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Government Construction Summit 2013

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Hailed as the sector’s most important event of the year, the Government Construction Summit presents the industry with a unique opportunity to hear from, meet and network with those who are responsible for shaping Government policies and hold the purse strings to major projects.

Government Construction Summit 2

Welcome to the Live Blog of the Government Construction Summit 2013. I’m Su Butcher and on 2nd July I’ll be live blogging here to bring you key highlights, news and comment on the Summit as it unfolds. 

http://www.governmentconstructionsummit.co.uk

http://www.governmentconstructionsummit.co.uk/programme/

http://www.building.co.uk/home/government-construction-summit/two-way-process/5056906.article

Join us on Twitter:

The twitter hashtag for the summit is #GCS2013. Please use it in your tweets to join the conversation. 

You can view an archive of tweets and an interactive archive of conversations on twitter using the links below:

http://hawksey.info/tagsexplorer/?key=tmHGPpc6n_mIQrmZ03Sbb8Q&sheet=oaw

[UPDATE: Report on social media activity now published (7 July 2013) ]

https://drvza2n4g1.wpdns.site/featured/government-construction-summit-on-social-media-some-statistics/

The Government Soft Landings Policy is part of the Government Construction Strategy – Please complete the survey about the Government Soft Landings Policy here:

https://t.co/BJtHufQLHK

08.30 – Delegate registration and morning coffee

09.30 – Welcome Address by Building Magazine Brand Director Tom Broughton

09.35 – Opening Address by conference chair – Krishnan Guru Murthy


Krishnan Guru-Murthy welcomes delegates to the event and encourages them (and you) to tweet using the hashtag #GCS2013 if you don’t want to raise your hand

09.40 – Keynote Address by Lord Deighton, Commercial Secretary to the Treasury

Enabling Investment – how HM Treasury is committed to getting Britain building again by funding and supporting investment in infrastructure, looking at the UK’s Guarantee Scheme, Capital Funding and public private partnerships.

http://www.governmentconstructionsummit.co.uk/speaker/lord-deighton/

Lord Deighton kicks off his presentation by confessing ‘I love the UK Construction Industry’ and then says pulling off the Olympics and Paralympics was an ‘outstanding feat’.

Lord Deighton confirms – if you’re going to get anything done you need an excellent plan, the money to execute it and the capability to deliver it.

Lord Deighton says ‘it wasn’t about the amount, its about the approach, having a consistent planned approach over a horizon that matches the assets that we’re trying to deliver’

Krishnan Guru-Murthy picking up questions from Twitter –

Why only about Infrastructure, what about housing?
Lord Deighton – My initial priority is economic infrastructure, transport, energy etc. But we’re also very clear about social infrastructure – schools, hospitals, flood defences…. the balance over the period is reasonable funding in schools and hospitals, housing we clearly have a huge shortage.. .we absolutely recognise that government has a role in that too.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/construction-2025-strategy

“Sets out a vision and a plan for long-term strategic action by government and industry to continue to work together to promote the success of the UK construction sector.

It focuses on key growth markets in:

smart technologies

green construction
overseas trade

The construction strategy is part of the government’s industrial strategy.”

From the Executive Summary:

Over the last six months, Government has been working with people across the construction industry to develop a long-term vision. The result is ‘Construction 2025’ a joint strategy which sets out how industry and Government will work together to put Britain at the forefront of global construction over the coming years. This document summarises the key themes and commitments within the strategy.

KGM: What is government doing to make sure good design is part of the procurement process? 

Lord Deighton – its all part of the process. These projects are about outcomes not buildings. With the olympics not just the velodrome but the fastest possible velodrome for the athletes, great for the public, and for the media. The key is not to define the solution before we’ve worked out what the problem is. Its all about outcomes. 

10.00 – Keynote Address by Rt Hon Michael Fallon MP, Minister of State for Business and Enterprise, delivering growth through industrial strategies

The overarching industrial strategy and a longer term view. Our ambition for construction and the potential for growth to 2025 through the digital economy, low carbon construction and exports

http://www.governmentconstructionsummit.co.uk/speaker/rt-hon-michael-fallon-mp/

Michael Fallon takes to the floor.

He wants to talk about the ambitious vision of the strategy launching today.
‘While where rolling out the infrastructure, we want to build relationships with key sectors. The Industrial Strategy does this. Construction was selected in its own right and also because of its role as an enabling sector’
Peter Hansford will take us through the content of the strategy a little later. 
The Construction Strategy has been developed as a true collaboration between government and industry at a high level.
This is an industry that should be able to punch its weight, and I’m pleased about the creation of a Leadership Council – key people charged with turning the strategy into action.
I was delighted to see the scale of ambition within the heart of the strategy.
33% reduction in the initial cost of construction and the whole life cost of built assets
50% reduction in the overall time, from inception to completion, for newbuild and refurbished assets
50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in the built environment and 
50% reduction in the trade gap between total exports and total imports for construction products and materials
All by 2025.
Industry pressed for these standards that were more ambitious than we had in mind.”
“There is tremendous scope for us to expand into the global market”
Michael Fallon also announces the launch of a Fair Payment Charter by the end of the year

Questions to Michael Fallon

From the floor – An 11.5 year programme during which there are two elections – do you have a buy in from the other parties who may win next time? 
MF: I can speak for two parties – we’ve had support from right across the political spectrum – the overarching Industrial Strategy has been welcomed and specific support for other sector strategies, I hope this will be the case for the Construction Strategy as well.
We have to be ambitions in terms of finance, and for the industry, which is why we chose this date of 2025.
George Martin from Coventry University – I’m delighted to hear Whole Life Value is included – but will Whole LIfe Costing be mandated within the procurmeent process/
MF: we have the vehicle to do that, and mandating is one of the key challenges we have to decide.
KGM: Brings up comment about ‘Yet another fair payment initiative’ – are you going to guarantee fair payment?
MF: I wrote to all of the FTSE 250 asking them to sign up. Most have and we have published online the companies who haven’t signed up. I hope they will join the others who have.
Secondly we’re working across government to ensure the rest of the public sector follows through to meet the European Standards.
Thirdly, its precisely by binding the industry in to the commitments they have made on this strategy, to use the CIC to bind them to it. This is something the industry has to own and take charge of itself’
John Alker GBC: Welcome focus on sustainability within the strategy and overarching mission – it will require huge retrofitting. The Green Deal is a key tool – do you share many concerned in the industry that there are issues with householders to take it up?
MF: We’ve only just started down the Green Deal Route (mentions assessments) sometimes don’t lead to green deal plans but others will sign up to do the improvements themselves. This is something that is going to build very slowly…. I think we’re going to see the number of projects increasing quite rapidly.
Tim Hall from Total Flow – I share the welcome for ambitious targets but in the past we haven’t delivered. Is this an industry issue or…?
MF: I think its a commitment, which is why this strategy binds both industry and government, a series of commitments on both sides. Through the leadership council who will make sure of delivery. That hasn’t happened before.

10.20 – Keynote Address by Peter Hansford, Government Chief Construction Adviser

Working in partnership with the construction industry and government to ensure we meet our long term challenges

http://www.governmentconstructionsummit.co.uk/speaker/peter-hansford/

Peter Hansford now introducing the Strategy in Detail, thanks over 200 people involved in contributing. 

