Gordon Banks

Speaking at the launch of the Federation of Master Builders manifesto for the construction industry, Building for Success, in London recently Gordon Banks MP for Ochil and South Perthshire said;

“The construction industry is hugely important for Scotland and indeed the whole UK.

In Scotland the construction sector has been decimated in the recent downturn and the failure of the Scottish Government’s Scottish Futures Trust is of major concern.

There are many challenges facing the industry at present including increasing mortgage lending and providing adequate finance to businesses.

The industry is a major employer with 7 million jobs in the UK depending on it, we must do all we can to support it.

Challenges of cutting carbon emission from our housing stock, improving the quality of the current stock and finding new ways to deliver social housing are all challenges but also opportunities.

The FMB has at its heart the best future for the industry and I call on all governments in the UK to work closely with them to securing a sustainable future for this industry which has the potential to pull the UK into firmer growth whilst training tens of thousands of people and improving our schools, hospitals, housing stock and transport infrastructure.”

Speaking further after the event Gordon Banks went on to say;

“The UK government’s policy through this recession has been to do all it can to protect jobs and keep businesses afloat and the Budget followed this trend with the raising of the stamp duty level to £250000 for first time buyers which will be of significant help to the sector.

Additionally it is my hope that the extra lending announced by the Chancellor from Lloyds Banking Group and RBS coupled with additional funding through the Green Investment Bank will all be useful in helping to return this sector to something like normality.