Unite the Union has gathered together representatives of both employers and employees in Scotland to press the case with the Government for the protection of title for the occupation of electrician; a move that is estimated to boost the economy by £58 million. The union supported the Electricians Working Group
Alan Wilson, the Head of Membership and Communications at SELECT, the campaigning body trade for Scotland’s electrical sector, delivered a presentation at the end of March to the Scottish Parliament’s Cross Party Group for Construction. This was the latest initiative in SELECT and the SEC Group’s long-running campaign to improve
The largest trade association in Scotland, SELECT, demands lower threshold on Project Bank Accounts in the wake of the Carillion collapse. The disaster that rocked the construction industry has led to renewed calls for increased regulation regarding payment security from SELECT. The Scottish association is not the only one voicing
Over three in four (78 per cent) engineering services firms say turnover increased or remained steady during the final quarter of 2016, according to findings within the sector-wide ‘Building Engineering Business Survey’, sponsored by Scolmore. Over the same period, almost four in 10 survey respondents (39 per cent) said that
According to a new ‘Building Engineering Business Survey’ survey sponsored by Scolmore, more than three out of four (78 per cent) engineering services firms say turnover increased or remained steady during the final quarter of 2016. The survey is now being run in partnership by the ECA, the Building Engineering
BDC 319 : Aug 2024
Unite the Union has gathered together representatives of both employers and employees in Scotland to press the case with the Government for the protection of title for the occupation of electrician; a move that is estimated to boost the economy by £58 million. The union supported the Electricians Working Group which was convened at Holyrood following a concerted awareness-raising push by electrical employers’ association SELECT, the Scottish Joint Industry Board and the Scottish Electrical Charitable Training Trust. “With this whole-hearted support from our industry partners Unite the Union, there is now a discernible groundswell of opinion in favour of regulation and in particular protection of title for electricians,” said Fiona Harper, the Secretary of the SJIB. The Government is asked to recognise the skills, knowledge, training, experience and qualifications of electrician and their vital role in the functioning of a modern society. The supporters are also asking for the Government to take into consideration the risk to public safety of unqualified or underqualified people being able to pass themselves off as electrician, especially when carrying out work for vulnerable householders. “Our members have expressed their frustration that people in such a safety-critical occupation are able to use the title of electrician when they have not met the established national and industry standards,” said Pat Rafferty, the Unite Scottish Secretary. SELECT proves in a report from 4-Consulting on the economic impact of regulating electricians in Scotland that protecting lives and property in this manner could save the country around £58 million a year. It pointed out that 10 people were killed and more than 600 injured in electrical fault-related incidents in 2016 alone. “We do not want to leave people behind if they want to operate as competent and safe electricians and we have taken steps to ensure that there are a variety of ‘routes to qualification’ to make the profession as inclusive as possible,” said Newell McGuiness, SELECT Managing Director. SELECT’s 1250 member companies account for around 90% of all electrical installation work carried out in Scotland. They have a collective turnover of around £1 billion and provide employment for 15,000 people.
Alan Wilson, the Head of Membership and Communications at SELECT, the campaigning body trade for Scotland’s electrical sector, delivered a presentation at the end of March to the Scottish Parliament’s Cross Party Group for Construction. This was the latest initiative in SELECT and the SEC Group’s long-running campaign to improve how the business community interacts with the public sector, which buys £10 billion of goods, works and services each year. “My presentation was made to a group of MSPs as well as interested parties from throughout the construction sector to give our organisations’ views on how procurement could be improved. I wanted to draw to the attention of our elected representatives a number of issues including the payment cycle, retentions, large packaging of contracts and lack of accountability,” explained Alan. Alan pointed out that Scottish SMEs are acknowledged as the backbone of the economy and that a smoothly-running procurement environment was a vitally important issue for them. On payment, he suggested the more stringent enforcement of Section 15 of the Procurement Reform (Scotland) Act 2014 as well as the extension of, and reduction of limits for, Project Bank Accounts. In addition, he also proposed placing all retentions into a trust-based deposit scheme and greater implementation of the Act’s provisions which allow public bodies to package contracts into smaller lots for which small firms can more realistically bid. On accountability, he supported the introduction of a yellow/red card scheme and the appointment of a Construction Regulator. “In the wake of the Carillion crisis, now is the time to act. People need to be accountable, and they need to pay on time. Retentions should not be used as bargaining chips and we should try to get away from the fixation of large scale contracts,” said Alan. The SEC Group represents around 3,000 firms in Scotland that employ more than 30,000 people and more than 5,000 apprentices, while SELECT has 1,250 member companies that have a collective turnover of around £1 billion and provide employment for 15,000 people. “Scotland’s legislators and its parliamentary committees have come some way on procurement and with some sensible additions to the current regulations which cover the operation of the Bill, we could have a procurement regime with which everyone could work and which will deliver for Scotland,” said Newell McGuiness, SELECT Managing Director.
