CAN Hosts Shadow Minister
The Shadow Minister for Business and Industrial Strategy recently called for new support and investment to help the continued growth of the construction industry, via much needed support to combat spiraling materials costs and acute skills shortages and help provide more simplified access to work opportunities for regional SME’s.
Bill Esterson MP made the plea during a recent visit to the North East the region hosted by by Construction Alliance North East (CAN).
The Labour shadow cabinet minister took in a trip to view progress on a regional infrastructure project where he heard about the engineering challenges of a major scheme , and he also visited Gateshead College’s Skills Academy for Construction on the Team Valley and met staff and apprentices.
The MP for Sefton in Merseyside also sat in on a round table discussion where he heard from a number of CAN members, who all operate construction related businesses in the North East.
He heard about how CAN shine a light on issues such as cost inflation on materials and fuel, skills shortages and also a drive for fairer procurement processes for SME’s when contracting with Local Government and other bodies and how CAN supports local initiatives such as the One Voice campaign. CAN also offered solutions for addressing these issues and also promoting the industry more to young people and particularly in focussing on attracting more women into the industry.
Ken Parkin Chair of CAN said “A long and exciting career awaits anyone who can bring fresh thinking to drive innovation and help increase productivity within construction. Currently there are many fantastic opportunities in the sector including highly skilled, highly paid and much sought-after roles.”
Mr Esterson said: “Thank you to the businesses who told me about the challenges faced by regional construction firms. Price rises, materials and skills shortages, and procurement reform. We have to address the challenges facing the construction industry. It has a bright future as long as we do so. It was a pleasure to meet everyone in Gateshead and I look forward to using what you all told me to make sure our construction industry can thrive when we are in government.
“The Government must find a way in the processes that will encourage the types of innovation we need that will deliver on their key themes of levelling up the economy and its Net Zero commitments, whilst creating a level playing field and simplifying the procurement process for regional SME’s
“The construction industry in the North East has a huge opportunity, especially with organisations like CAN driving change on behalf of local firms.”
Ken Parkin also said: “We’re enormously grateful to Mr Esterson for taking a continued interest in our concerns. Our members are in a similar position to many others in the construction and other industries in feeling justifiably squeezed by the pressures of skills shortages and spiraling materials costs, and we as contractors seek an equitable share of risk allocation and ongoing collaboration with our industry partners up and down the supply chain.”