Green Party co-leader also joins 25 other politicians backing motion congratulating trade body on 125 years of fighting for the profession
Scotland’s largest construction trade association, SELECT, continues to draw cross-party support for its activities in its 125th year, with another prominent MSP publicly supporting its campaign for protection of title for electricians.
Scottish Green Party co-leader and former Minister for Green Skills, the Circular Economy and Biodiversity Lorna Slater is the latest politician to add her name to the campaigning trade body’s Wall of Support.
Showing her support with a virtual ‘brick’, the MSP for Lothian Region said: “Currently within Scotland, due to a lack of regulation anyone can claim to be an electrician and carry out electrical work without proper qualification or oversight.
“The installation of electrical work by unqualified or inadequately trained individuals is a major safety concern and risks potential harm to people and businesses.
“I therefore welcome SELECT’s campaign for the regulation of the electrical industry and to make electrician a protected title to aid the protection of the people and the profession.”
Ms Slater – who was born in Canada and worked in Scotland as an engineer in the renewables sector – has also joined 25 MSPs from across the political divide who have backed the recent tabling of a special motion in the Scottish Parliament, congratulating SELECT on representing the electrical industry since 1900.
The motion was lodged by Monica Lennon, Labour MSP for Central Scotland, who also singled out the ongoing contribution of SELECT and its members to renewable technology and apprenticeships and training.
Other MSPs now backing it are the SNP’s Karen Adam, Clare Adamson, Colin Beattie, Stephanie Callaghan, Kenneth Gibson, Bill Kidd, Gordon MacDonald, Fulton MacGregor, Ruth Maguire, Stuart McMillan, Kevin Stewart, Michelle Thomson and David Torrance.
Conservatives Jeremy Balfour, Miles Briggs, Murdo Fraser, Craig Hoy, Edward Mountain, Annie Wells and Brian Whittle have also added their support, along with Labour’s Jackie Baillie, Foysol Choudhury, Alex Rowley, Paul Sweeney, Mercedes Villalba and Independent John Mason.
SELECT Managing Director Alan Wilson said: “As we celebrate our 125th anniversary as the world’s oldest electrical trade body, it is gratifying to see our ongoing work being supported by such a large cross-section of politicians.
“We very much welcome Ms Slater’s expression of solidarity for our campaign for regulation of the electrical industry. It has been a long, hard road but we will continue to focus all our efforts in bringing it to a successful conclusion.
“We are also very grateful to the MSPs who have backed Ms Lennon’s special motion highlighting just how much SELECT has done to promote the cause of public safety and the contribution the electrical sector makes to it.”
As well as a number of MSPs, other bodies that have contributed a brick to the Wall of Support include the Scottish Joint Industry Board, Unite the Union, Electrical Safety First, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors, the Scottish Association of Landlords, the Specialist Engineering Contractors’ Group and the Energy Saving Trust.
SELECT has been campaigning for years with other leading industry bodies, such as the Scottish Electrical Charitable Training Trust and the SJIB to make sure that those who work in the industry do so in a safe and competent manner.
