The Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) has created and presented the document with details on how the construction industry can help achieve government priorities
Titled Building Britain’s Future, the manifesto provides a programme intended for the government to use to utilise the building engineering services sector to hit targets.
This includes methods to make buildings safer, more sustainable, and healthier for occupants.
Supporting energy security and communities
The BESA manifesto has five different priorities for the government:
- Building safety — make competence count. Create a clear, proportionate and effective regulatory system in which competence can be demonstrated leading to safer buildings.
- A thriving business environment — give good businesses the confidence to grow. Fair payment, responsible procurement and long-term policy certainty can unlock investment, productivity and stronger supply chains.
- Skills, workforce and productivity — build the workforce Britain needs. Invest in apprenticeships, technical education, lifelong learning and the next generation of building engineering professionals.
- Energy security, net zero and retrofit — the cleanest energy is the energy we do not waste. Improve the performance of Britain’s buildings, accelerate retrofit and give industry the certainty to invest in a lower-carbon future.
- Healthy buildings — make buildings part of the solution. Better ventilation, indoor air quality and building performance can create healthier homes, schools, hospitals and workplaces.
The Association maintains that achieving these points and making them practical actions will help to ensure that Britain’s buildings support the government’s goals.
“Enourmous, unrealised potential”
Anna Shephard, BESA president, said: “Building engineering services are central to the government’s major growth ambitions.
“The systems the industry designs, installs, commissions and maintains determine whether buildings remain safe, healthy, comfortable, resilient and energy efficient throughout their lives.”
David Frise, BESA CEO, said: “There is enormous, unrealised potential in building engineering services. Our companies and our talented individuals are delivering some amazing cutting-edge projects, but we have so much more to offer.
“Given the right investment and business conditions our sector can help to drive economic growth, support higher levels of health and wellbeing, and provide fantastic job opportunities for present and future generations.”
The full manifesto can be found and read here.
The government, especially since Andy Burnham has taken office as PM, has promised a big increase to housebuilding practices as he ahs promised the “biggest council housebuilding programme since the post-war era.”
Other promises made during the Labour Conference last month include new powers for councils to take back empty homes, and reforms to private renting standards.
Read more about what was promised at the conference here.
