How is the Welsh Government supporting contractors to adopt low-carbon construction methods within publicly funded infrastructure programmes?
The Welsh Government provides a range of support and interventions to help contractors adopt low-carbon construction methods within publicly funded infrastructure programmes.
The Built Environment Mission Statement, published on 21 November 2025, provides clarity of Welsh Government’s ambition and objectives for the construction sector. The statement promotes modern methods of construction, offsite prefabrication, and retrofit-first approaches; whole-life carbon assessments; a just transition to Net Zero; and encourages digital adoption for efficiency and sustainability in procurement and project delivery.
Through the Social Partnership and Public Procurement Act, social value and sustainability is embedded into public sector contracts, requiring bidders to demonstrate environmental benefits alongside economic and social outcomes.
The Welsh Government collaborates with Constructing Excellence in Wales (CEW) and industry bodies to help contractors access training in modern methods of construction, timber-based retrofitting, and circular economy principles. These initiatives aim to address skills shortages and build capacity for low-carbon delivery.
The Timber Industrial Strategy promotes the use of Welsh timber and bio-based materials in construction, reducing reliance on carbon-intensive products like cement and steel. This is coupled with guidance on insurance and risk management for mass timber projects.
The Decarbonisation Project Design and Development Grant supports revenue spending on professional, implementable and third-party decarbonisation design and development support for public sector owned buildings.
This year we merged and simplified previous SME developer support funds into the Wales Residential Property Fund, managed by the Development Bank of Wales (DBW). The fund helps to unblock stalled sites and progress both speculative and non-speculative developments. Through the Green Development Incentive, DBW then offers a reduction of up to 2% on residential development loan fees to SMEs accessing the fund and meeting certain low carbon and energy efficiency criteria.
We will shortly be issuing a Welsh Public Procurement Note (WPPN) regarding procurement of steel. The WPPN will provide best practice guidance and ask contracting authorities to provide an annual return on contracts involving provision of steel. The return will include, amongst other things, the type and origin of steel used, enabling us to monitor where the steel in our public procurements is coming from and its carbon credentials.