Memorandum submitted by Construction Products
Association (PAC 00-01/156)
Public Accounts Committee: Inquiry into
Modernising Construction
I am writing to you as a member of the Public
Accounts Committee which is meeting on 14 February to hold an
inquiry into the report by the National Audit Office, "Modernising
Construction".
The Construction Products Association is the
umbrella body which represents all the manufacturers and suppliers
of the products that go into construction. It is an industry with
an annual turnover of some £30 billion and one which accounts
for 40 per cent of the output of the construction industry in
this country. Members of the Association include almost all of
the major manufacturers and suppliers (Hanson, RMC, Blue Circle
etc) and most of the major sector specific trade associations.
We believe the "Modernising Construction"
Report provides the basis for improving the performance of the
whole construction industry and as a result ensuring that in future
public sector clients obtain much better value from their investment
in construction projects than they have in the past. Unfortunately
we do not feel the report has taken forward as effectively as
it might some aspects of its analysis of the current problems,
and a summary of our concerns is attached. I hope you will take
the opportunity of the inquiry to raise some of these points with
the Office of Government Commerce and the DETR.
If you would like any further amplification
of these points or additional information before the inquiry,
please do not hesitate to let me know.
Chief Executive
6 February 2001
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