A representative from the Department of Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) attended the FMB’s Building Conference last week.
Fergus Harradence, the Deputy Director of Infrastructure & Construction at BEIS is responsible for working to deliver a more productive and sustainable construction sector in the UK and he called on the UK to rapidly reduce carbon emissions through the decarbonisation of our existing homes.
Overview
In Fergus’ speech, he discussed how the UK’s existing homes are one of the main issues contributing to our carbon emissions and expressed that one of the ways to tackle this is for the Government to collaborate closely with organisations such as the FMB in order to drive change.
Fergus said: “We should have tackled this over 10 years ago, but over the next few years we anticipate significant increase in this area and the FMB has been consistent in pushing for a National Retrofit Strategy, as well as supply chain issues and other key areas.” of the pressing concerns for the industry.
Challenges
In order for builders to be able to carry out energy efficient changes on our UK homes, Fergus raised the issue of needing to train a new generation of young people with these skills. Particularly during a time when an aging workforce is a key industry concern. Our recent State of Trade Survey shows that the rate of increase in employment of workers by SME and micro construction firms continues to fall as a delay is a skilled workforce is leading to a delay in carrying out jobs. Over one third of FMB members, reported a difficulty recruited skilled workers in Q3.
Fergus also discussed how small and medium builders are most affected by a shortage of materials, particularly on domestic RMI and small house building. This has also proved to be the case in our recent Survey, where around six in ten (62%) of FMB members have had building contracts impacted by the lack of materials in Q3 2022.
Solutions
Fergus was supportive of industry plans for a retrofit strategy as one of the key ways to create more energy efficient upgrades to all our homes. We know, this will also lead to them being both warmer and cheaper to heat in the long run and also boost the economy by allowing homeowners to reinvest in the construction industry.
Our recent State of Trade Survey indicates that 74% of FMB members are in favour of government support to create more consumer demand through improving the energy efficiency of the UK’s existing homes, the shows that it will have a positive impact on the industry, therefore a national retrofit strategy is clear.
Fergus stated that in order to do this, we need to continue to collaborate with professionals, clients, contractors in order to make better changes for the industry as well as make it more attractive for those who are considering getting into it.
At the FMB, we will continue to work with the Government and convey our members’ experiences in order to get the support and investment the industry needs.
Speaker
Fergus Harradence is responsible for working to deliver a more productive and sustainable construction sector in the UK.
He is a member of the Government Construction Board and the Construction Leadership Council.