‘Industry and Government will work together to further develop the action plan and make our joint vision a reality’

http://www.building.co.uk/home/government-construction-summit/as-your-adviser-%E2%80%A6/5056910.article

Our vision is that by 2025 COnstruction has been radically transformed.

Joint ambitions – by working in partnership the Construction Industry and Government aspire to achieve 
33% reduction in the initial cost of construction and the whole life cost of built assets
50% reduction in the overall time, from inception to completion, for newbuild and refurbished assets
50% reduction in greenhouse gas emissions in the built environment and 
50% reduction in the trade gap between total exports and total imports for construction products and materials, with more built in Britain.
These are long term ambitions jointly shared.
The strategy does not set out HOW these ambitions will be achieved, but it sets out the framework to enable action plans to make them be achieved.

Why the Construction Industry is so important to the country:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/39161050@N03/9189049477

‘This is about making this industry a great place to work in, and a great place to have a career’ – Peter Hansford

Smart Construction and Digital Design – Hansford now moving onto technology. ‘We made a good start with BIM… impressive efficiencies are being realised’

Sustainability –

 ‘An industry that leads the world in low carbon construction and smart construction exports. 
A clear view of future work opportunities
Improved client capability and efficient procurement.

Growth – 

An Industry that drives growth across the entire economy
Commitment – Identify global trade opportunities, develop partnerships and promote UK Construction through the GREAT brand.
A strong and resilient Supply Chain
‘There is a significant cash flow problem across the industry’ 
The Commitment – Creating conditions for construction supply chains to thrive by addressing access to finance and payment practices.’

10.50 – Morning break & Refreshments

Knowledge Hubs open on BIM, Green Construction & Procurement
Exhibition viewing

The government hopes to promote UK construction skills internationally using the ‘GREAT’ campaign. Here’s more information about the campaign:

http://www.greatbrandlibrary.co.uk/index.faq.php

Here's @thephilpster in the 3D interactive mission room at the #BIM knowledge hub #gcs2013

11.20 – Panel Debate: Policy insight, are key government measures making a difference?

A group of construction industry experts debate the key themes of the day – Investment & Funding, BIM, Cost Efficiency, Sustainability and Exports. What has been achieved so far and what needs to be done?

Panelists include:

Hayley Miller – Cabinet Office (Standing in for Juliet Mountford)
Andrew Wolstenholme OBE, CEO – Crossrail // Chair of ERG/IUK Joint Steering Committee
Stephen Dance, Director of Infrastructure Delivery – Infrastructure UK
Peter Schofield, Director General for the Neighbourhoods Group, DCLG – Green Construction Board
Simon Kirby, MD Infrastructure Projects – Network Rail // Chair of the Infrastructure Clients Working Group
David Tonkin, CEO UK and Europe – Atkins

http://www.governmentconstructionsummit.co.uk/speaker/andrew-wolstenholme-obe/

Andre Wolstenholme:’ I see Lord Deighton and Minister Fallon looking at …bold targets over a sensible timeframe – this is the opportunity for the industry to step up and deliver’

http://www.governmentconstructionsummit.co.uk/speaker/stephen-dance/

‘My job is to help deliver critical infrastructure projects. There are clearly some real challenges in those, and they require long term planning. The thing thats happened for me is that Infrastructure delivery is on the map. Thats taken us forward in terms of planning, the pipeline, the review of how we look at costs, how clients work and with the supply chain, in a way that I think is going to make a huge difference – real change in the upturn which I am sure is coming’

http://www.governmentconstructionsummit.co.uk/speaker/peter-schofield/

‘I lead on planning and housing – in the last few years we have seen reform and putting development at the heart of the planning system…. we now have 3/4 of LAs with a Local Plan in place. There is a good sense of momentum and direction. On housing – housebuilding is at the top of the political agenda (e.g. Budget in March) There is a step up in housebuilding starts. We’re doing a lot to try and get housing going. Help to Buy is showing quite a big impact in the first few months. All of these should see long term improvements in housebuilding’

http://www.governmentconstructionsummit.co.uk/speaker/simon-kirby/

‘My role in Rail – we’re doing a lot in terms of pipeline, Fair Payment Charter, and helping the supply chain deliver. 60% is SMEs. Other countries are asking us about how we get more out of an old infrastructure – we’ve launched a new international consultancy recently. More broadly, its great Paul Deighton mentioned, we’ve got to get better at delivery. I can see this is quite patchy across the sector, but its good that we’re talking about it now.’

http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/simon-kirby/25/526/b4

http://www.governmentconstructionsummit.co.uk/speaker/david-tonkin-2/

http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/david-tonkin/2/306/574?trk=pub-pbmap

‘We have nearly 9000 staff, so I see us as a kind of ‘bellweather’ for the industry. We can see a huge amount of work starting to come to fruition. I think what I then see is definitely a lag in planning – getting projects going. We’re looking for nearly 1000 staff, which will feed into the rest of the construction industry. We hear today there is great cross-industry support, what I’d like to see is more cross-party support. We need to see that the sector plans are backed up by mid-term funding right across the political spectrum. There is the will, but we need the support giving confidence to investors and suppliers.’

KGM: Are you skeptical?
DT: I prefer to be optimistic.
KGM: I want to begin Stephen Dance with Finance. If you look back over the last 5 years in terms of bank project financing, it has plummeted. What impact do you think that is having and are alternative sources of finance taking up the slack?
SD: Its not only finance and funding that is causing delay in delivery – in our experience other factors like planning are pushing ahead of that. From my infrastructure perspective there are two things to say – 
We’ve brought the UK Guarantee Scheme into play to bridge the gap where Bank Finance is unavailable. Secondly the Bond Markets are successfully funding a number of projects. You asked about Pension Funds and others – clearly there is interest from Sovereign Wealth Funds coming into the UK, where SW has bought interest in our major utilities for example, but thats not the whole answer. 
Historically the Pensions system hasn’t been involved but work has been done to enable that to happen. When you’re looking at a high risk construction project the UK Guarantee Scheme starts to play its part. 
I think the evidence is that there is finance and funding for these projects – that won’t be the blocker.
Simon Kirby: We’re a private company, but we’re underwritten by government. We’ve found it more difficult to loan on those markets, but there is certainly a lot of interest and I don’t see funding as an issue, its more the front end planning.
David Tonkin: The government acting as an equity investor should encourage a more collaborative approach… the separation of roles between the government procurement role and that of an investment partner.. it would be good to see in practice how the 18m guillotine is going to work. Will it throw more nervousness into the mix? Is there a missed opportunity with government applying the same terms as a private investor rather than taking a more long term view? The jury is still out at the moment.

Andrew Wolstenhome – I’m delighted about what the government have communicated over this past week, but how quickly can we get the three things – the plan, the money and the capability, together? I’m looking for stimulation to get all three together so the industry can provide a more viable economic solution. 

