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The Scottish Government needs to act on three major challenges facing the construction sector, says the Federation of Master Builders in Scotland.
FMB Scotland’s manifesto, Building for Success calls on all politicians to support the building industry by adopting its 21 point plan.
Grahame Barn, Director of FMB Scotland, said: “We need to get Scotland building again. The construction industry has now entered its fourth year of decline. Yet the building industry in Scotland continues to employ more 190,000 people, representing 7.5% of the total Scottish workforce and account for some £9.5 billion per annum which is approximately 9% of the Scottish economy. Measures to help support construction must be at the forefront of the next Government’s agenda.”
The three main challenges are:
Barn said: “Small building firms can lead the transition to a low carbon economy but only if homeowners are incentivised to make their homes more energy efficient. If small and medium sized businesses (SMEs) are to lead the way in making our built environment more energy efficient they will need to upskill to meet the new challenges ahead.
“Scotland’s politicians can encourage SMEs to train their employees by showing a strong commitment to ambitious retrofit initiatives and reforming public procurement so that only those contractors who employ apprentices are on approved procurement lists for public sector work.
