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The Construction Products Association (CPA) has expressed its disappointment following the government’s decision not to include an industry leader from construction product manufacturing or distribution in its new Construction Leadership Council (CLC).
The new membership of the council, announced today (16th July) by the Department of Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) sees a reduction from its previous 30 members to 12. Members have been drawn from construction firms such as Laing O’Rourke and Bouygues UK.
With no representation from construction product manufacturing or distribution in its new formation, the decision means one-third of the construction supply chain by value will be absent from the council’s membership, according to the CPA.
Dr Diana Montgomery, chief executive of the CPA, said: “If government is serious about speaking to industry about tackling the most important issues in construction, particularly productivity, then it needs to ensure that the whole construction supply chain is an important part of strategic discussions and decision making.
“Construction product manufacturing and distribution account for over one-third of the construction activity so it is remiss not to include an industry leader from this part of construction on the Construction Leadership Council.”
The council was created in 2013 to work between industry and government to identify and deliver actions to improve efficiency, skills and growth in UK construction.
The manufacturing and distribution sector, which is worth over £47 billion, directly provides 300,000 jobs and is “vital” to the delivery of the government’s plans to improve UK productivity, the CPA added.
Future investment in manufacturing capacity, skills and haulage will be key to increasing productivity whilst ensuring the anticipated growth within the sector can be achieved in the long-term.
BIS also confirmed the role of the chief construction adviser will not be continued after the incumbent Peter Hansford’s tenure ends in November 2015.