From the Floor: David Lewis ‘Reducing the Deficit’ – Getting delivery on the ground is the hardest challenge – I’d be interested in the relative balance between policy people and implementation skills. We’ve heard a lot about very interesting things, but they will need to be delivered.
Hayley Miller: We do see people in the departments with that skillset – you see with our BIM work. We’re looking for those champions to set the benchmark across department.
Andrew Wolstenholme – I think Lord Deighton was being very candid. You need professional people, who work in the supply chain, in client organisations. Lord Deighton was indicating that there is a government structure from which a lot of learning is coming out. I think this capability thing is essential. What are the skills that are needed? We need to help Hayley and the team equip with those skills so that when they procure they do it against the best professional standards. I think theres a way to go to develop a really professional public sector procurement body, but its all on the plan now.
Peter Schofield – This is all part of the procurement plan. We’ve got a major projects leadership academy for example. ITs more than just procurement too. A lot of what we’re doing is enabling and securing private sector development. For example affordable housing is driven forward by private sector housing associations raising monies in the bond market. They need a government network to support that. This means a different skill set – one that understands the commercial drivers, and less of the top down ‘grant giving’ approach.
Simon Kirby – for me Government is about setting outcomes and policy. THen its down to industry to deliver those outcomes. When a client isn’t clear what it wants things go wrong. Stability, consistency and being clear what a client wants is essential.

KGM – is the public sector ready for BIM? 

SK – BIM is a massive opportunity but its also a very overused term. Many sectors have had information modelling, and with some it has transformed the industry, in others it hasnt. In a lot of the infrasturcture we’re created we’re adding assets to an existing model. Our challenge is how to create a BIM model [sic] for the whole country. 
David Tonkin – its not about 3D models its about the behaviours and management of the information and how it is managed between the parties.

KGM – what sort of projects could benefit from BIM?

AW: If you look at a car’s lifecycle, you can invest if you buy robots to build cars. Put BIM into the construction world, and you must understand what is the value of a built asset over its lifecycle?
I’m excited that the CS is looking smarter at the industry. Sustainability, Leadership, People – these are level one issues people who have failed to grasp for so long. Young people are excited about what they are leaving behind over a sustained lifecycle period. All these things require BIM. I want to hand Crossrail over on an iPad. IF you haven’t got it on your drawingboard – as a strategic tool, you ought to be.
KGM – Lets talk about cost efficiency.
Hayley Miller – firstly its not just 15%cost reductions but SUSTAINABLE cost reductions. Reducing waste and changing behaviour. All three new models of procurement we’re trialling have early involvement of contractors. This drives value and reduces cost.
Part of the conversation is getting the right product, the right output. 
From a strategy prospective we’re focusing on waste in the procurement time, bringing down procurement time, so that conversations about sustainability and whole life cost are right at the front.
Peter Tonkin – There is great opportunity to take out cost and build sustainably at the early stage. You have to look at how you avoid losing carbon efficiency when driving out cost.
Simon Kirby – Of course there are conflicting objectives. The whole efficiency procurement vs whole life cost debate – its easier to look at procurement costs, its almost a leap of faith that whole life costs will deliver.
WE have an alliance to build a new piece of railway line round Stafford. We’re a proper alliance with contractors sharing risk. The whole programme team is focussing on aligned outcomes. Ask me in two years if its worked, but its encouraging in the early days.
AW: the private sector is a lot better at getting infrastructure work right than the public sector. We need a strategy with BIM, early contractor involvement.

David Tonkin – there’s a great opportunity to make the building of schools more efficient, but they don’t have to look the same. 

Re the new standard collaborative contracts – the industry is still very adversarial, so the more they get adopted the better.
AW: Question from the floor about when you finish the design in the process. If we go back to the beginning of the conversation,
58% of crossrail spending goes to SMEs. 3m sft of offices will be developed, 50,000 houses will be developed. We have to get a pipeline of well thought through strategic infrastructure in place and this begins to start a process of confidence. 

Peter Schofield – mentioning the performance gap between the standard delivered on energy efficiency and the actual performance of buildings. 

Is this an opportunity for the construction sector to give much greater quality assurance on this matter. 
We tend to think in government about local civic leadership to promote growth, I think what is interesting in the way the construction industry can play to promote projects themselves and work with LEPs and the LAs to drive economic growth in their area. 
KGM – comments on twitter about the diversity of the panel.
And why don’t you start HS2 in Leeds if you want to be taken seriously?
From the floor – a real lack of appetite to fund innovative projects – what can government do to bridge that gap?
From the floor – From a blacksmith in a shed to Toyota, Jaguar and British Aerospace. Where do we see the blockage in getting construction up to that zero defects?
AW – its all about bringing the supply chain into play.
From the floor John Eynon – I think most people get the vision, thats great. The infrastructure projects very long lead ins. A lot of people have had to leave the industry. Where is the help for SMEs? They will be the life blood of the industry. Where is the support for training, upskilling, buying the hardware? The industry needs it now not in 5 years time.
David Mosey – Kings College London – The case studies upstairs (in the knowledge hubs) prove it. If you ask the questions of tier 2 and 3 about delivering value you’ll be pleasantly surprised. But you have to ask these questions at the right time.
Hayley Miller encourages audience to view the case studies in the Knowledge Hub.

http://twitter.com/MD_KINE/status/352015903283609600

http://twitter.com/MD_KINE/status/352023923786924032

http://twitter.com/MD_KINE/status/352024310434635777

12.15 – Lunch Break

Knowledge Hubs open on BIM, Green Construction & Procurement
Exhibition viewing

14.00 – Keynote Address by Neil Bentley Deputy Director General of the CBI

Industrial strategy for the construction sector: how business and government can create a world leading sector by 2025

http://www.governmentconstructionsummit.co.uk/speaker/neil-bentley/

We’re back with Neil Bentley who points out that construction represents over 6% of the UK economy (compared to 10% in financial services)

The CBI ‘through our construction council of industry leaders’ is driving the Get Britain Building Campaign. 
First – to reflect on where we’re at in terms of the economy. 
Neil thinks that 2013 will be a better year. He’s stressing that the government has been listening to CBI calls for more investment in housebuilding and other measures. 
‘Ministers have to follow through on the promises they’ve made and not let the planning system delay progress.’
Neil brings up the airport expansion issue and argues that there is a huge ROI on increasing flights abroad.
‘Setting out a shared vision for the future is good but now the hard work begins’
Other Industrial Strategies have honed key areas of expertise – there are four expertise areas in Construction he thinks are relevant:
1. Sustainability and low carbon design – but it needs to spread out through the industry.
2. The application of innovation especially digital innovation (especially BIM) we need to maintain the advantage.
3. Construction exports have seen huge expansion and there is potential for more growth.
4. A strong domestic manufacturing sector – ‘there is more we can do to drive greater efficiencies and growth through strong integration’
Key issues:
1. For too long public procurement has been about the lowest cost. The CBI supports a whole life cost approach.
2. Diverse and fragmented supply chain – there has been some progress recently (vis Olympics) we must build on this to succeed
3. Diversity. Only 13% of the construction workforce is female and 5% from ethnic minorities. A sector keen to be at the forefront of modern british industry must show a modern face.
KGM invites Neil Bentley to say how diversity can be improved (to a room of ‘hideously white, male middle class’ to quote Greg Dyke)
NB agrees that construction has an image ‘issue’ that needs to be addressed. He also thinks it will be changed by bringing new people in the industry from a much more diverse background.
KGM asks about shorter term goals – people need things to change sooner
NB ‘We have to stop saying ‘the government has to do this’ and the Construction Strategy does that through the leadership council’, by involving construction directly in pushing forward progress.

