Construction Industry Research and Information Association

HC Deb 29 April 1968 vol 763 cc776-8

30. Mr. Carol Johnson

asked the Minister of Public Building and Works whether he is satisfied with progress being made by the Construction Industry Research and Information Association in increasing its membership; and if he will make a statement.

Mr. Mellish

At the end of December, 1967, there were 610 member organisations, compared with about 440 at the inception of C.I.R.I.A. in March, 1967. While this represents encouraging progress, the membership remains only a small fraction of what could be achieved. The need for a first-class research and information association is widely acknowledged and I hope that the industry, its associated professions and the local authorities will rise to the occasion.

Mr. Johnson

I am grateful to my right hon. Friend for that statement. Can he say what steps he is taking to make this important research and information association better known?

Mr. Mellish

Yes, Sir. Apart from my Department's publicising it to the best of our ability, I am also trying to arrange a link between C.I.R.I.A. and the Construction Industry Training Board at regional level. C.I.R.I.A.'s job is to some extent handicapped by the lack of finance, because a voluntary body must justify itself to members of the building and construction industry. It is well on the way to doing this, and it has a great future.

Mr. Chichester-Clark

I accept the desirability of the organisation and its success and hope that the Minister will turn on the tap of publicity in a very big way, but does he accept that the industry would have responded a great deal better if it had not been burdened with one tax impost after another in the past few years?

Mr. Mellish

The hon. Gentleman keeps going on about this and the taxes imposed. This is an industry with a tremendous record—past, present and future. I wish that the hon. Gentleman would be a little more optimistic about the future instead of being so miserable.

31. Mr. Carol Johnson

asked the Minister of Public Building and Works what steps are being taken to set up regional facilities to co-ordinate the provision of advisory and information services available to the construction industry.

Mr. Mellish

The Construction Industry Research and Information Association is engaged in appointing staff for a new regional advisory service. I have suggested to the Association and to other bodies making similar plans that there would be advantage in having one centre in each major regional city. This would provide the industry with easy access to the full range of services which are now available. Discussions on this proposal are now proceeding.

Mr. Johnson

I welcome the new regional advisory service, but can my right hon. Friend say whether this will necessarily lead to an increase in the number of civil servants employed?

Mr. Mellish

It will not, because the staff to be provided will be employed by the associations involved. This kind of rationalisation might well lead to a reduction in overheads, with consequential benefits to the industry at large. What I want is my own Ministry represented on the regional advisory service, because the time is overdue when the information and know-how in the industry should be sold, right down to the smallest possible builder. This is one way of doing that.