Architectural Businesses (Hansard, 24 June 2002)

§ Mr. Wilson

The Department of Trade and Industry is working with the construction industry (including architects) to promote and embed the principles of rethinking construction. This initiative emphasises the need to integrate the construction team (including suppliers, contractors, professional advisers and clients) in order to deliver a high quality product that adds value to the client's activities. As part of this initiative, the Department has helped to fund the development of Design Quality Indicators which provide a means to assess the quality of a design as seen by architects, suppliers, clients and end users. These indicators will be launched jointly by the Commission for Architecture and the Built Environment (CABE) and the Construction Industry Council on 8 July. I, along with my Ministerial Design Champion colleagues, have also committed to the production of action plans to ensure that construction 683W projects taken forward by this Department adhere to the principles of rethinking construction and take fully into account the need for high quality design.

The Department is also working very closely with CABE to promote understanding within both the public and private sector of how fundamental good design is both to the delivery of value for money and to the delivery of buildings which add to the quality of life of those using the building or living in the community around it. CABE undertakes a wide range of activities to encourage and facilitate improved design that are aimed at architects, suppliers and clients. These include: grants to develop and maintain architecture centres throughout the UK which provide a source of expertise and advice for both architects and clients; provision of training for both architects and clients to improve skills and improve understanding by clients of the sort of service they need from architects; design competitions to encourage small and new practices to develop projects and to showcase their skills; and the development of a digital website to showcase regeneration projects and projects covering a variety of different types of public buildings both to provide advice on how to deliver a good project and also to showcase the talents of architects.

The Office of Government Commerce, with CABE, has met with the Royal Institute of British Architects to discuss the issue of access of small and medium sized architectural firms to Government contracts. This dialogue is ongoing. In addition, CABE is working with individual Government Departments to promote a diversity of design firms on specific projects, most recently with the Department for Education and Skills on Neighbourhood Nurseries and SureStart.