14.30 – Panel Debate: How industry bodies will influence the construction industry, chaired by Krishnan Guru Murthy

BIS has assembled a team of top construction industry executives to work on strategy. Key themes are growth, innovation, SME engagement supply chain integration and skills, how are these being taken forward and how will they impact construction?

Panelists include:

Peter Hansford, Chief Construction Advisor
Kevin Louch, Chair of NSCC
Mark Clare, Group Chief Executive – Barratt Developments
Professor Denise Bower, Director – Engineering Project Academy – University of Leeds
Mike Putnam, Co-Chair – Green Construction Board
Judy Lowe, Deputy Chairman – CITB

I think the thing that excites me is the size of the opportunity – we’ve had underinvestment for many years. One of the key deliverers of change is going to be construction, e.g. we need to double the output of housing to meet demand – in reality over the next 5-10 years at least. And we need to bring 26m homes up to a reasonable standard. 

The most interesting thing for me is ‘what are we going to do to change?’ if we continue as we are we’re not going to hit the targets. One of the key drivers for that is the skills we’re going to need in future. There is a massive challenge for construction to meet this. 

http://www.governmentconstructionsummit.co.uk/speaker/professor-denise-bower/

http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/denise-bower/3/59b/b50

‘My particular areas of interest 1) organisational capability to deliver projects and programmes, and 2) to develop individual capability – how we set up people to be successful, in the right role to be successful going forward. We can only supply the capacity if we improve the image of the industry. We need some role models, and get past the Olympics if we’re going to do that. 

How do we remove bottlenecks? Industry needs confidence in where the work will be coming from so they can properly develop people. 

http://www.governmentconstructionsummit.co.uk/speaker/mike-putnam/

Mike thinks the CS is a key opportunity – he wants to focus on the sustainaiblity agenda ‘theres an opportunity for the whole of the industry to really get behind it – driving carbon out of our industry and promoting the whole sustainability agenda’

http://www.governmentconstructionsummit.co.uk/speaker/judy-lowe/

‘I guess the main way CITB influence is through training – last year we gave £208m for skills training – 2.4m person days of training even through the recession. We’ve got to get the message through to government on apprentices – they’ve done the quantity now we’ve got to do the quality. 

Picking up another theme, we have 200 construction ambassadors who go into schools – we’ve got to make this an industry that’s respected and aspirational. 
Also with the carbon targets in 2015 if we’re not training SMEs now we wont meet the targets.
We like the focus on people in the CS – in the late 1990s one in five people were over 50 inc construction. We’re now down to 1 in 3. In the next 5 years 500,000 people will hit retirement age. If we can’t make the industry attractive to young people we’ll never fill that gap.’

http://twitter.com/MD_KINE/status/352057725418602497

Mike Putnam is stressing how important the partnership approach has been important to developing the strategy. ‘The Green Construction Board has been togeterh for 18m and we’re developing real inroads into the problems. Lord Deighton mentioned that government had recognised a more consistent approach to spend over the long term. In utilities for example they’ve had that opportunity, and have achived some significant advantages.’

Judy Lowe says the CITB helps coordinate the Construction for Growth Campaign which has helped teach government the importance of construction – invest in the short term on shovel ready repair and maintenance, because this brings so many people back into work instead of out of work. 
From the floor – Steve Fox of BAM Nuttall – re the skills agenda. Really, I’m at a loss. We seem to be in a world where we keep having to reinvent things. We can’t fill our apprenticeships. The schools are motivated only by academic careers, not other careers. The industry does have to improve its image, but we have to get the education system on board.
Most main contractors don’t employ anybody so they talk about apprenticeships but they don’t employ anyone. Its entirely predictable where we are and why we’ve got an ageing workforce.
KGM – is it every school, specialist schools?
Steve Fox – I’ve been to most of my sons schools to talk about careers in construction trades, but they just want to send students to university.
Judy Lowe – you’re right about the position in schools. We’ve also put money into into UTCs (University Technology Colleges)
KGM – its a very small programme though
JL – yes but you’ve got to start somewhere. Our main problem is that careers advice is stuck 20 years ago. Most of the women I meet in construction, there was someone in the family in construction . Ester McVeigh’s dad runs a construction company. Don’t knock UTCs because we’ve got to start somewhere. 
Peter Hansford – Its absolutely essential we get to the next generation. 
If we can communicate how we can change the world, deal with climate change, engineering – I know we can excite a new generation.
We’ve got to get to the kids, but we’ve also got to get to teachers.
There are a number of schemes we’ve set out in the Strategy – these are not well represented by construction. I went to the Big Bang Schools Fair last year, but very little construction represented. 
Chris McGloughlin Uni of Cambridge – we try very hard to get our students into Civil Engineering. We find when they leave they are offered at least twice as much to work in the city. Its not that they are inspired, but they feel that it is a cheapskate industry that won’t pay them to do it. Given they will mostly have £50k debts in the next few years its very difficult to persuade young people to stay.
Mark Clare – We’re overwhealmed by people applying to join so we’re able to choose one of the best people. One of our graduates has reached middle management in 5 years. The problem is on our own we’re not doing enough. We need all the major housebuilders to do it. Half the housebuilding industry is small firms who are unable to afford it.

http://twitter.com/CICCEO/status/352063418989162496

Steve Louth – I don’t need graduates I need good hardworking people. They can earn £600 a week, what young person won’t do that? In the past a kid in the industry won’t be pressured to go to university. I have an 18 year old son who has been told he should look at apprenticeships. It doesn’t make sense – we should have an apprentice scheme that starts at 16.
Steve Hindley (Chair of Midas Group and on the Leadership Group) – I’m an engineer and the lack of status situation hasn’t improved since I was at university. The only way you can change this is to offer attractive well paid careers. What has stopped it? The Cyclical nature of the industry (where qualified bricklayers end up as taxi drivers) and the fact that most of my work I’ve done in 40 years was selected on the lowest price basis. Noone has been interested in quality of the product or your teams, and this is still going on. Until these two things change you’ll not get an improvement in status.
Denise Bower – if you can get reality into the classroom people are much more likely to get engaged. I think academia and the industry could work much more closely to bring the reality of construction to life for young people.
Also regarding the pipeline, we need to look more globally, with opportunities to travel where there is growth in the industry.
Peter Hansford – to me this industry is much more exciting than working in the city. I think Steve Hindley is right. If we can remove the cyclical nature of the industry and remove lowest price, then we can move forward.
Mike Putnam – Theres no doubt there is a big issue with employment, but I’m a glass half full person. I always see very happy, dedicated people building a career whatever level they are in the industry. We do have to do much more with the image. We need to explain what the opportunities are in a joined up way. I’m on the board of our construction business in Sweden and its just been voted the number 1 employer, beating Google into number 2! Why is that? Because the image is much better, we have a very strong focus on values, green, diversity, ethics. These things are held very high and really lived up to. That really does attract people to our company because they like to work for an ethical company.
 

