Construction businesses urged to add voices to recovery plan
Businesses in Orkney’s construction sector are being encouraged to play a role in the industry’s recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, helping to preserve jobs and revive the economy.
The Scottish Construction Leadership Forum (CLF) has launched a draft recovery plan which sets out a pathway for joint action between industry and the public sector.
CLF are now appealing to those within the industry to provide feedback, comments and questions, in order to further the development of the plan.
The construction industry is said to be worth around £7.8billion to the Scottish economy and employs 143,000 people in over 50,000 enterprises.
In Orkney, it is one of the largest sectors and is a key contributor to the local economy.
The recovery plan has been created through extensive consultation and collaboration with more than 50 organisations across business, Scottish Government, trades unions and other bodies, including the Construction Industry Coronavirus (CICV) Forum, and represents a shared view from across the sector of a plan to get industry back on its feet.
The plan outlines the immediate and short-term response to COVID-19 and sets out a pathway between this and the longer-term transformation required to build a stronger, fairer and greener economic future.
Peter Reekie, chief executive of the Scottish Futures Trust and chairman 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.”
The plan identifies five areas for concerted and collaborative efforts over the coming months including skills and workforce, pipeline and commercials, and supply chain resilience and capability.
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.
Ken Gillespie, chair of the Industry Leadership Group, said: “This plan has only been possible through the depth of collaboration across the sector, and hard work of all involved, and demonstrates the sector’s ability to come together in a time of crisis. This is only the beginning though.
“The plan will evolve and respond to reflect the feedback and the needs of the sector. We are therefore calling for industry to review and contribute to the plan.”
The recovery plan is available to view on the CLF website.
Feedback can be submitted via the website on enquiries@constructionforum.
CLF will take all feedback on board to help develop the plan further, with regular updates published on the CLF site.