Construction Industry: Expansion (Hansard, 23 February 1988)

Lord Campbell of Croy
My Lords, I beg leave to ask the Question standing in my name on the Order Paper.

§ Lord Hesketh
My Lords, figures so far available indicate that increases in output and new orders in 1987 have been particularly impressive. For the first three quarters of 1987, compared with the same period in 1986 and using constant prices, output has risen by 9 per cent. and new orders by 17 per cent., or 26 per cent. if the Channel Tunnel is included. Independent forecasts suggest that the industry will continue to expand, albeit at a less rapid rate, over the next two years.

Lord Campbell of Croy
My Lords, I am grateful to my noble friend for that reply and the interesting information which it contains. Will he indicate what kinds of project are causing the increase in activity or whether a general demand for building work is producing those good figures?

§ Lord Hesketh
My Lords, within the total output private sector expansion has led the way with a particular boom in commerical developments in London and the South-East. The optimistic outlook is boosted by new orders for the Channel Tunnel, Canary Wharf in the London Docklands and the Dartford crossing. A recent state of trade survey suggests that the prosperity of the industry is beginning to spread throughout the country where new developments such as the Metrocentre in Gateshead have led the way.

§ Lord Dean of Beswick
My Lords, I welcome the general figures that have been given. I am sure that everyone is pleased to hear that there has been an increase. Is the Minister aware that the latest quarterly report of the Building Employers 1048 Confederation predicts a continuing downturn in council house building activity? I therefore ask him once again—and this question has been asked before from all sides of your Lordships' House—whether he will ask the Secretary of State in another place if there is any possibility of releasing further local authority capital assets in order to get on with the increased council house building programme that is so desirable and so necessary in most parts of the country.

§ Lord Hesketh
My Lords, the Question on the Order Paper is specifically concerned with the general state of the construction industry. If the noble Lord would like to put down a Question on the point that he has just raised I shall be more than happy to answer it.

§ Lord Dean of Beswick
My Lords, I am sorry that I have to come back on that reply, but the figures that the Minister has given me are from the report that I quoted. I think that it is relevant that the public sector contains the biggest building sector in the country and not the smallest.

§ Lord Cledwyn of Penrhos
My Lords, does not the concentration of commercial development in the South-East just referred to by the noble Lord underline once again the comparative neglect of the rest of the country?

§ Lord Hesketh
My Lords, I also drew attention to the most encouraging signs that this development is spreading to the rest of the country. An example was, as I mentioned, the Metrocentre at Gateshead.

§ Lord Molloy
My Lords, may I ask the Minister whether the Government are contemplating introducing specialist computer training at all levels of education to meet the very obvious demands in the next decade for first-class computer experts in the construction industry?

§ Lord Hesketh
My Lords, the Government have started an initiative through the Manpower Services Commission for some 20,000 places in order to reduce the skill shortages. I shall have to write to the noble Lord on his question on computer training in the construction industry.

§ Lord Mellish
My Lords, will the Minister be good enough to take note of the fact that within the construction industry there is a body called the National Housebuilders Registration Council which issues a certificate during the building of a house and on its completion stating that it is in good condition? That is welcomed by many builders but there are others who will not have anything to do with the National Housebuilders Registration Council. It may go a little wide of the Question but can the Minister tell me whether the Government intend to ask some of those builders to join the council?

§ Lord Hesketh
My Lords, the cowboy builder is a menace both to the reputable builder and to the consumer. In January 1987 the department launched a working party to examine ways of tackling the problems caused by the cowboys. The working party's report is due at Easter.

§ Lord McIntosh of Haringey
My Lords, will the Minister acknowledge that he was given by the questioner a pretty free hand in choosing the period of comparison and that he decided to refer to an upturn in construction over a period of only 12 months? Would he care to give the House any more meaningful figures covering a longer period, such as five or 10 years?

§ Lord Hesketh
My Lords, I shall be more than happy to do so but I suspect that I shall need to be asked a rather more specific question.

§ Lord Bellwin
My Lords, is the Minister aware that the amount of construction and development activity going on in the North of England, taken from a line very far above Watford, is probably greater today than it has been for very many years? If one were to look at that activity in detail it would be extremely encouraging, not least to those of us who come from that part of the world.

§ Lord Hesketh
My Lords, I am very grateful to my noble friend for those remarks.

§ Lord Glenamara
My Lords, the noble Lord has twice mentioned the Metrocentre in Gateshead, which I know very well. What has he to say about a society which allows hundreds of millions of pounds to be used to develop that centre (which simply duplicates the high street shops—the latest instalment opened yesterday, financed by the Church of England—and which provides betting facilities for children) yet at the same time does not allow surrounding local authorities to use their own resources to build houses?

§ Lord Hesketh
My Lords, the success or failure of the Metrocentre will depend on the consumer.