Meeting of the Parliament 13 May 2025
Despite the context of today’s previous debate on the Assisted Dying for Terminally Ill Adults (Scotland) Bill, I thank Gordon MacDonald for bringing this important debate to the chamber. I refer members to my entry in the register of members’ interests in relation to construction, as I am a non-executive director and shareholder of a house-building company. It is with that knowledge of the sector that I highlight the serious decline in certain skills and point out the bleak reality that is facing the sector and the Scottish Government’s chances of meeting its housing targets.
In the past month, I have attended the retirement of two hard-working individuals who had been with our family firm for more than half a century between them. Andy Paterson retired as a bricklayer after 35 years, and Bruce Innes has retired after more than 20 years as a joiner. I wish them both the very best in their retirement and thank them for their service.
Now, as more professionals retire and fewer young people enter the industry, we are faced with a doom loop in which there are not enough trained workers in the pipeline to make up the shortfall and to mentor their successors. Bricklayers are the most difficult to employ, as the skill set is simply not out there in the way that it used to be. I believe that, with regard to workers, the bricklaying sector is down nearly 30 per cent from where it needs to be. It is, sadly, not as much of a chosen trade for apprenticeships, and the Chartered Institute of Building highlights that urgent action is needed to address the worsening skills gap.
Worryingly, I was told last week that nobody has signed up for the bricklaying course in Aberdeen. In the past, that course had more than 40 students, but the numbers are—shockingly—now at zero. Joinery, too, is not receiving the same number of applicants as in previous years, and the impact of that can be felt in construction companies.
In our company, for example, we used to have more than 10 apprentices in joinery and bricklaying, and now we have only half that number. A further problem is that companies that would normally carry out training cannot do so because they are short of mentors in their own businesses to support apprentices. Unfortunately, the comments from Gordon MacDonald that SMEs need to take on more apprentices only serve to demonstrate how little the Government understands of how the sector actually works.
Aside from sub-contractors, we employ nine bricklayers and 11 joiners, and so, without an adequate number of mentors, there is limited capacity for us to be able to take on more apprentices. However, as we hear from those on all sides of the chamber, we need to support traditional skills and encourage more young people to pursue a career in the construction industry.
Bricklaying can be a rewarding career, with bricklayers earning more than £40,000 a year, and I am glad to see from the motion that 74 per cent of young people
“hold a positive view of construction careers”.
However, unless those skills are passed on, there will be no such pay packets and no houses built. Inspiring more people into the sector not only supports both the local and national economy—it will also see more homes being built, at a time when there is a national housing emergency in Scotland and 13 local authorities have declared their own housing emergencies.
We currently have the highest recorded numbers of children living in temporary accommodation, and it has been made clear today that encouraging more people into the construction industry will play a key part in tackling that crisis.
I would like to hear from the minister today if he actually knows how many workers we have in the construction industry for each of those skills, and, more importantly, if he knows what numbers of people with those skills are going to be needed in order to meet the annual housing targets. If the Scottish National Party Government does not get a better understanding of the employment problems facing the sector, the housing crisis is going to get a whole lot worse.
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