Peter Hansford – Many of us will have retired by 2025. Within the leadership council we’ve included the 2050 group. The chair of the 2050 group is on the leadership council. We’re focussing on the young people in our industry too. 
Pam Alexander – I’m on the board of Crest Nicholson and the Design Council. In my experience young people and women really care about outcomes. I want to look at the tensions in moving from lowest cost to whole life value. There has to be a real concern that there is a short term rush to spend which might affect quality. Given that infrastructure and construction is ‘sexy’ how can we ensure that we achive quality in whole life costing, not only in terms of sustainablity but quality of buildings?
Denise Bower – I think in the past we’ve expected people to understand a problem in the round without the training to understand it. We’ve started to sit down with people to discuss their capability with them and make sure they’ve got the skills.
Mike Putnam – I agree wholeheartedly with where Pam is coming from. Across the infrastructure working group of the Green Construction Board, they are able to look in a much longer term basis, and focus on whole life cost. They are able to set some quite challenging targets in reducing embodied carbon and reducing cost too. They have a 50% reduction target in carbon and 20% in cost in the CAPEX phase. They are not being demanding in cost up front but in terms of the outcomes. Getting people involved early focusing on the long term solution rather than the lowest price.
Peter Hansford – to me its all about value. I recognise the push towards lower cost, but what we’ve got in the strategy is Whole Life Cost and Whole LIfe Carbon and we’re overall talking about Carbon. Denise put her finger on it. This is all about having clients who have an understanding of this, not to go for short term wins at the expense of long term value. I don’t think enough has been done on clienting skills. For large projects we’ve got some very good projects, but for occasional or one-off clients we’ve got a long way to go. We know the journey that we’re on, this is one of the commitments in the strategy.

Innovation and Technology – Smart Construction

KGM what does Smart Construction actually mean?
Mark Clare – the industry is driving for low carbon, faster speed of build,the whole supply chain has really stepped up its game. There is a lot of innovation going on in the supply chain. I think theres an opportunity to step up again.
Mike Putnam – as Kevin said our industry does innovate, but perhaps in a ‘cottage’ way – we tend to be very worried about innovation in the tendering process. We need to allow procurement to allow innovation.
In terms of ‘smart’ there are engineers on some of our projects walking around with tablets, they are doing real time snagging lists.
Kevin -We do innovate every day on construction sites, but to make it happen you need to pick up on the route for procurement. IF you are specific about what you require, innovation will be affected. 
Judy Lowe – we innovate but we don’t share. That’s our trouble as an industry.
Peter Hansford – We’re going to explore the barriers to innovation – whether they be in procurement, access to technology or whatever. 
I mentioned in my address about the use of sensor technology. 
KGM _ from Twitter – so where does the ‘Strategic Forum’ fit in? 
Peter Hansford – we’ve worked hard with the SF in developing the strategy – very grateful for the input theyve provided. Their role going forward will be for them to decide – watch this space. 
From the floor – Prof of Innovation at Brighton University
One of the main problems is that innovation is treated as a risk rather than an opportunity in construction projects.
Denise Bower – Peoples perception of risk depends on where they see innovation in a spectrum.. I think there is a problem with perception but we can do a lot to improve on that.

Mark Clare – there is a group working across the major housebuilders with the supply chain about how you use different technologies to deliver low carbon homes. If you look overseas there are good examples of Off Site Manufacture which we can learn from. I think the risk for the industry is not innovation, its if it resists change. 
Judy Lowe – the most exciting project I’ve seen is at Glasgow uni where they are working on the nanotechnology of photovoltaics so you can embed them in render.
Daniel Leakey Balfour Beatty – We’re highlighting some inspirational things, but how are we going to get the voice of the constructors back up to government and down to the constructors, so we can get that meeting in the middle?
This debate is about how industry bodies can keep driving it. We’ve got an education system pushing for university, but in Germany 50% of students go into vocational courses. How do we get that conversation going so that government policy is working for this?
Peter Hansford – the place for that conversation is the new Leadership Council. Its a partnership where government and industry. We’ve set the agenda, now we need to put it in practice.

http://twitter.com/MD_KINE/status/352071072084017152

http://twitter.com/CNChrisB/status/352072709905186817

https://drvza2n4g1.wpdns.site/the-future/government-construction-strategy-construction-leadership-council-members/

https://drvza2n4g1.wpdns.site/the-future/government-construction-strategy-construction-leadership-council-members/

15.30 – Afternoon Break & Refreshments

16.00 – Keynote Address by Chloe Smith MP, Minister for Political and Constitutional Reform, Building for Growth

The Cabinet Office has implemented a suite of policies and new working methods which change the way the government behaves as a construction client. Find out the direction of future reforms which complement the growth strategy

http://www.governmentconstructionsummit.co.uk/speaker/chloe-smith-mp/

Since coming into office we have made it a key priority to reform public sector construction so we can build the schools, hospitals, prisons and roads this country deserves – and at the same time help develop a more efficient, more innovative and more competitive construction industry.

 

This is a hugely important agenda for us.Britain remains in a global race for the jobs and opportunities of the future.

 

And our construction industry is critical to this country’s growth – both in creating jobs and in providing the crucial infrastructure this country needs to compete globally.

 

So we are reforming to ensure we invest in the right places to achieve growth and support UK suppliers to grow here and abroad.

 

We are also reforming to achieve greater efficiency. The public sector is under unprecedented pressure to produce more for less today. As we address the huge deficit we inherited – budgets are tighter across the sector, but the demand and expectations for public services are rising.

 

We owe it to the taxpayer to deliver public services that don’t just cost less but are better, more innovative and more catered to the individual’s needs.

 

Today I want to talk about how the Government has and will continue to promote efficiency and reform in public sector construction, alongside innovation and growth in the construction industry. I will focus on the key areas of efficiency, cost benchmarking, procurement reform, fair payment and new digital models of procurement.

Industrial Strategy and Government Construction Strategy context

 

But first I’ll highlight the context for reform. As you know, two years ago, this Government published a cross-Government Construction Strategy with clear objectives to promote efficiency and reform in Government construction, alongside innovation and growth in the construction sector.

 

How would this work?

 

On one hand Government would be a tough negotiator – hunting for the best prices and deals on behalf of the taxpayer. We set out a target to make public sector construction 15 to 20 per cent more efficient by 2015.

 

But at the same time we would build long-term strategic relationships with suppliers; making it easier and simpler to do business with Government.

 

Today as you’ve heard – a new Industrial Strategy for construction (IS) has been launched – a fine example of how industry and government has worked together to give the sector a long term vision. This builds on foundations of the Government Construction Strategy and gives it a broader momentum to spearhead lasting change through reform.

 

The themes of the Government Construction Strategy are peppered throughout the drivers of change highlighted in the Industrial Strategy.

Efficiency drive

 

The first of these themes I want to discuss is efficiency.

 

In the past there was a shocking productivity gap between the public and private sectors. And the more money that’s been pumped into public services – the less efficient we’ve become.

