ASSOCIATION GIVES CAUTIOUS WELCOME TO DARLING SPENDING PLANS

9 October 2007

The Construction Products Association today cautiously welcomed the Chancellor’s statement on the publication of the Pre-Budget Report and the Comprehensive Spending Review. 

Allan Wilén, Economics Director at the Association said: “We are pleased that the Chancellor appears to have listened to the construction products industry and taken action on key programme areas where previous investment has been slow to come into effect.  It is now imperative that the spending departments set out a clear investment programme to deliver much needed improvements to the built environment. 

“We are particularly encouraged by the long term commitment to improve the transport infrastructure, raising investment by 2.25% in real terms every year until 2018/19.  Given this commitment the Department for Transport should now publish a clear investment strategy for the road and rail systems that will tackle congestion and safeguard the UK’s competitiveness. 

“We welcome the reaffirmed commitments to sustained investment in health and education facilities.  The Department for Children, Schools and Families will now need to accelerate the delivery of its school investment programmes whilst we believe that a priority for the Department of Health over the next three years should be tackling the £3.7 billion repair backlog on the NHS estate. 

“Housing accounts for over a quarter of the UK’s greenhouse emissions.  The Association is therefore disappointed that the Chancellor failed to take any action to tackle the energy performance of existing housing stock.  We have proposed that households undertaking improvements which raise the energy performance of their home by one or two bands should be entitled to either a partial stamp duty rebate or a three year discount on their council tax.  This solution focuses on the ultimate objective of raising the energy performance of the home. 

“We welcome the Chancellor’s announcement that Planning Gain Supplement will not now go ahead as originally proposed.  However, we will be looking closely to assess the potential impact of the alternative system of planning charges being proposed by the Government.”