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CECA
Communicates
Issue 61 June 2009
No “Green Shoots” for Civil Engineering
The Workload Trends Survey for the first quater of 2009 the small and medium sized contractors enjoying a relative
was completed in late April and it indicates little respite for reduction in the rate of workload decline and companies
the beleaguered civil engineering sector. Nearly all of the employing 300-599 operatives showing a sharp improve-
indicators remain negative, however there are signs that the ment.
rate of deterioration has slowed. The workload indicator
for the past twelve months typifies this trend. April’s result But the largest contractors (600+ operatives) have returned
was deeply negative but nonetheless marginally better than a deterioration on the last quarter of 2008.
January’s suggesting that whilst workload is still decreasing All but one of the workload categories were negative, with
the rate of that decrease has slowed. Expectations about rail remaining positive but showing a sharp drop on the
forward order books continue to be negative but less so than previous quarter. The decline in workload on motorways
at any time since last July. and utilities accelerated, in contrast to local roads and
The decline in workload in England was only marginally preliminary works which showed a reduction in the rate of
better than in January’s survey while Scotland and Wales decline from Q4 2008.
showed contrasting results – deteriorating sharply in Wales The Workload Trends Survey also highlighted a dramatic
but improving relatively in Scotland. drop in tender prices across the sector for both new and R&M
CECA surveys workload by size of company and the largest work despite reporting an upward trend in tender prices in
have so far fared marginally better than the smaller and October. It has become clear that this upward trend reversed
medium sized contractors during the current downturn. Results in January and the downward impetus has gathered more
for Q1 2009 show lower workloads across the board, with strength in April. ....continues page 7
Trends Expected in the Coming 12 Months
CECA Corporate +80
Responsibility Conference +60
Workload
Operative jobs
Staff jobs
aims to break new ground
New work orders
R&M orders
+40
Speakers at the forthcoming CECA Corporate
weighted % balance *
Responsibility (CR) conference will set out how +20
contractors gain a key advantage in areas of
non-financial performance such as human re- 0
sources and health and safety.
-20
The conference, to be held on 7 July in London, is
aiming to promote CR and give participants ac- -40
cess to a sophisticated understanding of how the
discipline will develop through expert speakers. -60
4.07 7.07 10.07 1.08 4.08 7.08 10.08 1.09 4.09
John McGurk, Learning, Training and Development * % rising less % falling
The graph above highlights the negative outlook for civil engineering
advisor at the Chartered institute of Personnel continues, but the rate of decline has slowed
....continues page 8
In This Issue:
Chairman’s Column page 2 Workload Trends Analysis page 7
Regional Focus - CECA (Midlands) page 3 Cororate Responsibility Focus page 8
John Ioannou page 6 Public Affairs Round Up page 10
Environment Supplement central pull out Director’s Column page 11
www.ceca.co.uk
Page 2 CECA Communicates
CHAIRMAN’S Column
Mike Carrol, CECA Chairman, explains the logic behind
creation of the EMB
Three months into the role of their best interests. A general election in the next 12 months
Chairman of CECA is as good provides us with a major opportunity to get our proposals into
a time as any to bring you up the centre of the public policy debate as well as a maintain-
to date with our progress. I took ing or increasing the work we do week by week in the Press
the job on determined to make and in Parliament to make sure our views are heard.
a contribution to the industry and
to champion the members of our Harry Lynch
Association during troubled eco- A good reason why CECA must be an effective advocate for
nomic times and a time of change in CECA itself. our sector was thrust home very recently. Harry Lynch & Co
In the Autumn of 2008, CECA began holding monthly man- Ltd, a founder member of CECA (Scotland) and a stalwart
agement meetings to guide policy and strategy and ensure contractor in a close knit community north of the Border,
that the Association is well placed to raise the issues that went out of business blaming a lack of support from the
have impacted on our sector over the last year. We felt Bank of Scotland.
this was a good way to obtain current information from all Having suffered a major client going into administration
parts of the membership and to communicate their interests owing them a considerable sum, Harry Lynch was looking
and concerns as effectively as we could. We said at the for support from his bank to cover a relatively small debt.
time these arrangements were temporary, but that if they He was trading profitably and had a order book full for
proved themselves to be an effective means of serving our two months ahead.
members’ interests we would consider how we could make
them a permanent feature within CECA. It made me angry when I read how Harry’s pleas to his bank
were dismissed and eventually ignored by managers who
These are challenging times for contractors and CECA needs had made up their minds that the construction industry is not
to be every bit as flexible and responsive as it was a year a safe bet these days.
ago. The temporary arrangements have shown there is room
for improvement so from July, CECA will be setting up an For the want of a relatively small amount of money, a good
Executive Management Board which will meet regularly to contractor was put out of business. Where, you might well
ensure the delivery of a comprehensive business plan and ask, were the much vaunted publicly backed loan schemes,
an active communications strategy for the Association. I am available for small businesses through the banks? Apparently
confident that the new arrangement, which will be contractor- these bank managers did not know, or would not admit to
led, will raise the bar of expectation and provide effective knowing, about them. At that point it becomes a question for
leadership without losing focus on the bigger picture. It will the Government – is the help you claim to have provided
enable us to strengthen our position as a leading trade as- getting to the people who really need it? It would appear
sociation in construction. not.
As a contractor myself I want to see CECA use the profile it Not so long ago I heard Gordon Brown apologise for the
has developed in the last five years to make positive changes ongoing shambles over MPs’ expenses and quite right too.
to the market by influencing those who shape it through their Now, apologise to Harry Lynch and the 21 employees who
policy decisions. We are seeing troubling trends in relation lost their jobs. He, and those who worked for him, deserved
to the tendering process and tender prices and evidence better support than the Government gave him.
is emerging of clients who are taking a short term view of
Civil Engineering
Contractors Association Tel: 020 7227 4620
55 Tufton Street Fax: 020 7227 4621
London enquiries@ceca.co.uk
SW1P 3QL
www.ceca.co.uk
CECA Communicates Page 3
REGIONAL Focus
Ray Bell, Chairman of CECA (Midlands), discusses the
issue of prequalifcation
There are few operational issues I said it was a false economy. Contractors pay to pre qualify
facing contractors that you could call but money is not the issue – we regard the fees as a cost
insidious but pre qualification is cer- and, at the end of the day, we pass the cost on to the client.
