Scottish Building Federation sets out growth strategy

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Ahead of Holyrood elections this year, Scotland’s builders have set out their strategy for growth, including a five pillar plan to achieve sustainable development in the sector…

A new strategy has been developed by the Scottish Building Federation (SBF) aimed at achieving growth in construction.

The strategy, which was developed following months of consultation with SBF members, covers a number of key areas including procurement, skills and training, planning, capital investment, and energy efficiency.

The SBF said it will push for new guidance on revised procurement thresholds, as well as the rationalisation of the use of guarantee bonds in the industry. It is also calling for the phasing out of bank guarantees, which could impact smaller firms.

The strategy also draws attention to the issue of apprentices, and is calling for the employment status of this group to be protected. It said it was opposed to any move to introduce foundation apprenticeships within secondary schools, and said funds raised from the new Apprenticeship Levy should be reinvested back into the system.

Other key areas to be discussed include improving the performance of planning authorities. The strategy said there needed to be better resourcing of planning departments, more transparent decision-making, innovative funding, and better coordination. These factors would speed up the process and improve consistency.

The SBF said funds should be funnelled into improving the energy efficiency of Scotland’s existing building stock, rather than focusing on the already very tight specifications for new builds. It would like to see investment in promoting specialist skills in the field, as well as greater flexibility in using funding for programmes across financial years.

Vaughan Hart, SBF managing director, said: “Taken together, we believe the recommendations outlined in this document will contribute positively towards delivering sustainable long-term growth in the Scottish construction industry.

“That would be of benefit not only to those working in the industry but to the Scottish economy as a whole.

“Our intention is to use this document as the basis of discussion with candidates from all political parties in the lead-up to the Scottish Parliament elections in May.

“Hopefully, those reading it will find it to be a useful and constructive contribution to policy debate during the forthcoming election campaign.”

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