New figures have revealed confidence in the Scottish construction industry has remained marginally positive for the third quarter in a row.

The latest Scottish Construction Monitor survey puts overall confidence at +2 for the first three months of 2017.

However, Scottish Building Federation (SBF) Managing Director Vaughan Hart said the latest set of results shows a "real sense that the industry remains stuck in a state of limbo".

43% of respondents reported seeing the number of people they employ rise over the past 12 months compared to 20% who reported a decline. While the remaining 37% saw no change in the size of their workforce over that period, 41% are expecting the size of their workforce to increase over the next 12 months, while 14% expect they will have to reduce the number of people they employ and 43% expect employment within their businesses to remain stable.

19% of respondents expect overall industry employment to continue to decline slowly over the next five years, while 17% expect it to rise to around 200,000. One third of employers responding to the survey expect total Scottish construction jobs to remain stable at around 175,000, while the remaining 30% are unsure how industry employment will perform over the next five years.

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In addition, 40% of respondents do not know what impact Brexit will have on their business, while 42% are unsure what impact leaving the European Union will have on the wider industry. A total of 33% expect Brexit to have a negative impact on the Scottish construction sector compared to 16% who think it will have no impact and 9% who think the impact will be positive.

Overall, 58% of respondents predict that fragmentation and a trend towards more self-employment within the industry will have a negative impact on their business, while 67% think an increase in public funding for housing will have a positive impact on the industry as a whole.

Elsewhere, 59% fear that the growth of project management companies and a trend towards outsourcing labour rather than providing direct employment will have a negative impact on the industry overall.

Mr Hart said the recent economic signs "have been positive with strong output and rising employment" in the sector.

"At the same time, ongoing uncertainty on the political and constitutional fronts is making industry employers feel quite nervous about the future outlook," he said.

"In terms of future trends, most building employers judge that prioritising additional public investment, particularly towards housing, would bring the greatest benefit to the industry and to their businesses.

"Conversely, a general fragmentation within the industry and a growing trend towards self-employment poses the greatest threat to future industry prospects. Moves away from direct employment towards project management companies that outsource their labour is also viewed as a negative development that will hamper sustainable industry growth in the future.

"Our general message to Government and to politicians across all parties continues to be that the more certainty and stability they can provide, the more confident construction industry employers will feel – and the stronger position they will be in to boost employment and to generate output that benefits the economy as a whole."

(LM/MH)