The Business and Enterprise Committee yesterday published its Report, Construction Matters (HC 127-1), a major strategic review of the UK’s construction industry. It calls on the Government to create a new post of “Chief Construction Officer” to tackle the problem of the fragmentation of construction policy and procurement across government, and to set the industry on the right footing to tackle the major challenges it faces both in the short and long term.
The construction industry provides employment for more than 2.8 million people. The sector contributed 8.7% of the UK economy’s gross value-added (GVA) in 2006, and generated some £10 billion of exports. The public sector is the industry's biggest customer, accounting for around a third of output:—it has the leverage to force improvement.
APHC’s Chief Executive, Clive Dickin, comments:
“This is very positive news in the current economic climate. APHC welcomes the findings of the committee and will continue to work with the SEC group to improve working conditions across the industry.”