 

This wasn’t good enough at any time – today facing the twin challenges of less money and rising public expectations – there needs to be reform.

 

The Cabinet Office’s Efficiency and Reform Group has led an ambitious programme of reform, transforming the way Government works – acting as an effective operations centre at the heart of Government, driving efficiency and clamping down on waste.

 

This work supported Departments to deliver £3.75 billion of savings in our first year in office, £5.5 billion in 2011-12 and we recently announced £10billion of savings for 2012-13.

 

Construction is playing its part in this. We reduced costs to contribute £447 million savings in 2012/13.

 

One of our key efficiency reforms has been the publication of benchmarks of Government construction costs establishing what a project should cost.

 

Before the launch of the Strategy, few government clients had compiled their benchmarks and made them widely available.

 

This is no longer the case. We have now published department cost reduction trajectories and construction cost benchmarks, which help inform central government and wider public sector clients as to what they currently pay for construction and what their construction should therefore cost, moving forward.

 

This is important for spurring on efficiency. For example since 2010 the Education Funding Agency has reduced the average cost of a new secondary school from £2450/m2 to £1460/m2 and is currently out to tender with the Priority Schools Building Programme at this lower cost. This represents a 40 per cent reduction.

 

The cost data will not reduce the overall amount to be invested in construction but will mean that taxpayers will get more for this money.

 

So successfully delivering projects at 15 to 20 per cent less than the historic benchmark will mean that the public sector will be building £1.2 billion worth more in projects by 2015.

 

The equivalent to approximately 60 new secondary schools.

 

The latest publication of cost benchmarks is published today with, for the first time, more granular department cost benchmarks, and data direct from local authorities. It shows that costs are coming down and sets the pace at which further reductions will be achieved.  As we move forward we would like to include private sector comparison data – this exercise is now underway and I would appreciate your help to build up this overarching sector view.

Procurement reform – Pipelines

 

A Government hunting for the best deals is not just good news for the taxpayer and for the service user – it’s good for British businesses too. Efficiency and growth will go hand in hand as we open up to all kinds of businesses and business models.

 

We’re changing the way we engage with the industry over upcoming contracting opportunities. In the past, constrained by fears about picking winners, cosiness with incumbents and breaching theories of efficient markets, we have left business to flounder in the dark about what’s coming up – meaning we were also blind as to what the industry could offer.

 

But over the last two years, Government has been publishing a pipeline of upcoming opportunities that gives suppliers a clear picture of the contracting landscape across Government construction. 

 

The latest iteration includes £19.2 billion worth of investment over the next two years.Now that the spending round has been announced a refresh of projects will be completed shortly. So keep an eye open for updates.

 

I hope you’ve taken the time to visit the New Models of Delivery knowledge hub today and view our new microsite that will make pipeline data more accessible to search.

 

The pipeline is seen as a key enabler for growth and investment in the Industrial Strategy. It calls for further development to bring a regional emphasis and ownership of local pipeline data and to encourage new partners to contribute.

Procurement reform – SMEs

 

As well as engaging better with the market before procurement – we are also reforming the way we procure. Historically businesses have found bidding for public sector work excessively bureaucratic, time-consuming and expensive. This often meant the best, most cost-effective ideas were shut out from the start – particularly those coming from small, innovative firms.

 

SMEs are a crucial engine for growth – 99.9 per cent of the UK’s businesses are SMEs, they are responsible for almost half of our private sector output and create two thirds of new jobs.

 

Yet when we came into office only 6.5 per cent of Government business was going to SMEs.

 

This Government set out an aspiration to ensure that 25 per cent of our business in Central Government should go – directly or indirectly – to SMEs by 2015.

 

To achieve this we have made our procurement processes much simpler, more open and less bureaucratic – so all businesses, no matter what their size, have a chance of success. For example, using PAS91 (2013) to standardise PQQs in the construction industry; and advertising contract opportunities centrally.

 

There is also much greater visibility of opportunities. In the past businesses often simply didn’t know what was out there. Now the Contracts Finder website gives businesses a single place to survey everything on offer from Government.

 

We are using technology to enable quicker procurements such as e-Auctions.

 

And we have introduced more accountability.Our Mystery Shopper allows suppliers to report instances of poor procurements across the public sector for Cabinet Office to investigate.

 

These reforms are starting to pay off. Overall Government has increased its direct spend with SMEs from 6.5 per cent in 2009-10 to 10 per cent in 2011-12, and in 2011-12 figures from Government’s top suppliers shows that SMES had benefitted from a further 6.6 per cent of spend in the supply chain. We hope to publish information on spend in 2012-13 later this year.

Fair Payment

 

Another key priority for us is to ensure there is prompt payment to the supply chain. Timely access to cash is of course critical to the survival of many SMEs.

 

There is now a contractual obligation which took effect for all central Government contracts placed to pay down to tier three within 30 days. 

 

We are also working with key central government departments to roll out Project Bank Accounts across government construction projects. This will improve the speed and security of payment to members of construction supply chains down to tier 3 within a matter of days.

 

This is already working well. The Highways Agency now uses Project Bank Accounts on all contracts awarded post October 2011.

 

Through electronic bank accounts they pay prime suppliers at the same time as subcontractors down to tier 3 and already this has had a great impact in preventing cash from being held up in supply chains.

 

Last year alone £1.1 billion worth of projects signed up to use Project Bank Accounts and I’m pleased to announce today that in 2012/13 we exceeded our target of £2 billion, with nearly £2.2 billion of spend having been committed via Project Bank Accounts since their introduction.

 

The Industrial Strategy reemphasises this Government’s commitment to fair payment. PBAs, along with supply chain finance and enterprise credit guarantee scheme will continue to support liquidity to the supply chain.

Innovation – new models of procurement and digital technology (BIM)

 

The reforms I have outlined so far are making a difference – but they are not the end of the story.

 

We are determined to keep piloting new innovative ways of working with the industry – and ultimately embed these across Government and other public bodies. And we are committed to driving efficiencies through harnessing the latest digital technologies.

 

This is a key theme in the Industrial Strategy – the aim is that new models of procurement once proven, become business as usual across the public sector.

 

We are currently trialling three new models of procurement which call for the early involvement of the supply chain, and more integration around the design, the construction and the manufacture of products.

 

These are: Integrated Procurement Insurance; Two Stage Open Book and Cost Led Procurement. Building Information Modelling (BIM) is also becoming successfully embedded in Departments along with Government Soft Landings.

 

I hope you’ve all taken the opportunity to meet the experts spearheading these new ways of working at the New Models of Delivery and BIM knowledge hubs here today.

 

We are starting to see how effective these new methods can be. For example using Two Stage Open Book, Surrey County Council has reduced the cost of maintaining the county’s roads by 31 per cent. Project Horizon has demonstrated clearly the benefits of contract-led, properly structured early contractor involvement and supply chain improvement processes.

 

Then the Ministry of Justice has secured £800,000 of savings through the implementation of BIM at Cookham Wood prison in Kent where a 180-cell extension is now on site. Through BIM’s innovative 3D modelling, MoJ was able to visualise exactly what was being built before the process started and identify any potential issues, leading to savings being made right at the outset.

