Government

The head of the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) has warned of the dangers of not gathering enough evidence of construction skills needs. Speaking to MPs on Wednesday (26 March), CITB chief executive Tim Balcon said the industry had not developed in the way envisaged by the 2016 Modernise or…

The Scottish Government’s decision to ditch green heating pledges will sabotage the confidence of the construction sector in future net-zero initiatives, contractors have warned. Select, Scotland’s largest construction trade association, said the decision to row back on the legislation was another setback in the nation’s commitment to net zero and…

Government proposals to open up “greybelt” land for new housing are a “Trojan horse” that could spell the end of the greenbelt, according to the opposition’s shadow housing secretary. Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities Kevin Hollinrake’s comments came during the second reading of the government’s…

Government departments were lining up contractors to replace ISG months before it collapsed last September, a report has revealed. The National Audit Office (NAO) said ministers learned from the collapse of Carillion in 2018, when public money had to be pumped into finishing hospital projects started by the failed giant.…

The rates that clients will be charged under the Building Safety Levy have been published for each local authority area - but implementation has been delayed for a year. The government today published details of how the levy on all new homes and student accommodation – aimed at raising £3.4bn…

A Construction Skills Mission Board will oversee a £600m package aimed at training 60,000 construction workers by 2029, including 10 new Technical Excellence Colleges, the government has announced. The new colleges will be backed by £100m of public funding and will focus on developing advanced technical training in trades and…

More than 8,300 bounce back loans issued to the construction sector during the pandemic are suspected to have been fraudulent, Construction News can reveal. The loans, issued from May 2020 as emergency relief of up to £50,000 for small companies, were backed by 100 per cent government guarantees. Data obtained…

A mesothelioma campaign group is urging the government to ban Altrad UK, its parent company and its subsidiaries from future public-sector work. Its call followed the decision by Altrad UK chief executive Ran Oren (pictured) not to appear before the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Occupational Safety and Health. The…

Plant manufacturers and operators have raised concerns that a change in the law over the operational weight of mobile concrete mixers could have financial implications for the sector. But this Tuesday (18 March), a two-year government inquiry rejected their calls for the vehicles to be exempt from standard weight restrictions. An…

The government is complacent about construction sector capacity shortages that risk undermining its plans to remediate dangerous cladding in England, MPs have said. A new report from parliament’s Public Accounts Committee (PAC) released today (21 March) said far too many people were trapped in unsafe homes, facing financial uncertainty and…