The largest trade association in Scotland, SELECT, demands lower threshold on Project Bank Accounts in the wake of the Carillion collapse. The disaster that rocked the construction industry has led to renewed calls for increased regulation regarding payment security from SELECT. The Scottish association is not the only one voicing its opinion. Others, such as the Specialist Engineering Contractors (SEC) Group, are also calling for the dropping of the threshold at which Project Bank Accounts (PBAs) become mandatory and for PBAs to be universally required. “The crisis which has surrounded the construction industry since the collapse of Carillion illustrates perfectly why payment protection is required,” mentioned Newell McGuiness, Managing Director of SELECT. “The Scottish Government had the foresight to introduce Project Bank Accounts 2 years ago and now is the time for them to reinforce that foresight with a proactive, forward-looking legislative agenda and to provide a safety net for the SMEs which are building Scotland’s future infrastructure,” he added. All Scottish Government bodies are required to include a PBA for all building projects that are over £4.1 million. A PBA is a retained account earmarked for the payment of contractors and ring fenced from spending. However, what SELECT and SEC would like to see is a lowering in the threshold of applicability to projects valued at £2 million. Newell explained that the advantages of having a PBA in place are that it “would provide peace of mind, not just for our members, but for all of Scotland’s SMEs, who work in the construction industry in Scotland. This legislation could arrest the ‘domino effect’ that can devastate an industry in the event of another collapse like Carillion”. SELECT is the largest trade association in Scotland, with 1,250 member companies that account for around 90% of all electrical installation work carried out in Scotland. Its collective turnover is around £1 billion and it provides employment for 15,000 people.
Over three in four (78 per cent) engineering services firms say turnover increased or remained steady during the final quarter of 2016, according to findings within the sector-wide ‘Building Engineering Business Survey’, sponsored by Scolmore. Over the same period, almost four in 10 survey respondents (39 per cent) said that labour costs had increased. Furthermore, almost six in 10 businesses (57 per cent) said that they were not being paid within 30 days for public sector work, in breach of legislation. ECA CEO Steve Bratt and BESA chief executive Paul McLaughlin commented: “These new survey findings show that the engineering services sector is powering forward, despite challenges from rising material and labour costs. Our sector is extremely resilient and technological advances are continually opening up new business opportunities.” SELECT managing director Newell McGuiness added: “This is the first time that SELECT members have participated in the business survey and we are encouraged at the confidence in future workload opportunities. However, this is tempered a little by the increase in material costs, which are beginning to be felt and the on-going issue of extended payment periods, particularly in the private commercial sector”. Businesses of all sizes had a strong final quarter, with over three-quarters of micro, small, medium and large businesses all seeing turnover rise or remain constant. Very large businesses (turnover over £20m) had the strongest quarter, with over half (54 per cent) seeing turnover increase. Looking ahead to the first quarter of 2017, the business outlook is very positive, with almost nine in 10 businesses (86 per cent) expecting their turnover to increase or stay the same. The engineering services sector covers a broad range of work including electrical, mechanical, renewables, heating and ventilating, datacomms, and fire and security systems. The survey is now being run in partnership by the ECA, the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA), and Scottish electrical trade body SELECT. It had 529 responses from across the building engineering services sector in January. However, over six in 10 (61 per cent) engineering services firms say their material costs increased during the final quarter of 2016.
According to a new ‘Building Engineering Business Survey’ survey sponsored by Scolmore, more than three out of four (78 per cent) engineering services firms say turnover increased or remained steady during the final quarter of 2016. The survey is now being run in partnership by the ECA, the Building Engineering Services Association (BESA), and Scottish electrical trade body SELECT. It had 529 responses from across the building engineering services sector in January. However, more than six in 10 (61 per cent) engineering services firms say their material costs increased during the final quarter of 2016. Over the same period, almost four in 10 survey respondents (39 per cent) said that labour costs had increased. Furthermore, almost six in 10 businesses (57 per cent) said that they were not being paid within 30 days for public sector work, in breach of legislation. ECA ceo Steve Bratt and BESA chief executive Paul McLaughlin said: “These new survey findings show that the engineering services sector is powering forward, despite challenges from rising material and labour costs. Our sector is extremely resilient and technological advances are continually opening up new business opportunities.” SELECT managing director Newell McGuiness added: “This is the first time that SELECT members have participated in the business survey and we are encouraged at the confidence in future workload opportunities. However, this is tempered a little by the increase in material costs, which are beginning to be felt and the on-going issue of extended payment periods, particularly in the private commercial sector”. Businesses of all sizes had a strong final quarter, with over three-quarters of micro, small, medium and large businesses all seeing turnover rise or remain constant. Very large businesses (turnover over £20m) had the strongest quarter, with over half (54 per cent) seeing turnover increase. For the first quarter of 2017, the business outlook is very positive, with almost nine in 10 businesses (86 per cent) expecting their turnover to increase or stay the same. The engineering services sector covers a broad range of work including electrical, mechanical, renewables, heating and ventilating, datacomms, and fire and security systems. read more at http://www.heatingandventilating.net/engineering-services-sector-ended-2016-on-a-positive-note
