CIOB President Calls for Unified Government

The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) held its 46th Annual Dinner at the Guildhall, London on Tuesday 8th February.

In the long tradition of this event a variety of distinguished guests, fellows and members attended the evening joining Principal Guest Speaker John Gummer MP, former Secretary of State for the Environment, to celebrate the success of the CIOB.

One of the key messages at this year’s Annual Dinner came from Geoff Wright CIOB President and director of Hammerson UK Properties, who called for the Government to form a single Department for the Built Environment saying, "The Government is the largest client of the industry creating 40% of demand. When our guest speaker, John Gummer, was Secretary of State for the Environment the majority of construction and the built environment were within his single department with a Minister of State supported by Junior Ministers. Today we have a junior minister from the DTI who shares his duties with that of Energy and Small Business and the remainder of construction is spread amongst a total of 13 different Government departments.

"The Government must reverse their fragmented recognition of the industry. We need a single Department for the Built Environment after all as the biggest customer they have most to gain from a focused approach and that must be in the public interest."

Graham Watts, chief executive of the Construction Industry Council echoed this message by saying, "We are fortunate to still have a few valiant and hard-working individuals rooting for the industry in Whitehall but their abilities are effectively buried under the dead weight of the DTI. Our problem is that now we need to hire the Albert Hall in order to reach all the scattered parts of Government that impact upon our industry. The impending General Election is an opportunity to put things right. There is a chance to create a single Department, led by a Cabinet Minister who has the time and the inclination to get out and speak to the industry a Department which will join together the responsibilities for sponsoring the various elements of designing, constructing, managing and maintaining the built environment."