The Scottish Building Federation has welcomed the draft budget, particularly its commitment to affordable housing.

But it called for Westminster to drop the cuts programme and urged Holyrood to set a definite target for rebuilding apprenticeship numbers in the construction industry.

Chief Executive Michael Levack said: "I welcome the Cabinet Secretary's recognition of the tough times the Scottish construction industry is currently facing.

"The additional boost the Cabinet Secretary has given to the capital budget today is hugely welcome. But despite Mr. Swinney's efforts, Scotland still faces a cut in capital investment of around £5.5bn or 24% over the period 2009/10 to 2014/15. The UK Government must do more to rectify this situation and demonstrate its own commitment to stimulating economic recovery.

-- Advertisement --

"The additional £30m announced today to support energy efficiency is also welcome. But it will still only fund a small fraction of the total estimated cost of retrofitting Scottish homes to meet the carbon reduction targets set out in the Climate Change (Scotland) Act.

"There is also a worrying lack of urgency in the Scottish Government's plans to reform construction procurement. Current practices are costly, time-consuming and inefficient and reform is long overdue. But there were no signs today that the Scottish Government intends to act quickly on this.

"I would also have liked to see today's budget include a targeted strategy to rebuild construction apprentice numbers. That way, we could start to restore the industry as the cornerstone of Scotland's apprenticeship system, offering high quality opportunities to thousands of young Scots."

(NE)