Scottish confidence takes a hit

Scottish construction confidence has taken a dive after the Scottish National Party’s (SNP) controversial spending review last month.

Confidence north of the border fell 13 points during the last quarter to minus 19 (the survey base is 0), after three successive quarters of recovering confidence, according to a survey by the Scottish Building Federation (SBF).

SBF chief executive Michael Levack blamed the SNP’s spending review for the drop in optimism, which includes policies such as a hike in business rates to raise £850m over the next three years.

Levack added builders were worried about the Scottish government’s commitment to capital spending, despite the SNP’s pledge to “squeeze every penny out of every pound to inject […] in new infrastructure”.