tainly one of them. I can understand, But the eventual cost does not just reflect the fees we pay,
as readily as the next person, how it reflects the fact that we have to employ people just to
good intentions can often bring unin- continually complete pre qual questionnaires – information
tended consequences but I fail to see how or why we have which then, more often than not, we are asked to reproduce
allowed a simple system to morph into a mini-industry, lin- during the tender stage. The man-hours this takes are also a
ing the pockets of parasites who take a slice of profit from cost – a waste, if we are being honest – that again is passed
projects they neither build nor commission. on to the client. There is no saving to be made in the long run
even if the short sighted can see some advantage to running
It used to be the case that clients kept their own lists of pre the system in this madcap manner.
qualified contractors – not a sustainable situation by any
means. ConstructionLine, recommended by the Latham Re- CECA has been banging its head against this particular
port, was supposed to be the single pre qual list, providing brick wall for some time now. There was a glimmer of hope
a solution to the multiple lists being held by individual clients. when we managed to secure a meeting with nearly all the
A simple, workable idea that has been blighted by the law pre qual databases to put our point of view across, but this
of unintended consequences. proved to a not altogether fruitful route. I am pleased to
say we did not relent on this topic and it is very good to
Where did it go wrong? Somewhere around that time the note that CECA centrally has been working hard with the
idea caught on that clearly there was money to be made Government and British Standards to develop a specification
on this – and other pre qual databases appeared. Clients for pre quals. This will not end the multiple database mad-
picked the ones they wanted to use and competition in- ness, but will mean a clear and consistent approach across
creased. core criteria. It will make it easier to get through the maze
I have nothing against competition, when it genuinely drives of questionnaires and hopefully cut the man-hours needed
down prices and pushes up choice, but the current situation to get through them.
where pre qual databases are competing to work for clients So steps are being made in something like the right direction.
is a false economy. Clients may get choice, they may get a I will not be entirely happy until clients see sense and stop
good price, but contractors have no choice but to continually the wasteful proliferation of pre quals, but CECA is mak-
pre qualify every time a client wants to use a new database. ing the right noises in the right places. It will soon be up to
We pre qualify with different databases for different cli- contractors to take the BSI standard to clients and persuade
ents – show me how this is an improvement on the situation them to use it thereby achieving a single approach to pre
we had before? qual across the whole industry.
CECA (Midlands) joins new Business Council
The Civil Engineering Contractors Association is the latest said: “We very much welcome the CECA as members.
member of the West Midlands Business Council.
“More representative organisations mean our voice is louder
The Council now has 25 member organisations which, collec- and our lobbying impact grows ever stronger.
tively, represent approximately 200,000 businesses across
the region. “These are harsh times for industry generally and the engi-
neering sector has been hit hard.
Brian Frost, director of Bridgnorth-based CECA (Midlands),
said: “We have been impressed by the impetus that has de- “We have been pressing the Government to help with, for
veloped behind West Midlands Business Council and we are example, the introduction of temporary job subsidies and
confident that by being part of it we can greatly benefit. we hope they are listening.
“I am sure it can only help our own lobbying efforts as the “These are the sorts of initiatives which could also benefit
industry strives to overcome this very deep recession.” engineering – certainly it can ill-afford losing skilled people
who will be needed when the economy picks up again.”
Barrie Williams, chairman of West Midlands Business Council,
www.ceca.co.uk
Page 4 CECA Communicates
REGIONAL Focus
CECA (Yorkshire and Humberside)
Welcomes New Director
April saw the retirement of CECA (Yorkshire and Humber) Director, David Smith.
Client Best
CECA would like to take this opportunity to thank David for his hard work over Practive
the past three and a half years and wish him all the
best in his retirement. CECA has been closely involved in the
Taking over from David as Director of CECA (Yorkshire development of a new best practice
and Humber) is Mark Roper, who joins CECA (Yorkshire guide for clients that is due to be
and Humber) after spending time at J Murphy and Sons published by the Institution of Civil
Ltd. and on the Executive Management Committee of Engineers in the Autumn.
CECA (Yorkshire and Humber). Mark will be continuing The guide is being produced by an
David’s good work building relations with CECA (York- expert panel that includes repre-
shire and Humber) members and stakeholders as well sentatives from CECA alongside Arup,
as organising regional events and seminars. the Association of Consultancy and
Mark Roper, Director of CECA (Yorkshire and Humber) Engineering, the Centre for Construc-
tion Innovation, Construction Clients
Group, Costain, the Nichols Group,
CECA (Midlands) NVQ Success the Olympic Delivery Authority, Par-
sons Brinckerhoff and Trimentis.
The guide covers a broad range of
areas of best practice including de-
velopment of the client organisation,
project delivery strategy, people
issues, social responsibility, perform-
ance management, operational and
legacy issues.
CECA’s involvement has centred
around the development of the chap-
ter on supply chain and procurement,
and has drawn on the significant work
carried out by the Business Improve-
ment Committee as part of its Client
Best Practice project as well as CECA
(Southern)’s Guide to Client Good
Practice.
Aron Evans, Martin Freeman, Steve Place, Mark Hercer, Anthony Brown, Nick Nile, The guide is now in the final stages
Marcus Daccus, Ron Pinfield and Brian Frost at the final Level 5 NVQ Seminar of development prior to entering
production. CECA has been invited
During 2009 CECA Midlands has continued offering the membership ‘value for to be part of a final sounding board
money’ through high quality, subsidised training and development for its members. to examine the completed guide,
Following successful completion of Management and Supervisory Development allowing an opportunity to provide
Programme (M&SDP) funded NVQ Levels 3,4 and 5 last Autumn a further batch guidance on any areas for potential
of students have completed their Level 5 NVQ in Construction Management. further improvement. Copies of the
final draft will be sent out to the
Over 29 delegates registered for the current batch of NVQs and the CECA Business Improvement Committee and
(Midlands) tournout is indicative of CECA members’ high regard of the NVQ CECA regional directors this week.
qualification. Participants of the Level 5 NVQ are shown in the photo below.
www.ceca.co.uk
CECA Communicates Page 5
INDUSTRY Affairs
CECA Working with Government to Reform Prequalification
The Civil Engineering Contractors Association has taken The first of these groups is an internal CECA prequalifica-
a leading role in efforts to get rid of the burden caused tion working group. Chaired by Peter Greenhalgh of DCT
when contractors are forced to fill out multiple unnecessary Civils members of CECA (North West) the group will help
prequalification questionnaires to bid for work. formulate the guidance that CECA will provide to BSi to
help in the drafting of the PAS. It is also anticipated that a
The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (formally member of this group will be invited to sit on the Steering
BERR) this month signed a contract with standards body BSi Group that will be set up to provide industry feedback on
to establish a single standard for construction prequalifica- the draft PAS once produced, prior to final publication. The
tion documents. The standard, known as a Publicly Available prequalification working group will also direct CECA’s ef-
Specification (PAS), will take around nine months to develop, forts as an organisation once the PAS has been published, to
in consultation with clients and the industry. When completed ensure that it is taken up by civil engineering clients.
