Infrastructure Investment Plan progress report for 2015

Further And Higher Education

The Scottish Funding Council's current priorities for capital investment are to:

• work with priority projects for major capital investment to develop business cases which make sense strategically and educationally;
• work with Scottish Government, Scottish Futures Trust and others to fund and design low carbon technology into new builds and to retrofit low carbon into existing estates; and
• provide capital support to research universities with "excellent" departments, ie those that secure significant levels of support from the UK Research Councils.

In line with these priorities, there are a number of capital projects being supported by the Scottish Funding Council across both the further and higher education sectors.

As well as the projects listed below, the Scottish Government is also providing £10 million to the University of Edinburgh to support construction of the Roslin Innovation Centre at Easter Bush campus; the Scottish Funding Council is providing £8 million to install a Combined Heat and Power ( CHP) District Energy Network at Strathclyde University, due for completion in early 2018.

The following projects were completed in 2015 :

• The Riverside Campus, part of the £228 million City of Glasgow College 'supercampus', was officially opened by the First Minister in October 2015;
• £52 million Inverness College campus was officially opened in November 2015. Both this and the City of Glasgow College campus were delivered through the NPD programme;
• Sabhal Mor Ostaig site servicing, infrastructure and construction of the College's new Administration, Research and Knowledge Exchange building as part of Phase 1(a) of the Kilbeg Village Development was completed in March 2015;
• University of St Andrews: creation of Biomedical Research building creating commercial laboratory space (type CL3) and the purchase of two biomass spectrometers, operational in December 2015; and,
• the Technology and Innovation centre at the University of Strathclyde, supported by £15 million from the Scottish Funding Council, was completed in 2015.

Projects expected to be completed in 2016 are:

• £6 million development of a joint school/college facility in Levenmouth is due to open in summer 2016;
• the City of Glasgow College City Campus, part of the £228 million 'supercampus' is in construction and due to open in summer 2016;
• £53 million Ayrshire College (Kilmarnock campus) is currently in construction and is due to complete by summer 2016;
• two new college projects are being developed at Fife College and Forth Valley College; and
• construction of a biomass energy centre at the University of St Andrews Guardbridge campus , supported by £10 million from the Scottish Funding Council, is due for completion during the summer of 2016.