FMB Scotland Launches Policy Manifesto

The Federation of Master Builders in Scotland has launched its ‘Building for Success’ policy manifesto to help kickstart the Scottish construction industry.

The launch of ‘Building for Success’ at the Scottish Parliament identifies three key challenges for the new Scottish Parliament:

·         to build a greener Scotland low interest rate loans and other financial incentives such as council tax or business rate rebates are needed to stimulate additional spending on energy efficiency in Scotland’s homes and buildings.

·         to ensure that the construction industry has employees with the necessary skills when the sector recovers, spending on capital investment and large construction projects need to be prioritized to sustain jobs and skills in the industry. Colleges need to be adequately funded so that construction departments can stay open to meet the demand for training.

·         to create a new business environment for small and medium sized enterprises, the Scottish Parliament needs to apply pressure on Scotland’s major lenders to increase the flow of credit to smaller firms to allow them to continue trading, therefore safeguarding jobs and training opportunities.

MSPs at the launch heard from members of FMB Scotland on how the success of building companies in Scotland depends on having the correct business environment in place to help ensure that Scotland’s recovery is build on strong foundations.

Grahame Barn, FMB Scotland Director, said:

“The construction industry is key to so much of what we hope to achieve across Scotland including more homes, improved transport, better schools and hospitals. The majority of building work in Scotland is carried out by small and medium sized enterprises which form the backbone of the Scottish economy, which is why the Scottish Parliament must do everything in its power to support these smaller companies in helping to build a greener Scotland, safeguard jobs and skills and create favourable conditions to trade in.”

See photos of the event on the FMB's Flickr site.