Government

The government is set to outline its approach to private investment in major construction projects in its upcoming 10-year infrastructure strategy, a senior cabinet minister has said. A chapter in the strategy document, due in June, will outline the government’s approach to attracting private capital across civils projects, housing and…

Industry figures have voiced deep worries about the decision by Donald Trump to impose a 10 per cent tariff on all UK goods – although one analyst believes the move could benefit UK construction. The US president outlined his plans on Wednesday (2 April) for a sweeping new set of…

Reforms to fast track major projects will see the creation of an infrastructure board within the government's environment department and a single lead regulator to facilitate the delivery of major projects. The government announced the measures in response to a wide-ranging review of environmental regulations to “accelerate the delivery” of…

More than 200 large panel system (LPS) tower blocks have been identified as requiring intensive safety-risk management by the Building Safety Regulator (BSR). A spokesperson for the regulator told Construction News that since April last year, it had identified 202 LPS blocks within the first priority higher-risk building (HRB) group…

Homes England is set to get only £126,423 from the £69m it loaned to Ilke Homes – even though liquidations and administration processes have generated £5.1m earmarked for it. Insolvency specialists overseeing processes for three Ilke Homes companies have managed to recoup the sum but a legal agreement means almost…

Directors of construction firms hiring casual staff without checking their right to work could face jail terms under a government crackdown announced today. Home Secretary Yvette Cooper announced new laws and increased enforcement efforts to tackle illegal employment in the UK. Checks would be mandatory for zero-hours workers under the…

Technology is changing. And so is Construction News. Our editorial team has been using artificial intelligence (AI) behind the scenes for some time now to summarise long reports and data as part of our research process, as well as produce some illustrations. But we have not used it to produce…

The potential closure of steelmaking operations at British Steel’s Scunthorpe site has been branded as “heartbreaking” and “distressing” for workers and the wider construction industry. British Steel announced yesterday (27 March) that it was starting a consultation on closing the two blast furnaces at its Scunthorpe site after experiencing production…

Kier has won a £41m contract for a major school project as part of a wider government plan for upgrades.  The tier one contractor was this week been named by the Department for Education (DfE) to partially redevelop the Hewett Academy in Norwich.  The 1950s secondary school was among 61…

The construction skills funding package announced at the weekend totals £745m across the entire UK, Construction News has discovered, but three quarters of the cash will not be spent before April 2027. On Saturday night (22 March), the government trumpeted a £600m skills boost for the sector. However, Spring Statement…