Scottish CLF Releases Recovery Plan

A new drat recovery plan for the construction sector in Scotland was launched on Friday 28 August 2020 by the Scottish Construction Leadership Forum (CLF).

This plan, which was created collaboratively with the construction industry, sets out a pathway for joint action from the industry as well as the public sector in response to the impact caused by the global COVID-19 pandemic, and the effect it has had on the construction industry.

Like many others around the world, the construction industry in Scotland has been hit hard by the pandemic. The sector in Scotland, which provided £7.8 billion GVA to the Scottish economy and employs around 143,000 people in over 50,000 enterprises, is thought to have contracted by 28.6% in June as a result of the COVID-9 pandemic compared to the same month in 2019.

The recovery plan has been created via extensive consultation and collaboration with over 50 organisations across business, the Scottish Government, trade unions and other bodies, including the Construction Industry Coronavirus Forum (CICV), and it represents a shared view from across the sector of a plan to get the industry back on its feet.

The plan outlines the immediate as well as the short-term response to COVID-19 and sets out a pathway between this and the longer-term transformations required to build a stronger, fairer and greener economic future in Scotland.

The plan identifies five areas for concerted and collaborative efforts over the coming months and CLF has established Sub-Groups to develop and progress joint action plans:

1. Pipeline & Commercials
2. Skills & Workforce
3. Transformation
4. Supply Chain Resilience & Capability
5. Industry Data & Insight

The plan calls for key actions to respond to immediate needs which include:

• A clear pipeline of work brought to market quickly and efficiently on fair commercial terms which reflect the reality of the Covid-19 environment.
• Support of employment, fairness of work and those who may become unemployed through what will be a difficult period.
• Transformation of working practices to maintain and enhance worker safety whilst enabling productivity in the Covid-19 working environment.

Peter Reekie, Chief Executive of the Scottish Futures Trust and chair of the editorial group of the Construction Leadership Forum, said: “The construction industry in Scotland has received a major blow from the Covid-19 pandemic. However, the level of collaboration which has gone in to preparing this Recovery Plan is unprecedented and sets a strong foundation for transformative recovery for the industry. I urge all stakeholders with an interest in the construction and related industries in Scotland to feed in your thoughts to make it even stronger.”

Housing Minister Kevin Stewart said: “The construction sector supports many other areas of our economy, so it is important that we maintain the health and vitality of the industry. In order to develop this plan, we have reached new heights of collaboration but we are now keen to hear from the wider industry to ensure that we arrive at a plan that will preserve jobs and help to revive our economy.”

The recovery plan is available to view on https://www.constructionforum.scot/.

Industry is invited to send feedback, comments and questions via the website on enquiries@constructionforum.scot by 15 September. CLF will take all feedback on board to help develop the plan further, with regular updates published on the CLF site.

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