it is expected to set out a clear and consistent approach
that should be taken by clients when asking contractors for This will involve close working with a second group that will
prequalification information in relation to a series of core co-ordinate an industry wide response to the PAS. CECA
criteria in areas such as financial information, health and was responsible for bringing together representatives of
safety capability and technical competence. the National Federation of Builders, National Specialist
Contractors Council, Specialist Engineering Contractors
Yet while the PAS is being delivered on its behalf it is unlikely Group, Federation of Master Builders and Association of
that the Government will be able, or willing, to demand its use Consultancy and Engineering to form this new Pan-Industry
by public sector clients. As such, there is a clear requirement Prequalification Group. The group, which met for the first
for the construction industry to work as one to encourage indi- time on 1 June 2009, will ensure that the industry acts with a
vidual clients to take up the new standard, helping to create single unified voice in its response to the PAS. As such it has
a single uniform approach across the whole industry. agreed to share existing research on the subject while also
With this in mind CECA has formed two groups to help ensure carrying out an industry-wide survey to determine the costs
that the PAS that is developed meets the needs of member of prequalification to the construction sector. This research
companies and the wider industry; and that once produced, will be combined to produce a strong lobbying toolkit to
the PAS is used as widely as possible by clients. allow members of the group to make the case for using the
PAS when in discussions with clients in their sector.
Changes to Trade Credit Insurance Top
Up Scheme
In April’s Budget the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Cost inflation working group
Darling, announced the Government would be launching
CECA is set to meet with the Office of Government
a trade credit insurance top up scheme. Previously the
Commerce to press the case for fairer treatment of inflation
Scheme was only available to companies who had their
in relation to highways maintenance.
trade credit insurance reduced since April 1 this year. This
has now been extended to include companies who have Since autumn 2008 a working group formed by CECA –
had their trade credit insurance reduced at any time since which also features representatives of the Mineral Products
1 October 2008. Association and Highways Term Maintenance Association
– has been carrying out research into the impact of cost
The Scheme has also been expanded to include more trade inflation on the highways maintenance sector. The group
credit insurance providers, HCC will join the three largest was set up following reports that contractors were being
credit insurers (Euler Hermes, Atradius and Coface) providing hit by spiking oil costs, with a knock-on effect on bitumen
the Scheme. The Scheme, which runs until 31 December 2009, prices.
allows suppliers to purchase Government-backed insurance Having surveyed every highway authority in the UK using
to either restore cover to the original level or double the the Freedom of Information Act, the working group now
amount they are able to obtain from the private sector up has a dossier detailing cases where highways clients are
to the value of £1m (whichever is the lower). using inappropriate indices within contracts to capture
For more information on the Scheme, or how to apply to top cost inflation. This report is now set to form the basis of a
up your trade credit insurance the Department for Business, meeting with the OGC, who it is hoped will put pressure
Innovation and Skills (formally BERR) advises companies to on these clients to use more appropriate indices on future
access the BusinessLink website; http://www.businesslink. contracts.
co.uk/creditinsurance
www.ceca.co.uk
Page 6 CECA Communicates
GUEST Column
Fair Play through Fair Payment in Construction
wider public sector we’re engaging more with organisa-
tions like Local Authorities and the Regional Improvement
and Efficiency Partnerships (RIEPs) to stimulate awareness
The Office of Government Commerce of this initiative.”
(OGC) is an independent office of When the FPI was initially launched it was fully supported by
HM Treasury, established to help the industry through its umbrella bodies, but it has to be said
Government deliver best value from that awareness amongst their members was disappointing.
its spending. To enhance traction OGC devised a programme of meet-
Almost eighteen months ago the Office of Government ings with 25 of the larger suppliers in February and March
Commerce (OGC) together with industry launched the Fair earlier this year. Through this engagement OGC found that
Payment in Construction Initiative (FPI), with the publication while a majority of tier 1 contractors were willing to sign
of the Guide to best ‘Fair Payment’ practices. Fair Payment Charters, a large proportion still operated
payment regimes which went well beyond the 30 day period
The Guide made recommendations that clients and their in the Charter. It was also clear that there was still a lot of
principal contractors (and supply chain members) formally misunderstanding regarding PBAs and first tier suppliers
adopt the principles of Fair Payment on all new contracts were reluctant to use them.
from 1st January 2008. In particular from that date public
sector construction clients were required to sign Fair Payment Ioannou acknowledges the challenges
Charters on all new projects; pay contract interim payments ahead: “We need to dispel contrac-
within 30 days; and progressively specify the use of Project tors’ misconceptions over Fair Payment,
Bank Accounts (PBA). improve their understanding of the
benefits that the FPI can bring to col-
The OGC was charged with undertaking an annual survey laborative working, the supply chain
of public sector clients to monitor their performance in im- and project performance. It is through
plementing the initiative and the industry umbrella bodies contractors’ improved adoption of the
were similarly charged with monitoring progress by their FPI that they can acquire a com- John Ioannou, the OGC’s
members through the supply chain. petitive advantage when bidding Head of Construction
for public sector work.”
OGC’s survey on FPI this year found that good progress
has been achieved by Central Government Departments Several umbrella bodies, including the Civil Engineering Con-
(CGDs), including their agencies and Non-Departmental tractors Association, the Specialist Engineering Contractors’
Public Bodies. A significant proportion of central government Group, the National Specialist Contractors Council and the
construction spend now has Fair Payment Charters signed Construction Products Association, have worked with OGC
and progress is being made by a number of departments to communicate the FPI to their members. The latest OGC
to use Project Bank Accounts (PBAs). OGC is putting in place survey through umbrella bodies found a generally more
a system to collect and share payment information through positive picture. About half the respondents were aware of
the supply chain, between public sector clients. It will also the initiative, 65% said that they already had fair payment
be making further efforts to raise awareness and increase practices with their supply chain and 28% had contractual
implementation of the FPI within the wider public sector. payment terms less than 30 days (although only 21% were
paid within 30 days of valuation). “We have laid strong foun-
It is clear however that implementation of the FPI in the sup- dations for this initiative’s implementation,” asserts Ioannou,
ply chain has not been as widespread as anticipated and “now we must build on them to ensure delivery from the bot-
more needs to be done for it to become fully embedded. tom up by sub-contractors, as well as from the top down by
John Ioannou, the OGC’s Head of Construction, states: “We public sector clients and main contractors. We look forward
know that the FPI has begun to make an impact – public to working with CECA to move the agenda forward”.
sector clients are retro-fitting the Fair Payment Charter to
their existing frameworks and contracts, and a number are
trialling PBAs. As OGC’s remit has extended to include the
www.ceca.co.uk
CECA Communicates
Environment Supplement
The first edition of the CECA Communicates Environment Supplement examines new regulations and
guidelines relating to the environmental management as well as drawing attention to examples of best
practice in environmental management and design. The Supplement has been designed to act as a
pull-out publication that can be circulated separately to CECA Communicates if required.
