Construction Industry (Hansard, 19 October 1999)

§ Mrs. Curtis-Thomas
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions if he will make a statement on the state of(a) the construction industry and (b) the housing construction market between January and June 1997. [94596]

§ Ms Beverley Hughes
The volume of construction output in Great Britain increased by 1.0 per cent. from £13,700 million in the quarter beginning January 1997 to £13,834 million in the quarter ending June 1997. During this period new construction output fell by 0.3 per cent., whereas repair and maintenance grew by 2.3 per cent.
The volume of housing construction increased by 0.6 per cent. from £5,517 million in the quarter beginning January 1997 to £5,548 million in the quarter ending June 1997. During this period new housing construction remained unchanged and repair and maintenance grew by 0.8 per cent.

§ Mrs. Curtis-Thomas
To ask the Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions (1) if he will make a statement on his initiatives to improve skills in the construction industry; [94597]
(2) if he will make a statement on his initiatives to encourage young people to enter the construction industry; [94599]
(3) if he will make a statement on his initiatives to encourage family friendly policies within the construction sector. [94598]

§ Ms Beverley Hughes
It is vital for the construction industry to be able to attract and retain people with the right skills—women as well as men, and from all ethnic communities.
499W
We are driving forward the "Movement for Innovation" which is seeking to implement the recommendations in Sir John Egan's report "Rethinking Construction". A key item on the agenda is "respect for people" which covers training, equal opportunities, health and safety and site conditions.
We will shortly respond to the Report on Combating Cowboy Builders, which includes a proposal to introduce a Quality Mark scheme for builders in the domestic sector. One of the requirements of the scheme will be that a firm has operatives with the appropriate skills.
The "New Deal in Construction", launched last year in collaboration with the construction industry, is designed to make it easier for the industry to recruit young unemployed people and as a way of reducing skills gaps in the industry.