The latest lowdown on lobbying on behalf of members

To support members, the FMB works hard at speaking out on their behalf to governments around the UK. One of our five key objectives within our strategic plan: Building for Success is Voice. This is about ensuring our voice is effective and widespread within government, industry and the media.

Getting to Grips with new Government Ministers in Scotland

Following Humza Yousaf becoming First Minister in March, new people were appointed into ministerial posts. Now the vagaries of how the responsibilities are spread across each portfolio means that construction matters are spread across a number of ministers. In Scotland with our devolved Parliament the key construction issues for our members are apprenticeships, skills, further education, building standards, procurement, planning and housing. Through listening and engaging with members, I explain to Scottish policy makers just how important our members are as local building firms to the construction industry and indeed to Scotland PLC.

Which ministers will the FMB be meeting?

Scotland’s new Housing Minister, Paul McLennan MSP, has agreed to meet me and I have also written to Graeme Dey MSP: the new minister with responsibility for further and higher education, including apprenticeships. Richard Lochhead MSPs’ job title: Minister for Small Business, Trade and Innovation, is ‘responsible’ for construction and has been invited to attend our Scotland Master Builder Awards ceremony on 9 June.

Big trouble and little funding

It’s important to stress that I seek meetings with Ministers and other MSPs with a purpose. On Monday 15 May, along with Unite the Union and other Scottish trade federations I am meeting Anas Sarwar MSP, leader of the Scottish Labour Party. With Skills Development Scotland announcing a 13% reduction in all Modern Apprenticeship (MAs) recruitment numbers for this year’s intake of apprentices across all industry sectors, we need to lobby hard and effectively on behalf of the construction industry and our members.

This funding cut is a blanket approach and is short-sighted. The construction industry is a keystone industry for Scotland and employs around 160,000 people. Our members as well as their current and future employees will be vitally important to repair and upgrade our homes and buildings. The built environment and construction currently account for around 40% of our greenhouse gas emissions in Scotland. Without sufficient numbers of well-trained tradespeople, we will not be able to meet our climate change targets of net zero by 2045.

I will be making these and other points to Mr Sarwar and in due course to the Minister, Graeme Dey.

Share your thoughts

If you would like to provide feedback on your plans to recruit apprentices this year or would just like to learn more about our lobbying activities in Scotland, please get in touch.

Authors

Gordon Nelson

FMB Scotland Hub Director, Federation of Master Builders

Director, Federation of Master Builders Scotland

Gordon has nearly twenty years’ experience of working in membership organisations in Scotland and joined the Federation of Master Builders (FMB) in 2014. Prior to this, he worked at the Scottish Council for Voluntary Organisations (SCVO) and for Unilever in business development, membership management and business-to-business marketing roles. Amongst his responsibilities in his role as the Director for FMB Scotland are public affairs, media relations, governance and representing member’s interests to Scottish policy makers and stakeholders within the Scottish construction industry. Gordon is the Secretary of the Cross-Party Group on Construction in the Scottish Parliament, and he is a member of the Scottish Building Standards Futures Board. Gordon represents the FMB on Scotland’s Construction Industry Collective Voice: which is comprised of the leading construction trade and professional bodies. In spring 2023 Gordon was appointed as an industry co-chair of the Construction Leaderships Forum’s (CLF) Transformation Board.

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