The CIOB Policy Team Newsletter - September 2022
September with the CIOB Policy team
Welcome to this edition of CIOB’s policy team newsletter.
This edition includes our statement on the death of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, our statement on the new Prime Minister, our comment on the mini budget as well as a link to our full evidence to the Levelling Up & Regeneration Bill Public Bill Committee Call for Evidence.
If you have anything you would like to share, we would love to hear from you, so please do get in touch at [email protected]
One thing you need to do...Read CIOB's Statement - Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II
It has been announced that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, has died at the age of 96. The Queen passed away at Balmoral on the afternoon of 8 September 2022.
The Queen played a key role in the history of the Chartered Institute of Building, granting our Royal Charter in 1980 for “the promotion for the public benefit of the science and practice of building and construction”.
CIOB Chief Executive, Caroline Gumble, said: “On behalf of the CIOB community worldwide, I would like to express our deep sorrow at the sad news that Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II has passed away. The Queen’s grant of a Royal Charter was a hugely significant moment for us as an organisation, transforming us from the Institute of Building and providing a clear path for us to grow as a global organisation and develop our public interest work. The Charter also sets the standards to which members are committed and leaves a legacy of excellence and ethical behaviour, ensuring that all business for, on behalf of, or in the good name of the Institute is conducted to that standard and in accordance with the directions of the Royal Charter.”
A Royal Charter is granted by the sovereign on the advice of the Privy Council. They have a history dating back to the 13th century and new Charters are reserved for bodies that work in the public interest and which can “demonstrate pre-eminence, stability and permanence in their particular field”.
The announcement, published by the BBC, can be found here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-6158588
The objectives, as defined in the CIOB’s Royal Charter, are:
- The promotion for the public benefit of the science and practice of building and construction.
- The advancement of public education in the said science and practice including all necessary research and the publication of the results of all such research.
More information on our Royal Charter can be found here: http://www.ciob.org/about/governance/royal-charter
CIOB Comment - Liz Truss becomes new Prime Minister
The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) has today given its reaction to Liz Truss becoming the new Prime Minister and has set out how she can support the built environment sector during her time in office.
Caroline Gumble, CEO at CIOB, said: “We want to see the new Prime Minister continue the Government’s existing agendas on levelling up and net zero, both of which can make a positive difference to what we’re sure will be their number one priority, the cost of living crisis. The levelling up agenda provides significant opportunities for the construction sector, through local job creation and stability, while property retrofit schemes to improve energy efficiency for example, will further boost the sector and go some way to helping residents mitigate rising energy costs.
“In tandem, we would like to see the Prime Minister appoint a cabinet that will work meaningfully with the construction industry and professional bodies to understand and alleviate pressures on the built environment sector. The appointment of a housing minister and construction minister for the long term will go a long way in helping improve the consistency and collaboration that the industry desperately needs and strengthen the excellent collaboration that has been achieved through the Construction Leadership Council.”
CIOB survey on understanding the gender gap for PPE
Latest research by CIOB indicates that PPE designed specifically for women is extremely difficult to access. Both men and women state that PPE on construction sites has limited clothing sizes and many respondents highlighted they have had to wear ill-fitting jackets, foot protection, hand protection and trousers.
Current research into this area is ongoing and readers are encouraged to fill out the survey and to circulate among colleagues.
You can find the survey here.
Regional Overviews
- Scotland
After successfully launching our latest discussion paper, ‘Levelling the playing field, not Scotland’s built environment: a case for retrofit over demolition?’ Jocelyne Fleming (Policy and Public Affairs Officer – Scotland) and Hew Edgar (Associate Director, Policy) had a very positive meeting with Liam Kerr MSP. During the meeting, CIOB discussed the value that a demolition levy could bring to the Scottish construction sector and the built environment more broadly. Alongside continued dialogue with Liam Kerr MSP, Jocelyne and Hew will be meeting with two further parliamentarians in the coming weeks, representing interest from across the political spectrum.
