grant Thornton and theapproach is summarised on our website.

As can be seen in this Annual Business Review, thebenefits from SFT’s work are wide-ranging and muchof it achieved by joint working with colleaguesacross the public and private sectors. For the2016/17 financial year, the SFT benefit estimate is£138m. This sits between last year’s figure of £146mand the 2014/15 figure of £135m and demonstratesgood progress in meeting the target set in SFT’s2014/19 Corporate Plan to deliver benefits within arange of £500m-£750m over that five-year period.

Taking this year’s figure, together with the sevenprevious years’, the total benefits of SFT’s work areestimated to be over £1bn.

Estimate of Benefits

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Scottish Futures Trust

1st Floor, 11-15 Thistle Street, Edinburgh EH2 1DFTel: +44 (0)131 510 0800 Email: mailbox@scottishfuturestrust.org.uk