Andrew Reynolds, Chief Executive, provides his view on the just announced Autumn Budget.
“Great to hear the Chancellor’s Budget earlier today that declared that we are entering a “post Covid age of optimism” with investment in healthcare, infrastructure and education amongst others. With construction having played it’s part in Britain’s economy recovery, it was heartening to hear the Chancellor talk about the reduction of the economic scarring of Covid and an earlier return to post Covid growth levels.
As part of the Chancellor’s focus on education, the £1.6bn commitment to support vocational training for 16-19 year olds shows now is the time for our industry to invest in skills and make our sector at the forefront of innovation and environmental and societal change. The construction industry isn’t just about constructing buildings, but about supporting societies through creating jobs, driving social mobility and levelling up accessibility, propelling growth and economic resilience in areas of deprivation.
We need future talent to understand this role that the built environment can play and attract, nurture, and grow this talent with our industry, broadening our industry’s skill set to include social value, sustainability, and other factors that government guidance and policy such as the Construction Playbook and Value Toolkit has recently outlined. It is great to see the Government putting its money where its policy is and enabling us as a sector to support Britain building back better.”
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