News
A Parliamentary Privilege
Earlier this year Lomond Group Director and Fife Construction Forum [FCF] Chairman Alan Seath was the guest speaker at the Scottish Parliament at the invitation of the Cross Party Working Group [Construction] Convener Marilyn Livingstone MSP. After extending a warm welcome to Alan and other guests Marilyn followed by giving an overview of her work as Chair of the Cross Party Working Group. She described it as a non-company specific body of around 50 individuals which considers and highlights the issues faced by this country, with a focus on the economy, skills, education, training procurement, finance and planning with the aim of maintaining and growing a healthy Construction Industry. Marilyn’s address identified a number of key issues:
• Workload: maintaining a pipeline of work to support the sector through the current economic difficulties, to sustain a presence, ensuring UK companies & individuals are prepared for business when the upturn in the economy begins.
• Scottish Industry: does not recognise construction within the 6 key sectors of industry – lobbying is ongoing to try to change this. A view is shared that Modern Methods of Construction should be considered a Key Sector.
• The Banks: are also seen as part of the difficulties as loans are not readily available, but also the severe terms & conditions which they impose are proving problematic.
• Public contracts: highlighting “bundling” through the HUBCO Initiative and the flaws of the public procurement process as a disadvantage to small local companies who are seen as critical to the longer term delivery of future plans in Scotland;.
• Training provision: the potential changes to both funding and physical infrastructure are likely to prove detrimental to maintaining and developing the skills required by the Industry for the future (e.g. low carbon refurbishment).
• Fragmentation: the industry continues to be fragmented with numerous agencies representing different aspects of the sector with no single voice or message.
Alan Seath thanked Marilyn for her invitation and the opportunity to address all those present in such a prestigious venue. He then presented his vision “Relationships as Part of a Sustainable Construction Industry”. Alan emphasised the need to work together to improve the understanding and needs of this critical sector across all its many facets; and the need to embrace new ways of doing business, develop a better understanding of the strategic and local issues and to challenge complacency, all of which needs to be under pinned by an agenda centred on diversity and sustainability.
Alan covered the work of the Cross-party Working Group on Construction and the Skills Sub-Group recognising the aims of these Groups which are to ensure that Scotland has a world-class construction industry delivering best value for its clients.
The Groups focus on:
• The relationship between the Scottish Parliament, the Public Sector and the Construction Industry, particularly when such a large element of public procurement relies on construction.
• The need to have a focused curriculum for education and training to ensure a supply of people to serve the Industry’s requirements for skills; and to ensure that there is an attractive career path and long-term employment opportunities.
• The need for the Parliament to work with the Industry and other organisations to ensure a safe and healthy working environment for the industry and the general public.
• The need for the Parliament to work with the Industry to eradicate rogue traders from the industry for the benefit, safety and protection of the consumer and the Industry.
Alan emphasised that this could only be achieved by a partnership across the construction industry including professional services, academia, the public sector and others. He finished by showing an example of how Fife Construction Forum contributes to this partnership as one of a number of Construction Forums across Scotland. A copy of the presentation is available by clicking here.
Out of this presentation came the opportunity for Lomond to work in partnership with Wates securing a contract for the manufacture and erection of kits for affordable housing at Comrie in the west of Fife.
It is expected that this visit will become an annual event and anyone who has construction related issues that they feel should be raised at this level should get in touch with Alan.