Review of Waste Exemptions from Environmental Permitting
Defra, the Welsh Assembly Government and the Environment summary-responses.pdf.
Agency undertook a consultation on revised waste exemp-
tions from environmental permitting which ran from 31 July The Government intends to respond to the consultation af-
2008 to 23 October 2008. The aim of the review was to ter some policy issues, including the proposal to charge for
provide a more risk based and proportionate approach to exemption registrations, had been resolved.
the regulation of waste recovery and disposal operations, Defra, WAG and the EA have now stated the following:
complementing the new environmental permitting regime.
“The original proposal was to implement revised regulations
CECA consulted its members on the proposals and submitted by October 2009. However, the high level of stakeholder
a response by the due date. CECA regarded the changes to engagement during and since the consultation has led to
the exemptions as imposing considerable extra burdens on an increased number of policy issues requiring resolution.
contractors and this was reflected in the response. CECA’s There is also a desire to ensure guidance, new permits and
response was included on the Agenda for the meeting of registration systems will allow for appropriate stakeholder
the CECA Safety, Health & Environment Committee held on engagement and meet stakeholder expectations.
26 November 2008.
As a result it is no longer possible to implement the review by
The 285 consultation responses received by Defra, WAG and October 2009. Defra, Welsh Assembly Government and the
the EA have been analysed and a summary of these was Environment Agency have therefore decided to put back the
published on 7 April 2009. A copy of the analysis is avail- implementation of new regulations until the next available
able on the internet at the following website: http://www. opportunity in April 2010.”
defra.gov.uk/corporate/consult/waste-exemption-review/
EA Praise CECA Member for Clean Up Achievement
Remediation of contaminated sites is a problem faced by draulic containment has been a technical challenge of the
many CECA members. The specialist contamination remedia- highest order.”
tion contracting division of CECA member Hydrock is working
on a significant groundwater remediation project for the The Helpston project is an example of the role CECA mem-
Environment Agency (EA) at Helpston, near Peterborough. bers play in protecting the environment and maintaining a
sustainable water supply for the UK. Hydrock will continue to
The contamination on site was caused by dumping of the work alongside the EA to continue the site’s remediation with
weedkiller Mecoprop in two landfill sites during the 1980s. further containment targets in place until 2018 to improve
At the time it was believed a geological fault would prevent the water quality of a main groundwater resource.
contamination migration, but private and public water sup-
plies over two miles to the east of the landfills have been
affected. Creation of a hydraulic barrier across the primary
pollution pathway is the first important step toward resolving
the issue, and Hydrock met its containment targets despite
the unanticipated requirement for an additional series of
abstraction wells on time and on budget.
Hydrock has worked closely with the Environment Agency
to ensure that the project is achieving its targets. Norman
Robinson, an Environment Manager with the EA, praised
the project commenting; “The Helpston Project is a brilliant
example of delivering for the environment. Achieving hy- Water treatment works at the Helpston site
www.ceca.co.uk
Page ii Environment Supplement
CEEQUAL Awards
CECA Members Achieve Excellence in CEEQUAL Awards
CEEQUAL is an assessment and awards scheme designed to improve sustainability in civil engineering projects. CECA is a
partner in promoting CEEQUAL to encourage environmental excellence amongst its members. Environmental management
and design are becoming ever more important as sustainability is pushed up the political and corporate agenda and shar-
ing best practice across the civil engineering industry is vital. CECA is bringing together expert speakers on Environmental
Corporate Responsibility, amongst other topics, at the CECA CR Conference on 7 June (see back page of Communicates
for more details).
CEEQUAL awards range from Pass to Excellent and are based on a series of key performance indicators leading to a
point score for the project as a whole. To achieve an “Pass” rating projects must exceed the regulatory minimum standards
by 75%, based on CEEQUAL’s scoring system.
Over the last year CECA members have continually achieved high standards in the CEEQUAL awards and brief case stud-
ies of some projects receiving the “Excellent” rating are listed here. More information on each project is available on the
CEEQUAL website: www.ceequal.com
St Ives Flood Defence Scheme – Carillion Civil Engineer- A479 Talgarth Relief Road and Bronllys Bypass – BAM
ing Nuttall
The St Ives project, completed last year, was a two year CECA member BAM Nuttall was the Design and Build Con-
project aimed at protecting the coastal town from flood- tractor for the project, part of which lies within the Brecon
ing from the local river. The scheme involved flood defence Beacons National Park. Their role incorporated the comple-
design and highway runoff collection as well as a rigorous tion of the environmental, drainage and earthworks design
site waste management plan. CEEQUAL highlighted several and build, operating alongside Hyder for the design stage.
areas in which the project stood out. These were: The project received an “Excellent” rating and key to this
• securing a waste compound (for the 2-year project dura- score was the sustainable construction methods used, these
tion) within the planning application included;
• a Site Waste Management Plan which, despite limited • earthworks balance – excavated material was re-
space alongside the working area, enabled the team to used within the scheme or within landscape areas,
achieve recycling rates of over 98%. Waste was either thus reducing vehicle movements
reused on site or sent for recycling or recovery. • stone from a local quarry was used to face Pendre
• estimating staff travel CO2 impacts and agreeing meth- Culvert, gateway entrances and feature walling within
ods to reduce this through car sharing, train use and use Talgarth, reinforcing local character and reducing
of telecommunications transport impacts
• planting of over 500 native trees to replace those lost • retention of mature trees – including trees on both the
during construction of the scheme. Five new trees were Talgarth and Bronllys sections of the scheme.
