Budget failing

We are disappointed that the Scottish Government's call for a programme of accelerated capital spending of some £350 million in this UK Budget has not been answered (your report, 25 March). It does appear that the Chancellor ducked the opportunity to build economic recovery in Scotland by refusing to allow a further acceleration of money for investment in capital projects.

It is time to re-open the Scottish Budget for next year and fundamentally re-assess our priorities. The construction industry has shed 30,000 jobs over the past two years and construction apprentice places are predicted to fall by half this year. Some 160,000 Scottish school pupils continue to be taught in poor or bad condition schools.

The number of Scottish households on housing waiting lists is at a record high. In October 2007, the Scottish Government "set a national goal to raise the rate of new housing supply to 35,000 a year by the middle of the next decade". Early forecasts for 2010 suggest as few as 12,000 homes will be completed this year, way short of the Scottish Government's own target.

More could and should be done to free up more of the money we have – and mobilise private capital – to invest in those frontline projects which will help build our recovery.

MICHAEL LEVACK

Scottish Building Federation

Crichton's Close

Edinburgh