Friday February 27th 2026
Miles Briggs MSP at the event
Written by Midlothian View Reporter, Liam Eunson
Miles Briggs MSP has sponsored a parliamentary event at Holyrood to address the critical shortage of traditional construction skills needed to protect Scotland’s historic environment.
The event on Thursday 26 February brought MSPs together with experts and apprentices from Historic Environment Scotland (HES).
The drop-in session, which took place ahead of Scottish Apprenticeship Week (2-6 March), highlighted the skills crisis facing the sector.
A recent employer skills survey conducted by HES found that 79 per cent of Scotland’s heritage sector employers are experiencing significant skills gaps, with traditional and specialist skills impacted the most.
Now, more than ever, traditional skills such as stonemasonry are needed to keep Scotland’s heritage thriving.
With around 1.1 million homes in Scotland at risk due to disrepair, including 340,000 pre-1919 traditional buildings, the event underscored the urgent need to invest in and scale up training to meet the demands of repairing and maintaining such buildings. Scotland’s historic buildings form a distinctive part of its towns and cities, contributing to local identity, place making and community wellbeing.
At the event, MSPs spoke to HES apprentices, trainees and craft fellows to learn more about how traditional building skills, combined with new innovations and technology, can provide high-quality jobs while protecting Scotland’s iconic built heritage for future generations.
HES’s updated Skills Investment Plan, published in 2024 with input from across the heritage sector, sets out a clear pathway to ensure that the operation, care, and sustainable growth of Scotland’s historic environment is not constrained by a shortage of appropriate talent and skills.
Miles Briggs MSP said:
“It’s a privilege to be sponsoring this event to highlight the importance of traditional skills in Scotland.
“It was great to talk to experts and apprentices from Historic Environment Scotland here in parliament and hear firsthand how rewarding their work is.
“Traditional skills are essential to maintaining our homes, public buildings, and historical attractions. Therefore, this sector is key to our economy and the more we invest in it, the better.
“Like other sectors, employers face a skills shortage which is holding back their full potential. Looking forward to apprenticeship week, it is really important to be spreading the word about opportunities in this fascinating industry.”
Dr David Mitchell, Director of Cultural Assets at HES, said:
“We are reaching a pivotal moment for Scotland’s historic environment. The vital skills needed to care for our traditional buildings are in increasingly short supply, and our current approach to skills training does not serve traditional skills well. These are not niche skills: lead working, blacksmithing and stonemasonry are fundamental to the built environment we have in Scotland.
“Traditional skills are essential for Scotland’s future. With more than a million homes at risk due to disrepair, and with the drive towards net zero demanding sensitive, skilled interventions in older buildings, the need for trained craftspeople has never been greater. Over the next decade, more than 10,000 new jobs will be needed to maintain and adapt our traditional building stock. There is no net zero without traditional skills.
“The sector’s Skills Investment Plan sets out a clear path forward, but we cannot deliver it alone. We need a coordinated national effort to attract young people, career changers and skilled workers into the sector, supported by clear and accessible training pathways. By investing in these skills now, we can safeguard Scotland’s built heritage and create meaningful, sustainable jobs for generations to come. HES and Scottish Canals are already working together to create a new national centre of excellence for traditional skills at Lock 16 in Falkirk but it cannot, on its own, deliver the scale of change required. What we now need is a shift in the existing skills approach so that those committed to improving the training situation across Scotland are better able to do so.”
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