provided for each one felled • extensive involvement of the local community and
• use of fast-growing willow on a stretch of riverbank on statutory consultees took place during development
the River Stennack, upstream of the town’s Fire Station, and construction of the scheme, including visits to the
to create a ‘living wall’ that slows down floodwaters and site by local school children
helps prevent erosion • a detailed Construction Environmental Management
• the use of proactive community engagement and con- Plan (CEMP) was developed and implemented, ensur-
sultation, such as early consultation on options, led to a ing that commitments made within the Environmental
complete rethink of the Environment Agency’s preferred Statement and Public Inquiry were addressed
option • implementation of a 5-year aftercare period – in-
cluding long-term management and monitoring of the
effectiveness of mitigation measures
• significant care was taken not to disturb the high
volumes of bird and mammal life present in the lo-
cal ecology, including building oversized culverts to
accommodate otters, badgers and bats crossing the
bypass
A doormouse crossing on the Talgarth Relief Road
www.ceca.co.uk
Environment Supplement Page iii
ENVIRONMENT Best Practice
Parc Cybi – Jones Bros, Ruthin Selection of materials: materials with high recycled content
where possible, such as the use of paving sets made from
The Parc Cybi Business Park development, near Anglesey, secondary aggregates instead of granite sets.
is situated in an Area of Outstanding National Beauty. As
such the project and associated infrastructure needed care- Use of alternative approaches in order to minimise the
ful environmental planning. These challenges were overcome temporary use of materials that would normally be dis-
using the CEEQUAL framework for the Whole Project Award, posed of to landfill: tree shelters made from biodegradable
with CECA Members Jones Bros, Ruthin receiving the award material were used in place of plastic ones, and exposed
as the main contractor. The project achieved an “Excellent “ soil strips were used instead of plastic reptile fencing. This
award of 94% above the minimum requirements and several intention to minimise off-site disposals to landfill removed
construction features stood out. These were; the need for 7km of chestnut fencing, and 2.4km of plastic
reptile fencing.
Redesign to maximise use of on-site materials: a review
of the aggregate materials available on site led to a re-
evaluation of the designs for the roadway, drainage and
utilities to maximise the use of site-won material and minimise
the need to import materials. More than 12,000 lorry move-
ments (and 180,000+ lorry miles) were avoided, resulting
in significant reductions in energy usage, road congestion
and disturbance.
Reducing energy requirements in operation and future
maintenance: redesigning the street lighting reduced the Construction underway at the Parc Cybi site
overall number of lights required.
Interserve Overcome Environmental Challenges
tive approaches to protecting the environment - such as
temporary bat flight-path structures and using extensive
temporary water course protection
During construction Interserve developed several innovative
solutions to the environmental challenges they were posed;
Design- • Watercourses were protected from runoff during con-
ing and con- struction using a variety of techniques; straw bales, silt
structing the A38 fences, french drains, sediment collection mats, sandbags,
Dobwalls Bypass on be- interception ponds and water filters
half of the Highways Agency • Washing out of concrete wagons was only permitted into
allowed CECA member Interserve to dedicated concrete wash out skips, reducing the possibility
put their environmental management skills of a release of pollutants into local rivers
into practice. The Highways Agency Early Contractor • In addition to working in conjunction with Natural England
Involvement road project comprised 3.2km of dual and 5km to develop a new type of permanent bat bridge structure,
of single carriageway. It included a crossing of the London - the project encompassed design and build of several forms
Penzance mainline railway as well as several rivers feeding of new mammal habitats, 3 badger tunnels and an otter
into fisheries. A variety of protected species living around the ledge for example. Thousands of new trees and shrubs
site were impacted, compounding the challenge. Bats, badgers, were planted, mature hedging was transplanted and ap-
otters, doormice and reptiles all had to be taken into account proximately 2.5km of combined foot and cycleway were
by Interserve. added to the project.
In order to manage the environmental challenges posed, The local community were delighted with both the project and
Interserve; the construction team. In one of many events that were held
• held monthly meetings with the Environment Agency and to engage the community Interserve arranged a sponsored
the other environmental stakeholders walk on the completed dual carriageway before it opened.
• reused on site 900,000 m3 of excavated material, reducing Over 300 took part, raising a significant amount of money
HGV movements off site for local good causes and rounding off a good project for
• set up a dedicated Environmental Team. Major environmen- the environment as well as for the civil engineering industry’s
tal incidents were avoided through proactive and innova- corporate image.
www.ceca.co.uk
Page iv Environment Supplement
CARBON Reduction
John Wilson, CECA’s Technical and Environmental Officer,
explains the new Carbon Reduction Commitment and how it will
affect some CECA members.
Organisations that are considered to will also be stored If you are in any doubt about your half
be energy intensive are those that hourly metered electricity consumption you may wish to check
are involved in energy generation with your electricity suppliers. There are financial penalties
from fossil fuels (coal, oil and gas), if a company fails to comply.
car manufacturing, cement produc-
tion etc., which tend to be covered The Scheme covers both public and private sector organisa-
largely by the EU Emission Trading tions. At present, the carbon reduction scheme is expected
Scheme and Climate Change Agree- to affect approximately 5,000 organisations in the UK and
ments. Under these schemes carbon emissions are calculated in doing so the Scheme will affect 25% of total business
on an installation basis, for example a car manufacturing sector emissions within the UK.
plant or a cement production plant. Organisations which have emissions currently included in the
The Carbon Reduction Commitment is a compulsory scheme EU ETS or covered under Climate Change Agreements will
for those organisations that are less energy intensive but have these emissions exempted from those covered by CRC.
consume over 6,000 MWh (6,000,000 kWh) of half-hourly A company should have at least 90% emissions covered by
metered electricity during the qualifying period from Janu- ETS, CCA or CRC. Energy used in transport of people or
ary 2008 to December 2008. This equates to an annual goods will also be excluded from CRC as is fuel purchased
half hourly electricity bill of about £500,000. The aim of for use by a third party. Only on-site generated renewable
the CRC is to reduce the level of carbon emissions currently electricity consumed by the company is classed as having
produced by those companies by approximately 1.2 million zero CO2 emissions.
tonnes of CO2 per year by 2020. As a Climate Change Act The CRC Scheme will be a cap and trade scheme and
commitment, the scheme is aiming for an 80% reduction in will enable companies to buy carbon allowances to cover
CO2 emissions by 2050. If you qualify for the Scheme you their carbon emissions, and that will involve measuring and
will need to register as a participant. This can be done online recording energy use and calculating CO2 emissions (not
and the registration period is between 1 April 2010 and 30 including transport emissions). The revenue generated from
September 2010. There is a fee for registration. carbon auctions will be redistributed between the scheme’s
If you qualify for the Scheme you will need to provide infor- participants. Each company will receive a larger or smaller
mation on your organisation and your half hourly electricity amount than they originally paid for their carbon allowance,
usage for the whole company, including subsidiaries. You according to their performance in the CRC “league table”.
will then need to gather all the information to report your Allowances will be sold at £12 each and are for 1 tonne of
carbon footprint for the year running from 1 April 2010 to CO2 emissions. One allowance will need to be submitted
31 March 2011. This report needs to be submitted by 29 for each tonne of CO2 emitted. As efficiencies are made,
July 2011. The Scheme participants will have to report a company will need to purchase fewer allowances, also
all CO2 emissions from whatever fuel source for each year saving money on fuel purchase.
