The run up to Christmas is a hectic time of year for many members. So were grateful to bring together most of your Scotland Board for their final meeting of 2024 in Edinburgh. The Board is made up of 14 members elected by fellow Scotland-based FMB members. Led by your Scotland President Pam Wilson, the Scotland Board provide invaluable support and help to shape our work in Scotland.
So what is on their Christmas wish list?
At each meeting, all Board members share their feedback on a range of issues impacting their business as local building contractors. These include
- Trading conditions and general workloads in their locality
- Challenges on recruiting and retaining skilled labour
- Contractual and commercial matters
- Feedback on the FMB’s services, such as the app and our business helplines
With Board members from Shetland to Stirling in the room, top of the Christmas wish list was staff. Finding good workers: be that skilled craft operatives but also support staff, was the biggest challenge voiced around the room. The increase to employer National Insurance contributions announced in the budget ramped up the temperature of an already hot topic.
New Council in Scotland to grapple with the skills crisis
Now skills and labour shortages aren’t new but one new development from January is the launch of the Standards and Qualifications Council for Scottish Construction. The FMB will be a member of this new council. Just what will it do for FMB members though?
It will provide sharper industry feedback and insights on the topic of skills and qualifications, including:
- The range, scale and nature of problems that may be causing current skills gaps in the industry.
- Apprenticeship qualifications.
- Ensuring that the right courses are provided through collaboration with colleges and independent training providers, as well as supporting the National Construction College Scotland (NCC), which often fills gaps in the supply side of training.
- The progress and impact of current and planned qualification developments.
- Solutions CITB and others could implement to address problems and opportunities here.
No-one is expecting any miracles to happen but in the first instance two Scotland Board members Stephen O’Neill and Robert Wilson will attend the launch event in Glasgow on 21 January and will voice the FMB’s views on where the council must concentrate its efforts.
We want to hear from you
Another Christmas wish from the meeting in Edinburgh was for builders to be better treated by clients and Contract Administrators. Work is underway here following detailed feedback from some members of the consequences of a conflict of interest when the architect is also the Contract Administrator. The vast majority of FMB members are building contractors who within the CDM regulations are the Principal Contractor.
We are seeking further feedback from members of their experiences (positive or negative) when building for clients where a Contracts Administrator (CA) is appointed, especially if the CA is also the architect.
Authors
Gordon Nelson
Director, Federation of Master Builders Scotland
