Government

Mark Leeson is operations director at consultancy McBains Will the government’s recent defence-spending boost provide ammunition to help spark construction’s recovery? To say recent construction industry forecasts have been downbeat would be an understatement, what with consultancy Arcadis’ market-view report predicting a painfully slow revival and market analysts S&P Global’s…

Working on a site in the remote Yorkshire countryside, the task of building the UK’s first all-electric prison was always going to have its challenges for tier one contractor Kier. HMP Millsike’s rural location in Full Sutton, near York, led to difficulties attracting labour, as well as infrastructure issues when…

Alison Fagan is infrastructure lead at law firm DLA Piper In 2025, the UK’s infrastructure sector stands at a critical juncture. The nation’s builders will no doubt welcome the recent announcement that the government intends to give judges the power to block appeals on nationally significant projects, plus its renewed…

A decade has passed since the Modern Slavery Act became law. CN examines how far the industry has – or hasn’t – changed There is a popular concept in criminology called routine activity theory. It posits that the ideal environment for criminals to offend is when the opportunity and the…

Rudi Klein is a barrister and former chief executive of the Specialist Engineering Contractors Group It is extremely gratifying that the government has accepted the recommendation for a construction regulator, albeit implantation is delayed until 2028. More than 30 years ago, as chief executive of the Specialist Engineering Contractors Group,…

Damien Sharkey is managing director of build-to-rent developer HUB How can we balance the need to ensure building safety with development certainty, to allow the delivery of much-needed homes? As the Building Safety Act rightly makes clear, delivering homes that are safe to live in is fundamental and non-negotiable. But…

Jon Bootland is chief executive of the Passivhaus Trust Projects being built to the Passivhaus standard now account for approximately 1 per cent of all new homes under construction, according to figures the Passivhaus Trust has just released. This new data shows that the standard is now a mainstream option…

Charis Beverton is a partner at law firm Winckworth Sherwood Since last summer’s general election, development conversations have centred around Labour’s target of building 1.5 million homes over the next five years. In December, we heard the prime minister again double down on that pledge as part of the government’s…

Mark Farmer’s review of the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) was released today (30 January). In an interview with Construction News, he explains his recommendations, and why improving quality is important in driving up the number of people employed in construction. You recommend a merger between the Engineering Construction Industry…

David Pickstone is a partner and Anastasia Nourescu is a senior associate at law firm Stewarts HMRC has recently intensified its scrutiny of research and development tax relief claims, targeting inadequate submissions from rogue advisers and seeking to narrow the interpretation of the rules around subsidised and contracted-out R&D. Construction…