The Scottish Building Federation has today unveiled a seven-point recovery plan for the Scottish construction industry, describing the measures proposed as "vital" to prevent a further loss of skills and capacity from the sector in the course of 2010.

Giving a keynote speech to the 2010 Scottish Construction Conference, hosted by Construction News at the SAS Radisson Hotel in Glasgow, SBF Chief Executive Michael Levack described as "unprecedented" the major damage inflicted on Scotland’s building industry by the economic downturn witnessed in 2009.

The Chief Executive noted that Scottish construction output had fallen by 12% over the year to September 2009, wiping £1.4 billion off the industry’s total annual value to the Scottish economy.

Questioning predictions this week from ConstructionSkills that the Scottish industry would grow in 2010, he described the outlook for 2010 as "difficult" predicting that a further £300 million could potentially be wiped off the Scottish industry's annual output by the end of the year.

He then outlined a seven-point recovery plan to set the Scottish construction industry on course for long-term sustainable growth.

Mr Levack first reiterated industry calls for further resources to be channelled towards funding major capital projects over the coming year.

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Acknowledging that budgetary pressures might mean no additional accelerated capital expenditure would be available in the 2010-11 Scottish budget, he called on the Scottish Futures Trust to act now to mobilise additional funding for new schools, hospitals, public sector housing and infrastructure from the private sector.

The Chief Executive called for concerted action to streamline planning and public procurement, setting out a series of practical measures to accelerate planning decisions and cut down on unnecessary red tape currently burdening construction firms bidding for public sector contracts.

Highlighting that almost 50% of modern apprentices in training in Scotland work in the building industry and associated trades, Mr Levack called for targeted government support to help retain apprenticeship places specifically in the construction sector.

Mr Levack contrasted the estimated £1.6 billion-per-year price tag for cutting carbon emissions from Scotland's 2.3 million homes to meet the legal requirements of the 2009 Climate Change (Scotland) Act with the current budget of £15 million allocated to the Scottish Government’s flagship Home Insulation Programme. He argued that Scottish Ministers could not possibly hope to meet the target without a much larger financial commitment. He also pointed out the major knock-on benefits a more ambitious energy efficiency programme offered for the Scottish building industry in terms of supporting jobs and skills.

Michael Levack highlighted the industry's ongoing campaign to cut VAT on home improvement and repair works to 5%.

He recalled to the conference the multiple benefits this policy could bring, supporting construction jobs and skills, driving cowboy builders out of the industry, improving home energy efficiency and actually increasing tax revenues to the Treasury.

Finally, despite the ravages of the recession, Mr Levack stressed that the construction sector is responsible for around 10% of Scottish GDP and employs 8% of the country’s working population. He concluded by arguing that, for an industry of such critical importance to the Scottish economy, the creation of a dedicated Scottish minister to champion its interests is long overdue.

(GK/BMcc)