Construction’s role in the UK’s economic future was the focus of a high-level event at the House of Commons this week, hosted by the National Federation of Builders (NFB) and the National Access and Scaffolding Confederation (NASC).
The ‘Growth Through Construction’ parliamentary lunch brought together MPs, industry leaders, and members of both federations to discuss how the sector can support national growth through housing delivery, infrastructure, skills development, planning reform, and green transition.
The event was chaired by Aphra Brandreth MP and featured contributions from Florence Eshalomi MP, Chair of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee, former housing minister Eddie Hughes, and Kevin Hollinrake MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities.
Skills Shortages and the Need for Action
In his remarks, Wayne Connolly, President of NASC, emphasised the growing pressure on the industry’s workforce, especially in scaffolding.
“Building 1.5 million homes, while delivering many other major infrastructure projects, will require a huge increase in skilled workers,” Connolly said. “With 1,200 weekly scaffolding vacancies and an estimated 40,000 more scaffolders required to meet the housing targets alone, the three years training for this specialised role takes us to the final year of this parliament. Without action, this will act as a barrier to the Government’s ambitions.”
“Technology can only take us so far and therefore difficult decisions need to be taken, such as combining the use of immigration in the short term with investment in skills for the longer term, to boost growth,” he added.
Cross-Party Engagement
The discussion reflected strong cross-party awareness of the sector’s challenges. Florence Eshalomi MP highlighted the complexity of the issues facing both residents and builders: “She showed great understanding of the challenges faced by residents of unsafe buildings, the complexities of operating as an SME builder, and the need for the Government and politicians to work with those building the homes and projects key to solving the UK’s challenges and growth ambitions.”
Kevin Hollinrake MP addressed the direction of Conservative housing policy and invoked historical perspective, saying: “Businesses are the strong horse that pulls the whole cart,” quoting Winston Churchill.
Industry Leaders Call for Reform and Support
Mark Wakeford, Chair of the NFB, used the occasion to call attention to the sector’s wide-ranging contributions:
“Our sectors deliver the roads, rail and renewables. Construct buildings for jobs, homes, and public services. Maintaining our heritage will retrofit our 28 million homes and employ 10% of our workforce.
“NFB and NASC have come together to support the Government’s growth agenda and our ‘Growth through Construction’ event does just that by bringing together captains of industry, celebrating where we excel, identifying where reforms could have the most impact and most importantly, informing our decision makers how growth is sustained.
“We must thank Florence Eshalomi, Chair of the Housing, Communities and Local Government Committee, and Kevin Hollinrake, Shadow Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, for speaking at our event, providing excellent insight and showing that our politicians are united in supporting construction to build a better Britain.”