- Wales
At the start of September, David Kirby (Policy and Public Affairs Officer – Wales) met with Welsh Government’s Deputy Minister for Social Partnership, Hannah Blythyn MS and her colleague, Sue Hurrell (Head of Fair Work Procurement) alongside CIOB colleagues, Hew Edgar (Associate Policy Director) and Mark Harrison (Head of EDI).
We had plenty of discussion on the CIOB's work and how it links in with the Welsh Government's forthcoming Social Partnership and Public Procurement (Wales) Bill, and identified more opportunities to work together moving forward. This included highlighting CIOB's training capability, and its ability to adapt existing CPD offerings to specifically Welsh contexts.
We look forward to continuing to work together.
CIOB Comment - Mini Budget September 2022
Eddie Tuttle, Director of policy, public affairs and research at CIOB, said: “The cost of living crisis had to be a priority in this mini budget, and whilst we are supportive of some of the measures, we are concerned so many are consumer led and only for the short-term. The Chancellor’s cash-driven incentives will provide some much needed relief here and now but won’t solve the problem, and this deep-rooted long-term issue needs a long-term solution developed through joined up policy making.
“We have for some time been calling on Government to implement a national retrofit strategy to improve the energy efficiency of UK homes, for example through better insulation and reducing heat loss from doors and windows. Hopefully, the announced reduction in stamp duty will free up cash for some home buyers and enable them to make such changes. These types of retrofit measures will drive down energy consumption and bills, while also improving the health and wellbeing of residents in the retrofitted homes. Such a strategy would also help contribute to the UK’s legally binding carbon targets, create new jobs, and deliver growth across the country. It should be noted however that not all retrofit schemes require expensive or disruptive work and simple home improvements and maintenance such as fitting draft excluders to doors and lagging pipes can all make a big difference.
“Our members are professionals from across the construction sector and they regularly tell us one of the biggest issues to tackling the cost of living crisis is the lack of available skilled workers to install and maintain more cost-efficient household energy systems. The industry will be a key component to help drive growth in the coming months yet well publicised issues and cost pressures in construction, alongside the threat of inflation and weak economic growth are potential challenges it needs to be able to plan for.
“The Government must learn from the failures of the Green Homes Grant, which failed to see significant uptake in part due to the focus on short termism and a lack of skilled individuals to deliver on scale. We recommend they invest in both long-term and immediate strategies to recruit, retain, and progress workers within the sector, and incentivise retrofit measures as a way to reduce energy bills, keep homes warm and tackle the net zero crisis.”
Coming up in October
Party Conference season is here! Finally, after what feels like a very long time the CIOB Policy & Public Affairs team will be attending both Labour and Conservative Party Conference in September and October 2022. In the previous edition of the newsletter, we detailed what events we would be hosting at both conferences and by the time you are reading this Labour Party Conference will have ended and Conservative Party Conference will be coming to a close so please look out for October’s newsletter which will include a bumper breakdown of CIOB’s activity at the party conferences.
October will be a curious time within Parliament as the House of Lords returns from recess on 10 October and the House of Commons returns on 17 October. For the rest of the month MPs and Peers will need to squeeze in the implications of the 'mini budget', a backlog of parliamentary activity from the recent mourning period as well as a packed agenda from the newly formed cabinet.
If you made it this far...Read our evidence to the Levelling Up & Regeneration Bill Public Bill Committee Call for Evidence
In the July edition of the Policy & Public Affairs Newsletter we provided detail of our response to the Levelling Up & Regeneration Public Bill Committee Call for Evidence. After three long months of waiting our evidence has finally been published by the Committee.
You can read our full written evidence here.
If you have any questions about our evidence or anything that you would like to add about what we have submitted please contact the team at [email protected].
Staying in Contact
Thank you for reading this month’s update from the CIOB policy team. We will be back in your inbox next month with more information about what the team is up to, what is going on in Parliament and built environment news to look out for.
All the best,
The CIOB policy team
If you would like to share this newsletter with a friend or colleague, the sign-up link can be found at: www.bit.ly/3CoaHDS.