Browsed by
Tag: public spending

Nicky come lately still doesn’t get it for all his Damascene conversion to capital spending

Nicky come lately still doesn’t get it for all his Damascene conversion to capital spending

The Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg has realised, he says, that the Government cut capital spending too fast. After this no doubt a whole industry – construction – is now saying “we agree with Nick”. The sad twist is that in reality it is Nick that now agrees with the industry. Sad because the nation has had to endure a long haul where opportunities were missed and huge damage done. Sadder still because there’s little hope of a meaningful boost…

Read More Read More

Construction employees feel hardest hit by recession, major study finds

Construction employees feel hardest hit by recession, major study finds

Construction workplaces suffered worse effects from the recession than any other major sector when looked at through the eyes of employees. That at least is the one of the first findings from the 2011 Workplace Employment Relations Study, which is the sixth in a series of major workplace surveys dating back to 1980. The survey found that 72% of those employed in construction thought the recession had “a great deal” or “quite a lot” of an adverse impact on their workplace….

Read More Read More

The extra magic money brings when you get your bank to print it and use it to buy your debt

The extra magic money brings when you get your bank to print it and use it to buy your debt

An exchange of letters between Mervyn King at the Bank of England and George Osborne at the Treasury is causing a bit of excitement among economists and also among in-the-know construction folk. They see a chink of light in the black cloud that is Government capital spending intentions, as the Treasury gets a cash boost of some £20 billion, £30 billion maybe more from the excess cash in the Quantitative Easing pot. It’s an accounting trick that’s raising more than a…

Read More Read More

UK construction bosses need to make Government face the facts: The industry is in freefall

UK construction bosses need to make Government face the facts: The industry is in freefall

Construction output fell 2.6% in the third quarter of this year. This fall was slightly more than had been expected when the nation’s first estimate of gross domestic product was released. For informed industry watchers this was no surprise. The fact that revisions by the Office for National Statistics to earlier data pushed the recorded level of output down still further was also not a surprise.

The real home truth is that the Government can and should do more to boost house building

The real home truth is that the Government can and should do more to boost house building

The National Housing Federation launched its 2012 Home Truths report today. It’s got lots of coverage, probably because it says again what many already know – there’s a housing crisis and it will put even more pressure on the already stressed and strained housing benefit system. We spend more than £20 billion a year on housing benefit in a bid to keep the poorest out of housing squalor. But thousands more working folk are turning to this benefit as rents…

Read More Read More

Some lessons to learn from the constant downward revisions to construction forecasts

Some lessons to learn from the constant downward revisions to construction forecasts

The recession in construction will be longer and deeper than we thought three months ago. That is the message in the latest set of industry forecasts emerging this month. This may evoke a sense of déjà vu. Each quarter of late the forecasts have darkened. The latest set look pretty bleak as we can see from the graph.

Construction output continues its rapid decline

Construction output continues its rapid decline

There is no getting away from the fact that the construction output data continue to look increasingly scary. If we compare month on month the 12-month total output for construction we see the industry over the past three or four months shrinking by about £1 billion a month, or put another way about 1%. The graph shows the direction of the annualised output.

Why Ed Balls calling to spend 4G windfall on homes could be worth far more than £3 billion

Why Ed Balls calling to spend 4G windfall on homes could be worth far more than £3 billion

Shadow Chancellor Ed Balls has said Labour would spend the £3 billion or so won from the 4G mobile phone licence sale on building 100,000 new homes. It’s a start. But it’s far from enough to fill the huge gap in house building created by the credit crunch, despite having the now de rigueur 100,000 figure that’s seemingly essential to all housing policy statements today. However, I have a sneaking feeling (probably an irrational hope) that this slightly bold move…

Read More Read More