Scotland’s Construction Leadership Forum (CLF) has published a plan aimed at steering the sector’s recovery from the impact of Covid-19.
The plan focuses on the joint action required between the industry and the public sector to respond to the pandemic. The CLF is a collaborative initiative of Construction Scotland and the Scottish government that was established in March 2019 to develop and implement an action plan of improvements for the industry. A draft of the recovery plan was launched for consultation in August.
The plan seeks to maximise support for employers and employees and establish new ways of working to manage infection control, health and safety and shared learning opportunities.
The CLF’s Restart & Recovery Forum has identified five themed areas for concerted and collaborative efforts over the coming months and has established sub-groups to develop and progress actions plans. These groups and joint action plans are:
- Pipelines & Commercials – focusing on establishing a pipeline of work and addressing issues such as expected under-pricing of work;
- Skills & Workforce – support employment, fairness of work and those who may become unemployed;
- Transformation – transforming working practices to maintain and enhance worker safety whilst enabling productivity in the Covid-19 working environment;
- Supply Chain Resilience & Capability – confidence building through clear pipelines of investment and measures to encourage development and activity; and
- Industry Data & Insight – clearer construction pipeline information and better data sets.
Timescales and targets are set out in the plan.
The Scottish government said that a range of immediate actions in the plan are almost complete, with remaining ones now moving into implementation. Short- and medium-term initiatives include work to help apprentices into trades and preparing the industry to deliver a net-zero built environment.
The idea is that the recovery plan will be flexible and able to respond to industry needs and economic conditions going forward.
Housing minister Kevin Stewart said: “This recovery plan has been developed through unprecedented levels of collaboration across industry and with government. We will now also work with the sector to help implement the plan’s actions.
“There is no doubt that the Covid-19 pandemic has had a significant impact on construction. It is absolutely vital for the economic recovery, and to protect jobs, that we get the sector back up to speed as quickly and as safely as possible. This plan sets out practical actions for how this can be achieved and we thank everyone who has taken part.”
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