 

BIM is the enabler of a better future; a more collaborative built environment that liberates added value at all stages of the asset lifecycle. It allows SMEs to compete with bigger companies. And the savviest, smartest firms are already maximising the potential that  BIM can unlock.

 

Take Bryden Wood, a British-based multi-disciplinary design and technology company, who in February won a competitive tender for a landmark construction project in St Petersburg, Russia. They beat much larger, international practices and it was their experience of working on complex projects where BIM is essential to coordinate the vast range of design, construction and handover activities that secured the contract.

 

The Government has established a requirement for centrally procured public projects to be level 2 BIM-enabled by 2016. Through this, we want to encourage innovation and collaborative working across all tiers of the supply chain right from the start of procurement process. 

Conclusion

 

In March this year, Fiatech recognised the UK government and industry for their leadership in advancing technology and productivity improvement in capital projects by presenting us with the James B. Porter, Jr. Award for Technology Leadership. This award will be officially presented to us in a few moments.

 

This is a real achievement – the UK is nowseen as a world leader in the use of BIM in the public sector.  

 

Public sector construction in this country is entering a new era – where design excellence, effective procurement, efficient delivery and competitive pricing is becoming the norm. This is good news for the taxpayer, for services users, the industry – and the economy.

 

We are producing world class iconic public sector buildings such as the London Olympics Velodrome, Tate Modern and UCH Macmillan Cancer Centre. All winners of the Prime Minister’s Better Public Building Award at the BCI annual awards. 

 

But we are not about to start resting on our laurels.

 

To continue to achieve success the Government and industry needs to keep working together – as we have on the Industrial Strategy.

 

It’s vital we continue to join up and share our resources, ideas and best practise. Tell us where barriers remain, report incidences of bad practise to Mystery Shopper – and if you have an innovative idea that will save money and improve public services – we want to hear it.

 

This Government is open for business – together we can create better public services and a better future for construction in the UK.

Here's @thephilpster handing over the award to @chloesmithmp et al #gcs2013

16.20 – The great exports debate

The global construction market is predicted to grow by 70% in the next 15 years. How can government help UK-based suppliers gear up and compete in the global construction market?

Panelists include:

Steve O’Leary, Director of International Services – UKTI
Andrew Duncan, Head of Property UK – Turner & Townsend
John Prevc, Partner – Make Architects

http://www.governmentconstructionsummit.co.uk/speaker/steve-oleary/

http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/steve-o-leary/13/817/373

‘UKTI many of you will know us but not all – we are the Government Organisation that promotes UK business overseas and encourages inward investment. On the Construction front we have great products, £6bn of imports in 2012 but also a trade deficit inthe same year. Contracting did about the same. We’ve got a good basis for promoting ourselves but a need to keep promoting. 

We’re using the GREAT campaign and we’re also launching today simple popups that are in the Investment room upstairs.
UKTI has a whole range of services for SMEs, new companies, companies new to export and so on. We are very willing and want to work intensively with companies and have a target to help 50k SMEs per year by 2015.
We also want to identify some of the worlds biggest trade opportunities and seek to connect British companies and supply chain to them.
We’re funding a post in the Construction Products Association to promote our services to SME’s This is an experiment we want to roll out more widely in the industry.
In Contracting we have a trade surplus and world renowned contractors. Its not for government to push companies overseas, but there is certainly a debate to be had about leadership on overseas project, the government can encourage this , including through real life major overseas trade opportunities. 
We’ve got a really good basis for success, we are successful but we could do better. 

http://www.governmentconstructionsummit.co.uk/speaker/john-prevc/

http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/john-prevc/10/802/297

Make are an employee owned trust with four offices, we’re quite young but have spread our wings across the world including Europe the Far East and India. 

I wanted to draw your attention to this – (mentions AJ100 Survey) 
About 70% of UKs largest practices are actively seeking work abroad.
56% are looking in the EU, ME, UAE and Dubai and Quatar.
Clients in the far east are willing to pay higher fees if the work is being done in the UK itself – you don’t have to open an office in another country, the value of your work is sometimes being in the UK.
The numbers of staff working abroad is declining, perhaps the domestic market is improving and people are beginning to come home.
THe UKTI says the UK is an international center of architectural expertise. I find that the concept of innovation is more popular overseas, and we then import that back home. Perhaps we can be more inventive back home.
The RIBA also advises architects to understand their market.
Why do we want to work abroad? We’ve always been keen on diversification and we have a culture of wanting to go overseas. 
One of the obvious benefits is the English language – it is clearly very useful but don’t be pompous about it.
People tend to speak very positively about the UK, many will have studied here.
Architects from the UK are very well respected abroad. 
We are also considered reasonably diplomatic as a nation, and our politics is reasonably stable. 
[John Prevc’s slides are very good. I’ll try and get them on the live blog]
John thinks that government should
Help protect design ideas, 
Raise the profile of british architecture and protect function
Continue to promote the brand Great Britain

http://www.governmentconstructionsummit.co.uk/speaker/andrew-duncan/

At Turner and Townsend 54% of our business is undertaken overseas. We need to look at how the UK plays a part in growth overseas. WE have a business that operates all over the world. 

Some of the issues:
How to establish businesses in new markets
The cost base issue – project managers and contractors have to be on the ground. The consultancy marketplace is doing a pretty good job in exporting our skills, in contracting we’re not as big overseas as we should be, but the opportunity is there. We’re seen as world leaders in innovation.
The government focus on the anti-corruption issues should be at the front of our minds. 
It can be very daunting going into a new country and we need to support that.

KGM – where are the opportunities?

Steve O’Leary – Brazil, the MIddle East (all of the countries), Turkey and then the Southeastasian rim, Vietnam and Indonesia, China and India, and spots in the developed world where a combination of indigenous capacity and protectionism doesn’t rule us out – Australia, Scandanavia for example.
I’m sure we can do a lot more in Brazil, the French and Italians are. 
KGM – what do you find easy to promote?
Steve O’Leary- its making the connections and getting the results, and its not easy anywhere frankly. Its easier in the developed world. 
A Chinese deputy mayor wants a solution to their problems – they want a broader offer. We might not be building overseas, but we can do pretty much everything else from masterplanning, planning, design, architecture, PM, FM all across the board.

John Prevc – I went to Brazil a couple of months ago, and used our experience at the Olympics to chat to our friends in Rio. We actually came back slightly unhappy. Essentially its about people youknow, contractors, family members. Coming in raw it actually wasn’t going to happen. Also you have to understand that fees are a lot lower.

Having delivered a building for the Olympics, we realised we were not going to communicate our offer in a fiscal way so we said thank you very much we’re not going to take part.

Andrew Duncan – Brazil has very complex tax regimes, even taking advice from one of the big four accountancy practices its very difficult. Advice from government would be very helpful. 

The point John has made about competitiveness is very important. We need to be able to differentiate ourselves very clearly to be valued for a higher fee than a local business will have.

KGM – there was a lot of discussion earlier about raising the image of construction 

AD – I don’t think we have a problem with image overseas. How we procure and the technology we use is more sophisticated than in the US and certainly in the far east. BIM is one of the key differentiators. We need to use technology and business skills to differentiate but we’re well appreciated.

