Preparing industry for the
Building Safety Act, improving productivity, reducing carbon emissions and
supporting biodiversity will be the priorities for the Construction Leadership
Council in 2024.
The Bi-annual Report of the
Council also highlights key outcomes delivered by the Council last year,
including:
- New competence frameworks for
roles required under the Building Safety Act; • The launch of a strategy to
eliminate the use of diesel by much of the sector;
- Consulted on a biodiversity
roadmap;
- An updated PAS 2080, including
guidance for buildings alongside infrastructure and;
- Established an expert group to
take forward development of the Information Management Mandate (BIM 2).
The CLC also successfully made
the case to protect tens of millions of pounds in R&D tax credits that had
been in jeopardy because of proposed HMRC rule changes late last year.
Following CLC intervention, the
new approach will ensure that genuinely innovative construction businesses can
continue to claim this vital tax credit, helping to support a more productive
sector.
The report highlights 2023
progress under each of the CLC’s four strategic priorities – Building Safety,
Net Zero and Biodiversity, People & Skills, and Next Generation Delivery,
while also demonstrating where it has acted on more immediate issues such as
the rise in insolvencies in the sector.
Looking forward, the report
highlights continuing work in each of these priority areas. Other actions for
2024 include:
- Supporting the establishment of
the Building Safety and Products Regulators;
- Promotion of domestic retrofit
to reduce carbon emissions from existing homes;
- Leading the sector’s response to
the current review of Industry Training Bodies;
- Working with Government to
rapidly accelerate productivity in the sector;
- Further steps to purge the use
of retentions from UK construction.
Co-Chair and Minister for
Business Nusrat Ghani said: “The UK’s construction industry contributes nearly
9 percent of UK GDP, creating highly skilled jobs across the country, and it’s
a sector that adds huge economic value for us all.
“As the Minister for Industry,
I'm committed to working with the Construction Leadership Council to build a
stronger, greener, safer and more productive construction sector to deliver the
homes and infrastructure Britain needs.”
CLC Co-Chair Mark Reynolds said:
“When construction grows and flourishes, so does the wider UK economy – and it
can only do so when our industry and government work hand-in-hand to identify
and solve shared challenges. By doing so we can ensure that we’re giving
construction what it needs most: the certainty and confidence to invest and
grow.
“Everyone involved in the CLC
should be proud of the progress we’ve made together over the past 18 months to
protect and improve our brilliant industry. Our latest report captures all of
that great work – and most importantly lays out a clear plan of how we’ll build
on that success in the future.”
CLC Deputy Co-Chair Richard
Robinson said: “The progress we’ve made and the plans we’ve set out are only
possible through public and private sector collaboration which is the
cornerstone of the CLC’s work.
“Of course, there is still much
to do but we should take confidence from what has been done as we collectively
strive to transform the construction sector and infrastructure delivery in the
UK.”