(electricity, gas, fuel oil etc.) for the whole company and
subsidiaries. While the Scheme doesn’t officially start until April 2010,
many organisations will need to make preparations before
If your company consumes less than 6,000 MWh of half that date to ensure that they comply with all legal require-
hourly metered electricity during the qualifying period you ments and fully participate in the Scheme.
do not have to participate fully in CRC. But if you consume
between 3,000 MWh and 6,000 MWh of half hourly me- The Scheme administrators will be the Environment Agency
tered electricity during the qualifying period your company in England, SEPA in Scotland and, for Northern Ireland, the
will need to make an information disclosure which means NI Environment Agency. Qualification packs will be sent out
that you will need to disclose your total yearly half hourly by the Scheme administrators to those companies that have
metered electricity. This is to assist in the understanding of half hourly meters in September 2009.
energy use and to ascertain that all half hourly meters have
For detailed information on CRC see The Carbon Reduc-
been accounted for. If you consume less than 3,000MWh
tion Commitment User Guide: http://www.defra.gov.uk/
of half hourly metered electricity you will need to register
environment/climatechange/uk/business/crc/pdf/crc-
online and check the box which states this. This information
userguide-090312.pdf
www.ceca.co.uk
CECA Communicates Page 7
WORKLOAD Trends
....continued from cover No Green Shoots for Civil Engineering
In the latest survey no less than six out of ten participants that order books continued to decline. In line with previous
report lower tender prices for new work than twelve months surveys, order books for contractors employing more than
earlier. For R&M work the result was nearly as weak, with 300 operatives performed less badly than those of the
42% of the sample reporting reduced tender prices. smaller firms, but the gap has narrowed.
Whilst the smallest firms reported significantly less pressure The rot also spread across various sectors; all types of
than their larger counterparts, firms in the 115 to 299 em- workload, with the exception of rail, have negative balances
ployee band reported distinctly more downward pressure on for order books with the worst results found in the prelimi-
tender prices for both new work and R&M than firms in other nary works and water and sewage sectors. The industry is,
Workload compared with 12 Ago - Resultsago, by country size groups.
Workload cf. 12 Months
months by Country however, less pessimistic about the future than it was in the
+80 Scottish final quarter of 2008. Expectations about workload in the
+60
contrac- GB
coming 12 months were better and order indicators, whilst
tors re- still deteriorating, were less negative than at any time since
England
Scotland
Wales
+40
ported the July last year.
+20
most acute
weighted % balance *
0 downward The results of the Survey will offer scant comfort to civil
pressure. engineering contractors trying to ride out the tough times.
-20
Many CECA members responded to a qualitative question
-40
Finally the attached to this Survey and CECA has been able to paint a
-60 Survey also broad picture of current industry issues, which are discussed
-80 revealed in the article below.
CECA Members Highlight Industry Issues
4.08 7.08 10.08 1.09 4.09
* % higher less % lower
CECA received more than 200 responses to a special ques- bying for increased Government investment in infrastructure,
tion in the most recent Workload Trends Survey, helping to with more than 10 per cent of responses saying this should
maintain a focus on the issues that are of most importance be a priority.
to members.
The responses also underlined the fact that the recession has
The question, added to the survey for the first time, asked seen a worrying return to adversarial behaviour from clients
members to highlight what they felt where the most impor- and rival contractors with rapidly inflating tender lists, pay-
tant current issues were for their businesses and for the civil ment disputes and poor procurement practice also all high up
engineering industry as a whole. the list of member responses. CECA has since taken steps to
raise these issues in its press and public affairs activities.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, given the current state of the market,
the most commonly raised concern was that of workload The introduction of the question is part of CECA’s attempt to
which was highlighted in nearly a quarter of all responses. ensure that it can identify and manage member issues that
arise as quickly as possible.
And there was strong endorsement of the work that CECA
has been involved in over recent months in terms of lob- It is anticipated that the question will be repeated in the
CECA Member Issues April 2009 Workload Trends Survey twice each year, in April and Oc-
tober, in order to monitor any issues that are rising up the
agenda over time.
Between surveys, CECA encourages members to get in touch
to highlight any matters that are concerning them where they
feel that CECA may be able to help. Recent examples of
this include CECA’s rapid response to the impact being felt
by many small and medium sized members as the industry
slipped into the downturn, as well as the pan-industry cost
inflation working group, which was formed following a series
Workload
Gov. Investment
Increased Competition
Skills
Payment/Disputes
Banks/Finance
Procurement Issues
Turnover/Margins/Cashflows
Frameworks
Prequalification
Delays
Economy
Standards/Compliance
Costs
SME
DLOs
Credit insurance
Failure of suppliers/clients
Planning
Suppliers
Tender Deductions
E-auctions
Commercial
Programme Visibility
Housing
of reports from members around the country who said they
had been hit by steep cost inflation during 2008. Issues can
be either raised through regional directors, or through CECA
National by contacting Head of Industry Affairs Alasdair
Reisner on 0207 227 4629.
www.ceca.co.uk
Page 8 CECA Communicates
CORPORATE Responsibility
CECA Corporate Responsibility Conference Aims to Break New Ground
....continued from cover “Civil engineering processes are complex and fraught with
and Development, will highlight the failure to match people potential risk; the composition of the workforce is also com-
pledges with action to seriously improve human resources. plex, with a diverse range of skills, age, experience, and
attitude.”
“We hear pledges from companies every day assuring us
that people are their most important asset. I once witnessed “Only so much can be achieved through investment in
a presentation in a previous role in the airline industry where technology, procedures and risk assessment; ultimately the
the phrase was counted 11 times” commented McGurk. contractor has to place trust in the workforce to do the right
thing at the right time.”
“The table showing the ranking of priorities later revealed
it to be the 9th of 10 priorities.” “Safety Diagnostics offers an effective approach to improv-
ing safety on site by measuring attitudes to safety within the
He continued: “The issue of Learning Development linked workforce and identifying where and how resources should
with Talent Management, Engagement and Human Capital be directed to change minds and behaviour.”
is a lot more difficult than the glib statements on company
accounts suggest. But getting it right can really drive a busi- See Anne Dunne and John McGurk’s detailed articles below
ness towards consistent high performance.” and opposite. Both John McGurk and Anne Dunne will be
speaking at the CECA CR Conference on 7 July in London.