Adam Ter from Polypipe – As a product manufacturer, how do we get your companies to pull through UK manufacturers?

JP – sometimes its down to price. For example in India you have to work in the industry constraints. It is changing, you can be a bit more daring with the technology. If your product is a simply packaged element that will never break down and won’t need fixing, perfect.
KGM are you under pressure to buy indigenous products?
JP Generally speaking, if you have an aspirational client they want the best and will go anywhere in the world, but if its going to market it has to be within market constraints.
AD – It depends on the market – high end markets will be more flexible. One of the things we try to do is operate a ‘sunset model’ with the expectation that we will disappear in 3-5 years leaving the client group equipped. You could do the same with a product stream. Otherwise India and China would be very resistant.

16.50 – Concluding Remarks: Peter Hansford, Chief Construction Adviser, and Krishnan Guru Murthy interactive special!

Peter Hansford and Krishnan Guru Murthy touch on key issues and observations made by summit delegates during the day, draws conclusions from industry feedback and outlines next steps

Peter Hansford – I’ve been very encouraged that the things we’ve been working on over the last six months seem to have resonated. I think we’ve got the right issues – 
Whole LIfe 
Skills
Image
Resiliant Supply Chains
Procurement
Digital
Green
Exports
The importance of UK Manufacturing
I think tweeting has been generally positive, so very encouraging.
KGM – What have you learned?
PH – This is a very diverse industry, we’re not going to push everyone’s buttons, but I’m not too concerned because we’ve put the process in place to capture any elements we may have missed.
KGM – how does it go forward?
PH – the Leadership Council has met once and will meet again in October. Actions will be assigned to the industry umbrella bodies – you’ll see an initial action list in the full strategy document. They will be accountable to the Council for delivering their actions. As we move forward that will evolve.
KGM – any thoughts for people to take away, anything that hasn’t been brought up?
Gorden Cue from Interserve: – The word Profit hasn’t been mentioned. Two major M&E contractors are pulling out of UK contracting. My plea to Council is to try and do something to recognise the need for us to all make a living at the end of the day.
PH – absolutely. We’re not going to attract and retain people to the industry without being able to pay them competitively. It underlines everything in the Strategy.
KGM – if you want to get involved, what do you do?
PH – get involved through your industry organisations, for example if you’re in products your speciality will feed its way to the CPA. In the professions it will feed through to the CIC. We will be working with the umbrella bodies, so that is the way we can communicate with as wide a range of the industry as possible.
KGM – Theres been quite a lot of talk about SMEs today do you think you’ve got them involved?
PH – I think we have through CICA, NFB, NSCC – we have reach into the SME’s I’m not saying we can reach every part of the industry but we’ll try.
I want to work the CEOs of the Strategic Forum for Construction, the CBI Construction Council 
Publication is just the beginning. You’re all going to be affected one way or another. I’m only 7 months into this job and I’m looking forward to working with you all, as I really believe its our opportunity to change this industry we love and make the Built Environment the best we can.
KGM – it remains for me to thank you very much for participating, and have a safe journey home, thank you very much indeed and I hope you enjoyed it.

17.20 – Conference close

http://www.rics.org/uk/knowledge/news-insight/news/industrial-strategy-for-construction—the-rics-view/

“Peter Hansford has been right to grasp this by the horns, pulling together all the existing strategies so that we can see where the agenda around cost, carbon and capital could go.

In particular, we welcome seizing the initiative on the export role of UK construction. A start has already been made with links to Brazil, but it can go much, much further….”

“The key message I took from the plethora of keynote speeches was that there were no new statements and we, the industry, just need to get on and deliver – which we can with our new strategy digested and guided by our new board.

The summit attendees that stayed for the dinner were entertained by Piff the Magic Dragon.  Piff entered the stage with disinterest and focused on whinging about the cost of his tricks and gimmicks; 20 minutes later he left the stage to raptuous applause, having entertained the audience left wondering how did he do that?  It’s magic after all.

I’m left wondering whether the Summit is really just a magic show and whether like the magic tricks, will I ever understand what really just happened and that things will soon return to business as usual?

My principal reflection from the event is that whilst the excellent work being done and talked about in the Knowledge Hubs on BIM, procurement, GSL etc, the take up by industry is too slow.  If these hubs are talking common-sense, then why isn’t the industry adopting and changing?  I raised concerns following last year’s event and referred to Professor Stuart Green’s book Making Sense of Construction Improvement and the same concerns remain:

Is it possible to change the industry?”

http://ow.ly/i/2vPR8

http://ow.ly/i/2vPUv

http://www.ciat.org.uk/en/news_and_events/index.cfm/ciatgiswelcome#.UdUjwj5gb9M

“President Colin Orr welcomed the report. ‘It demonstrates to the industry a focus and commitment to position the UK construction industry as a global competitor.  The industry is truly international and the market and competition is worldwide, and consequently skills development and promotion of an enhanced image are key features.’

Continuing, Colin Orr highlighted that the lessons good and bad must be learnt from previous reports such as Latham and Egan.   
 
He concluded ‘it is hoped that all parties can move forward to achieve the ambitions set out in the report. We look forward to working with the government and the Construction Industry Council,  and how CIAT (representing those practising Architectural Technology) can be a lead in issues such as BIM, sustainability and the low carbon economy as well as the fundamental issue of health and safety.’

”

http://www.fmb.org.uk/news-publications/newsroom/press-releases/2013/july/improving-image-of-building-industry-is-essential/

Berry concluded: “The Government’s industrial strategy can help the industry recover from recession, but only if the commitments outlined are implemented without delay. Given that more than 99 percent of the building industry’s 280,000 firms are SMEs it is essential their concerns are addressed by the newly established Construction Leadership Council to help deliver significant growth in the economy.” 

http://www.constructionproducts.org.uk/blog/v/view/comments-on-the-new-industrial-strategy/

“There are a number of actions put forward within the strategy to mark the beginning of the industry’s transformation.  Our CEO, Diana Montgomery, has said “it’s now all about the delivery of ambitious targets”.  The Association will be specifically focused on delivering the four below:Creating a ‘demand map’ including infrastructure, RMI and new build to 2025.Ascertaining those areas where regulatory risks create concern for the industry.Organising a manufacturing capacity and capability gap analysis to understand the factors which may inhibit capacity expansion.Identifying measures to boost export growth and enhance competitiveness at home and abroad.

With all this in mind, our view is that ‘Construction 2025’ is, in fact, less a strategic document and more a tactical document which outlines the issues and challenges facing construction and how they will be put right by the partnership between government and industry.

Visionary?  To a degree, yes.  Achievable?  Certainly, but only if industry gets stuck in and helps deliver its fair share.  We cannot rely solely on government; we must help ourselves.  It is only a start, but all in all, it is an initiative which can rightfully be applauded.”

Construction 2025 Industrial Strategy

“The strategy lacks any significant vision for transformational change, in the structure, purpose and thinking for the industry. Babies in the River is such a great analogy here, as we busy ourselves rescuing babies out of the river without going up river to understand why babies are coming down the river in the first place.

A strategy for doing less bad, rather than more good?”

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