Construction key to economic growth
Chairman of the Construction Products Association suggests ways for government to kick-start recovery
ADDRESSING an audience of more than 80 Parliamentarians and 150 construction industry leaders, civil servants and journalists at the House of Commons, Bill Bolsover, chairman of the Construction Products Association, identified the construction industry as a key driver of economic growth and suggested ways in which government should kick-start the recovery.
‘Government must stick to its spending plans but rebalance the economy between current and capital spending,’ said Mr Bolsover. ‘The Government’s own figures show current expenditure rising from £632 billion this year to £694 billion in 2014/15, while capital spending is being cut from £61 billion to £42 billion over the same period. Rebalancing this could make way for the £5 billion package of essential infrastructure investment which is being widely talked about.’
He also called upon government to do more to stimulate the new-build housing market, saying that although recent announcements about the release of public sector land for private sector housing were welcome, what was really holding back first-time buyers was not development but access to finance.
‘Government must examine and encourage ways to help first-time buyers get on the housing ladder through, for example, some kind of mortgage indemnity guarantee scheme, or through a government-backed savings scheme for first-time buyers,’ he said.
Emphasizing it would be industry that would deliver the economic recovery, and that the role of construction would be crucial in achieving this, Mr Bolsover said politicians must remember that many major construction product manufacturers and suppliers are no longer UK companies and so have a choice of where to put their investment.
‘The signals government sends on its reform of the planning system, on the way it decides to support energy-intensive industries, and on its carbon-reduction measures are of concern to a worldwide audience of potential investors in the UK essential to our economic recovery,’ he said.
