Building standards verification services - national performance and workforce: annual report 2023-2024

18. Workforce data summary and findings

18.1.The workforce data analysis focuses on the current and future levels (supply and demand) for staff and the extent to which this demand is met by supply into job roles.

18.2.The overall size of the workforce has decreased by 15 between 2023 and 2024 from 598 to 583 (2.5%). Even though supply has dropped, the workforce is still greater than the level in 2022. Supply has dropped in the majority of job roles however, there is an increase in both senior surveyor and team leader roles. These increases are not significant and the number of people in each role has remained broadly similar so there is not a shift in the overall workforce.

18.3.The gap between supply and demand has widened, with a shortfall in 2023 of 39 (6.1%) increasing to 47 (7.5%) in 2024. Like last year’s data, the 2024 data projects that the gap between supply and demand will double in the next three years (medium term) before seeing more gradual increases in demand in the long to longer term. Longer term demand has steadily increased over the last three years.Demand for additional staff in the workforce remains above the current level of supply across all job roles, representing an ongoing recruitment challenge for verifiers.

18.4.The increase in demand projected in the medium term is linked to the Building Standards Futures Board compliance agenda and the associated additional workload expected. The increased building warrant fees introduced in April 2024, and the subsequent increase from 1 April 2025, will provide more income for local authority verifiers to allow for investment in the workforce and recruitment into roles for which there is current demand. It is likely any positive impact of the increased fees will not be noticeable until the 31 July 2025 workforce data collection.

18.5.The gaps between supply and demand for the Surveyor and Building Inspector roles are the largest across all job roles. Current demand for the surveyor role is 208 against supply of 198, with this rising to a projected demand of 239 in 2034. The building inspector role has supply of 33 with current demand at 39, however this rises to a demand 57 in the longer term. This indicates there is a need to resource these roles through recruitment or active succession planning. Recruiting staff into more junior roles and focussing on a ‘grow your own’ approach was recommended in the workforce strategy and remains a realistic approach to help address this gap and in turn support succession planning.

18.6.The demographic of the workforce has remained broadly similar this year, however, a few key changes are noted. In 2023 there was an increase in the younger age ranges but this has not continued in 2024. There has been a reduction of seven in the 16-24 age range, representing a 19.4% decrease. It is also notable there has been a 30% increase in the +61 range from 46 in 2023 to 60 in 2024, with this age range accounting for 10.3% of the total workforce (+2.6% on 2023).

18.7.Leavers in the under 40s age range is up from nine in 2023 to 20 in 2024. The demographic data indicates that there is a need to attract younger people into the workforce to help address succession planning and the loss of expertise from the profession through turnover and retirement. Recruitment of Graduate Apprentices (GA) and the introduction of the Modern Apprenticeship (MAs) pathway will generally drive the trend towards a younger profile to the workforce over time.

18.8.The trend (2022 to 2024) shows increases in the number of GAs and MAs from 20 in 2022 to 27 in 2024. There has been a shift in the split in the apprenticeships with the number of GAs now at 14 and MAs at 13. Due to budget pressures in local authorities, recruitment of MAs has been more difficult for building standards teams, however it is positive that GA numbers have increased.

18.9.Regarding the length of service, there has been a decrease of 22 in the 0-5 years range from 2023. The 0 to 5 years range continues to represent the largest group across the whole profession. It is notable that the number in the 6-10 years range has increased by 12 suggesting that local authorities are retaining staff beyond 5 years service.

18.10.The number of staff with longer service (+36 years) continues to grow. This is a positive trend as it indicates good job retention and illustrates that the profession is able to retain experienced staff. There is a three year trend of continued reduction in the 31-35 years of service range. This may be due to staff retiring after 30 years service or that staff are moving into the next bracket given the increases seen in the +36 years range.

18.11.Professional memberships in 2024 has decreased, the number held has decreased from 250 to 235. The spread of memberships has remained fairly static with no single membership type seeing a significant reduction or increase in number. The Chartered Association of Building Engineers (CABE) has the highest number of membership in the profession. The 93 CABE memberships represent 40% of the 235 total number held. The Royal Incorporation of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has continued to see a reduction in the number of memberships across the workforce but the Chartered Institution of Architectural Technologists (CIAT) saw a slight increase in memberships.

18.12.The highest academic and/or vocational qualification held by each member of staff is collected. The number of qualifications held continues to increase (+35) since 2022. The largest increase since 2023 is in the number of honours degree qualifications held (+24) at level 10 on the Scottish Credit and Qualifications Framework. Similarly, there continues to be an increase in the number of qualifications being studied. The Building Surveying qualification type remains the most popular across the profession with an increase of seven in the number studying this since 2023, this is also an increase on the number in 2022.

18.13.The number of leavers from the profession, with a given reason, has increased on 2023 figures, from 35 in 2023 to 50 in 2024, but is fewer than the 71 leavers in 2022. An additional two staff left the profession without a recorded reason which means the actual number of leavers is 52. The number of retirements from the profession continues to reduce. However, people leaving to go into private sector or to another public sector role has increased significantly from eight in 2023 to 26 in 2024, which is more than the 24 recorded in 2022. Notably, the number of leavers with short service has also increased to 21, which includes 13 with less than 2 years service. This could highlight a potential issue with staff retention in the first two years of service and will be a trend that will be monitored.