Anne Dunne, an independent specialist consultant on safety
diagnostics, writes in this edition of CECA Communicates that For more information on the conference and to apply to
managing safety in a civil engineering construction environ- attend, visit www.ceca.co.uk
ment is highly challenging.
Anne Dunne, an independant specialist consultant, discusses safety
diagnostics - measuring attitudes, shaping behaviour
Civil engineering processes are complex and that the various segments of the workforce differ in how
and fraught with potential risk. The com- they receive and process messages: Safety Diagnostics can
position of the workforce is also complex, help to identify which messages need to be reinforced, to
often including a diverse range of skills, whom and by what means. Scarce resources can then be
age, experience, and attitudes. Many of targeted to where they are most needed.
those for whose safety the contractor is held responsible
on site are not direct employees and some may have only Safety Diagnostics offers an effective approach to improv-
a tangential relationship to what the work is about and a ing safety on site by measuring attitudes to safety within the
flimsy understanding of their own responsibilities. workforce and identifying where and how resources should
be directed to change minds and behaviour: The process
This makes managing safety in a civil engineering environment supports existing safety management systems by:
highly challenging. Only so much can be achieved through • Identifying “at risk” groups
investment in technology, procedures and risk assessment; • Evaluating safety interventions
ultimately the contractor has to place trust in the workforce • Measuring progress in changing in attitudes and be-
to do the right thing at the right time. That is why recently so haviour
much attention has been devoted to addressing workforce • Providing early warning information
behaviour in an effort to reduce accidents on site. • Describing safety culture
Communication lies at the core of the positive safety culture: The Safety Diagnostics approach involves a workplace census
one in which individuals shoulder responsibility for their own custom designed to address management and workforce
actions and are prepared to actively step in to prevent oth- concerns and embraces everyone who comes within the
ers’ risky behaviour. Communication, however, needs to be safety remit. That might include employees, subcontractors,
multidirectional, with at least as much emphasis on listening designers, client’s representative, cleaners and haulage con-
to concerns as on broadcasting messages. tractors. The process can also address attitudes to the wider
community on whose lives construction activity impacts.
Often the response is to develop a one size fits all approach
to communicating essential safety messages to the workforce The process will, in effect, stimulate dialogue between con-
through training, briefings and bulletins. Not only is this tractors and the complex group of stakeholders whose safety
approach wasteful in terms of resources,it fails to recognise is their concern. Rapid turnaround of results and feedback
that not all messages are relevant to the entire workforce encourages the discourse to continue and wins confidence
www.ceca.co.uk
CECA Communicates Page 9
CORPORATE Responsibility
from all parties in the process. seem to have universal application:
• Those in the under 25 age group are less likely to see
This an approach I have developed and applied success- themselves at risk and are also less willing to intervene
fully with several clients, including M74 Interlink; Morgan if they see something unsafe happening
Est; Imtech Process; GMJV; MWH; BAM Ritchies; Morgan • Regular daily briefing correlates with more positive
VINCI JV attitudes to safety and with a greater preparedness
Safety Diagnostics is now a tried and tested methodology, to challenge unsafe behaviour in others
with more than 20,000 respondents to date. Although each • Respondents who have been involved in an accident
process addresses the specific safety environment of a site are more likely to display risk prone attitudes, while
or organisation, some common themes have emerged which those who have witnessed an accident tend to be more
risk averse
John McGurk is the Learning and Talent Development Adviser at the
Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development. In this article he explains
the importance of combining technical and soft skills
Quantity surveyors and project managers are ‘Managing‘ clients, relationships, employees, regulators, un-
people who like to work with numbers and cer- ions as well as reading people and your own expectations
tainty. Whatever the project, you’ll want to know: are all crucial to the role of the construction professional:
How much? By when? At what level? And, of course, at what it’s a knowledge job and it requires a wide range of skills.
cost? In this respect, you’ll probably ask for hard data, hard It’s the same for engineers, doctors, lawyers and other pro-
evidence and hard information. It’s a mindset and its core fessionals.
to your job. But so too are the skills of being able to com-
municate, empathise, negotiate, build relationships, work in Yet we insist, despite their importance, on calling these ‘soft
teams, innovate and manage your emotions (and those of skills’. The UK government, in the shape of the new strategic
others). Yet we insist on calling these additional attributes skills body UKCES, calls them ‘employability skills’. This phrase
‘soft skills’. This suggests something ephemeral, woolly and, is fine when discussing school leavers and graduates at whom
for many people in ‘technical’ jobs, something less useful it is mostly aimed, but according to CIPD survey research,
and relevant. these ‘non-technical’ skills are increasingly deficient in the
established working population. Yet I think there is another
Daniel Pink, a US business journalist speaking at the 2008 way we can describe these skills that really defines how to
CIPD HR Development Conference, suggested that in the play the game of the workplace.
knowledge economy only professionals who can supplement
their technical skills with these other skills will survive. In the military, technical skills are obviously pretty crucial.
You need what is termed ‘war fighting capability’. However,
We live in a ‘conceptual’ age where technical skills on their the military also realises that the ability to work in a team,
own are challenged by three As. to take initiative, to exercise leadership (even if it’s not in
your formal rank), to exhibit empathy and understanding of
Asia – competition from countries with a surplus of techni- fellow soldiers and civilians, to cool nerves and to be able to
cal skills and highly qualified graduates (China and India manage conflict are all just as important. It’s a skills set that
will produce 1.5 million graduate engineers and scientists military personnel learn to ‘switch on’ and they are known
by 2010, with trends suggesting that this won’t abate any as ‘tactical’ skills.
time soon).
The great musician and radical thinker Frank Zappa was
Automation – many technical processes, such as estimat- once asked if he thought computers would replace humans.
ing, planning and project management, can now be done He replied: “The computer can’t tell you the emotional story.
remotely by a combination of software and cheap technical It can give you the exact mathematical design, but what’s
skills. missing is the eyebrows.”
