The Scottish Construction Forum has welcomed an announcement from John Swinney, Cabinet Secretary for Finance and Sustainable Growth, that the Scottish government will introduce a scheme to simplify prequalification processes for public sector contracts including construction.

Speaking at the Forum's annual conference in Glasgow, John Swinney provided the outline plan that would see construction firms only having to provide the relevant information once, when bidding for any public sector contract in Scotland.

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Following the conference, Forum Chairman, Archie Ferguson, expressed delight at the minister’s assurance: "John Swinney has once again proved that this is a listening government. First of all it, introduced the 30 day payment rule for public sector contracts and now it has taken positive steps to tackle the prequal burden that has dogged the industry for years.

"The timing of this intervention is absolutely right because the situation has worsened during the recession, as more contractors chase fewer contracts and efforts to identify suitable tender lists fairly have generated more onerous prequal requirements.

"The Forum identified prequalification as its single highest priority earlier this year and we will now work closely with the Scottish government over the details and implementation of this welcome initiative to cut out a significant level of repetitive bureaucracy and save resources."

(GK/KMcA)