ELECTION2015
Election survey reveals
vote of no confidence from
construction industry
The Conservative party has taken the lead in
a pre-election opinion poll conducted by UK
Construction Week, despite 71% of respondents
claiming that the needs of the construction industry
have been ignored by the key political parties.
»»The survey
questioned more than 1,000
product manufacturers,
contractors, architects, house
builders, developers and suppliers
from around the industry, asking
for their thoughts on policies
affecting the construction
industry.
The overwhelming majority
replied that they do not feel the
interests of the industry have
been addressed by the election
campaigns, with only 29% stating
that construction has received adequate
political attention.
When asked which party would be best
for the industry if it comes to power, the
Conservatives demonstrated a clear lead with
54% of the vote. The results place Labour
well behind at 30%, while the Green Party
has pushed ahead of the Liberal Democrats,
coming in at 6% and 4% respectively. UKIP
managed to claim 4% of the vote, with SNP
and Plaid Cymru jointly accounting for the
remaining 2%.
Despite the positive indication for the
Conservatives, the survey also appeared to
reveal a desire for political change, with 72%
stating that a change in government would
have a positive or neutral impact on the
construction industry and just 28% replying
that this would have negative consequences.
When asked to look more closely at the
policies they feel would positively benefit
the industry, two key themes emerged:
house building and skills. The Help To Buy
programme was overwhelmingly highlighted
as the most important recent initiative in
boosting construction industry growth,
receiving 67% of the vote.
Interestingly, the coalition government’s
flagship energy efficiency programmes
18 » M AY 2015 » CL EARVI E W- UK . C O M
the Green Deal and the Energy Company
Obligation achieved just 9% and 5% of
the responses, while the key sustainability
programmes the Renewable Heat Incentive
and Feed In Tariff each received just 4%.
Richard Morey, Group Events Director at
Media 10, the event company producing UK
Construction Week, commented: “The survey
results are interesting because they appear to
show that the industry feels let down by the
main political parties. Despite the fact that
construction has been the main driver behind
the UK’s economic recovery, the needs of the
industry have been given very little attention
in the run up to the election.
“The results have highlighted that while
there are some very clear issues to be
addressed – such as house building and
skills shortages – it will be down to the
construction industry itself to rise to these
challenges, without much political support.
For these reasons, it is vital that the industry
takes charge of its own future and we hope
that by providing a platform and space for
this at UK Construction Week we will be able
to help make this a reality.”
Source: Glenigan. For more information
visit ukconstructionweek.com
Election
Question
Time
»»The Construction
Industry Council kindly supported by CENE,
RIBA North East, ICE North East, CIOB
North East and FBE (Forum for the Built
Environment), held an Election Question
Time event on Friday 17 April at the
Newcastle Marriott Hotel, Gosforth.
The audience was made up of 60
interested industry individuals from;
architects, contractors, engineers and other
members of the CIC. A list of questions
had been prepared prior to the event and
attendees asked to discuss the following
topics; current and future construction skills
shortages, making better places, Housing and
Infrastructure - to establishing the Politicians
level of understanding in the construction
industry.
After a brief introduction from ICE
President David Balmforth, it was the
turn of Graham Robb, Senior Partner at
Recognition PR, to take over as Chair; he
was accompanied by a distinguished panel
of three local politicians: Rt Hon Nicholas
Brown MP Labour, Newcastle upon
Tyne East; The Lord Shipley OBE, Liberal
Democrat and Conservative Prospective
Parliamentary Candidate, Simon Kitchen.
The CIC Election Briefing, Constructing a
Better Future, was made available to all and
Nick Brown held it up as “an excellent blue
print for the industry.”
‘the audience participated
constructively with
the three Politicians’
Event organiser, John Neilsen, CK21
consultancy LLP, commented: “In light of the
North East being in our opinion overlooked
by the last two Governments, in terms
of investment to building, the audience
participated constructively with the three
Politicians and we are looking forward to
organising more of these types of events
to help them understand the needs of the
construction and building industries.”
Visit www.cic.org.uk