Scotland faces construction meltdown

Scottish construction professionals fear an industry meltdown this summer unless a new private finance mechanism is sorted-out quickly.

The Association for Consultancy and Engineering is urging the Scottish Government to take decisive action amid fears over progress on the Scottish Futures Trust, which aims to provide an alternative to current arrangements for the funding of public infrastructure projects.

ACE Scotland chairman Jim Tod said: "There is no desire for scaremongering within the Scottish construction sector, but to carry on with our heads in the sand will be costly indeed and something has to be done to avoid a total standstill, which at this stage is looking inevitable.

"The cold and stark facts are that construction work with a total capital value of £352m on schools and hospitals and other projects with an additional capital value of £782m will all be finished by the beginning of November. That’s well over £1bn of public infrastructure projects across Scotland that will reach completion over the next half year. When those projects dry up there will be a large hole to fill and we need to find a solution now if we are to avoid a meltdown in the construction sector.

"The lack of progress of the flagship funding mechanism north of the border has been increasingly evident for some time. The Scottish Futures Trust initially raised hopes that a capital expenditure programme could be successful in delivering infrastructure and projects in Scotland, but with optimism fast turning into malaise the feeling now is that the Scottish Government must act sharply to avert serious long-term consequences for the construction industry.

"The sector cannot afford a gap in project delivery between the previous funding regime and this one. Let’s not get to the point where firms are about to down tools before a solution is found. The Scottish government can’t afford to be reckless here."