CIOB comments on the Chancellor's Autumn Budget

The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) has today reacted to Chancellor Jeremy Hunt MP’s Autumn Statement and how it impacts the built environment sector.

Eddie Tuttle, Director of Policy, External Affairs and Research at CIOB, said: “We are pleased to hear the Office for Budget Responsibility (OBR) forecast shows strong economic growth across the UK.

“However, to truly capitalise on this success, issues within key sectors such as the construction industry must be addressed.

“One of the biggest issues facing the construction industry is the skills shortage. In fact, Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) research recently revealed nearly 45,000 extra workers are required each year just to meet construction demand by 2027.

“While CIOB welcomes the Government’s commitment to invest £50 million in apprenticeships for key sectors like engineering, it is unclear whether the construction sector more generally, which has traditionally been reliant on apprentices as one way of generating new employment, is included in this investment, particularly when shortages are prevalent and have been highlighted across the industry.

“We were also interested to hear the Chancellor’s plans to extend National Insurance relief for employers who take veterans on their payroll. While we support the importance of this scheme, we would also be keen to understand if it could be extended to include relief for organisations which take on ex-prisoners as employees for example.

“Ministry of Justice figures state just 17 per cent of people with criminal convictions get a job within a year of release from prison and CIOB believes relieving National Insurance for employers recruiting ex-offenders could go a long way in increasing this figure.

“The Chancellor also discussed further changes to Permitted Development Rights (PDR) to increase the number of new homes. We have long argued that delivering new homes should not be solely a numbers game and it is vital to ensure any new home delivered is of the highest standard including quality.

“CIOB is particularly keen to understand further details behind the Chancellor’s comments on PDR and we would like to know how this will impact the quality of new homes.

“We will follow all of these points up with relevant ministers in order to continually push for better outcomes for the construction sector as a whole given the importance and economic leverage of the sector to UK PLC.”