Scaffolding must be central to the government’s growth agenda

It is not impossible to find a few people who object to the current UK government’s obsession with growth. But these are a rare breed, and their objections are usually focused on concerns about sustainability. Most agree however, that the stated ambition to see the economy grow is a positive thing. There may be arguments about the best levers to pull and fierce debate over the right balance of regional demands and funding, but growing the national economy is widely understood to be a positive.

But NASC takes issues with the current Westminster government over statements it continues to make suggesting that speed of construction matters above all else. NASC and its members will always place quality and safety at least on a par with and possible above other considerations. For our members, their clients and the operatives employed on their projects, this can be a matter of life and death. 

Building can only have a truly positive impact if the construction from start to finish is carried out to the highest quality. If we put up rubbish now, build poor infrastructure or sub-standard housing, we’ll only be building problems for future generations. What we build today must be built with many tomorrows in mind. 

A skilled, well-trained workforce

There is one key ingredient currently missing from the UK economy to allow this to happen. We need enough properly trained, experienced and skilled scaffolding operatives with proven competence. We need these people right across the country and throughout the industry. This is an issue across all parts of the construction sector. For the time being we have seen little evidence of enough attention being paid to the skills crisis the whole construction sector is facing. And this is a crisis that has the power to hold back growth and drag down ambitions both sides of the border. One NASC member is currently reporting over 10% loss in growth because of a lack of qualified staff.

It doesn’t feel that government thinking in either Holyrood or Westminster is particularly joined up in this area. The approach to skills and training and the impact on the economy always seems somewhat off to one side. We need a better focus and we need governments and industry to come together to work both on immediate solutions for the short-term, but also to put in place measures that will have an impact over the medium to long term. 

South of the border, we’re delighted to be working with City & Guilds Training to deliver the Scaffolding Skills Bootcamps through our national network of CISRS centres. Initiatives such as this are vital to build and upskill our home-grown talent. NASC has committed significant resource for Scottish scaffolding contractors through the NASC Talent solution at scaffoldingcareers.com. In the short run, we may need to look at ways to get back some of the overseas talent we lost due to the combination of Brexit and Covid. Adding scaffolding to the Immigration Salary List (ISL), formerly known as the Shortage Occupation List, would be an excellent starting point.

We’re fully behind all plans to boost growth in the UK as whole and in Scotland. We love the ambition and are pleased to see that at all levels of government there appears to be a recognition of the role construction projects such as housing and infrastructure can play in achieving the ambitious objectives. Our concern remains the lack of joined-up thinking, with all the evidence suggesting this goes beyond the issue of skills. 

By increasing employer’s National Insurance Contributions and giving an above-inflation increase in the national minimum wage, the Chancellor dented her business-friendly credentials. These were hard to swallow for many small and medium-sized scaffolding firms who want to invest and grow. We will see the impact these decisions have had in a few weeks. My expectation is they’ll be massively negative, with even some modest businesses expecting £100,000 bills they can’t recover, as projects were quoted for before the Budget.

The scaffolding and access sector wants to play its part and get behind the mission for growth, but it wants to make sure any growth is built on high quality. The hidden risks when you cut corners in construction are well known. We only need look at the changes to the Building Safety Act because of the large loss of life at Grenfell. This is especially true with scaffolding. NASC highlights the best practice of its members through its annual Safety Report. We’d love the whole sector to be genuinely free of incidents or accidents with nothing to report. 

In the meantime, projects should insist on competent contractors – ideally a NASC member who is audited to NASC standards and guidance – that the scaffolding is correctly designed and that it is erected and regularly inspected by competent and experienced, CISRS-carded scaffolders.