However, because of the consumer demand for Abundance, When Google and NASA have recently set up an institute
we all want differently designed and tailored products and to develop the reasoning powers of computers, we had
services. In a nutshell, we want ‘high concept and high touch’. better take on board the fact that our professional skills
Increasingly, clients demand more spec, more frills and more are under constant threat from human, and increasingly
service at lower cost. In a downturn where cost is king, our non-human, competition. In the business world, it’s more im-
non-technical skills are paramount. When a QS or PM just portant than ever that we switch on our tactical skills and,
turns up and crunches the numbers or stays glued to the yes, our eyebrows.
laptop screen and MS Project, it’s not enough.
www.ceca.co.uk
Page 10 CECA Communicates
PUBLIC Affairs
Forth Crossing Re-shuffle Shakes Up Departments
Debated in Parliament The latest Government re-shuffle has led to the amal-
gamation of the Department for Business Enterprise and
Following CECA (Scotland)’s efforts
Regulatory Reform (BERR) and the Department for Innova-
earlier this year to inform the debate
tion, Universities and Skills (DIUS) to form the new Business,
on funding for the replacement Forth
Innovation and Skills department. The change, which will
Crossing through a targeted public af-
unite the department which funds ConstructionSkills and
fairs campaign, one of the MPs CECA
the department that represents the Construction Industry,
met with secured an adjournment de-
should not have a noticeable effect on the activities of
bate on the issue in Parliament.
Government supported bodies.
Willie Rennie, the Liberal Democrat
The re-shuffle also sees several
MP for Dunfermline and West Fife,
new faces in ministerial posts key to the civil engineering
proposed the debate on 18 May, af-
industry. CECA has written to the new Secretary of State
ter spending some time investigating
for Transport, Lord Adonis, and his Minister of State, Sadiq
the issue. Alan Watt, Chief Executive
Khan, welcoming them to their new posts and highlight-
of CECA (Scotland), and Mike Carrol,
ing the important of civil engineering work within the
CECA Chairman, both attended the
transport sector.
debate, which went on until 10.30pm,
to hear what each party had to say In addition CECA has written to
on the issue. welcome yet another minister
responsible for construction to his
CECA’s argument that a sustainable
new role. Ian Lucas, has taken over from Ian Pearson as
funding arrangement must be reached
Minister for Business and Regulatory Reform. Mr Lucas
to protect Transport Scotland’s smaller,
will be the 9th Construction Minister since 2001 and the
but equally important, projects was
4th since August 2007.
highlighted and CECA referenced dur-
ing the debate.
CECA Hosts
From top- bottom; Lord Adonis, SoS for Transport, Sadiq Khan, Transport Minister
Australian Visit and Ian Luca, Business Minister in the new Department for Business Innovation and
On 28 April CECA hosted a delegation Skills
from the Civil Contractors Federation
(CCF) of Australia. The meeting was Cross Party Group For Construction
held at the request of the CCF while
The Scottish Parliament’s Cross Party Group for Construction held its AGM on
their members were in Europe attending
the May 2 at Holyrood. During the meeting CECA (Scotland) was re-elected as
other meetings and trade fairs. CECA
Group Treasurer and a member of the Group’s Executive. CECA (Scotland)’s
Director, Rosemary Beales, welcomed
involvement in the Group is part of a continued effort to lobby on issues relating
the delegation and presentations
to the civil engineering industry. Input is always welcome from CECA members
were given to the CCF representatives
so that CECA (Scotland) can accurately represent members’ views to Scotland’s
to explain the structure of CECA, the
decision makers.
way in which CECA determines the
needs and concerns of members and Following the AGM the group then met Jim Mather MSP, Finance Secretary for
how these are addressed. Helena Enterprise, Energy & Tourism, during which CECA took the opportunity to highlight
Shone (Barhale Training Manager) the case of Harry Lynch & Co whose situation is highlighted in the Chairman’s
gave a presentation on work being Column in this edition of Communicates. The Minister was aware of the case from
carried out to attract ex-offenders to earlier CECA emails and undertook to raise the matter at Ministerial discussions
the industry. Both sides agreed there between the Scottish Government and the banks later this month. Also in the Q&A
was a great deal of commonality session the Scottish Building Federation (SBF) alerted the Minister to the growing
between the organisations and the problem of large tender lists and onerous contract conditions which, in the view
challenges they faced and welcomed of SBF and backed up by CECA (Scotland), were unsustainable in the long term
the opportunity to strengthening ties and were simply storing up trouble. SBF also offered to provide case studies of
and communications in the future. firms that had ceased trading and the Minister undertook to consider this.
www.ceca.co.uk
CECA Communicates Page 11
DIRECTOR’S Column
CECA Director, Rosemary Beales, sets out the
importance of a strong public affairs campaign
ahead of the forthcoming general election
It seems impossible motorways, may well be extended. At the coming election
to avoid the cliché we not only need to make the case for a better way to invest
that a week is a long in infrastructure, we may actually need to make the case for
time in politics. Re- infrastructure – or at least for the adoption of a policy that
member the optimism means we invest and improve our infrastructure at a rate that
that greeted the new keeps pace with demand. Constructing major projects might
Prime Minister when be a controversial way, for some, of powering the economy
Gordon Brown took out of a downturn but there is no doubt the economy will
over from Tony Blair? The “Brown Bounce” seems a very long need better infrastructure if it is going to sustain long term
time ago indeed. With the country in the grip of a deep growth once the country pulls out of recession.
recession and with “scandal” as the new collective noun for
MPs, the big question in the world of public affairs is when The key message will be that Government can invest in
will the Government call a general election? infrastructure and get more for taxpayers’ money if they
look to the long term and give contractors clarity over what
The election will be historic and the economy, quite rightly, will be built, how much will be spent, where and when. We
will provide a clear focus for the electorate. In this context know it stands to reason, but the fact is the case has never
CECA will be putting forward proposals and hoping to influ- been fully accepted by Government, for whom it means
ence all parties as they put together policies to implement planning for investment beyond their comfort zone of the
if they win power. five year average political cycle. The tough times we face
should provide the perfect opportunity for policy makers
We intend to turn our good relations with other bodies across to adopt a more sensible approach to investment and de-
the industry and our increasingly high profile in the media liver the long term plans we want to see, but we could just
and with political stakeholders into strategic alliances to as easily see them maintain the current muddle or make it
promote the interests and concerns of contractors. By joining worse by holding all the cards close to their chest in order
forces with others we show that our best interests are also to cut spending right back.
the best interests of the wider construction industry. We can
demonstrate this by being seen to be in common cause with We need to make a strong case for long term planning in
other key industry groups such as the ACE, ICE and Construc- infrastructure investment at the forth coming election. CECA
tion Products Association. will also raise the issues of skills, health and safety and the
much vaunted Chief Construction Officer proposal among
Presenting the right image is important, but not as important other things; but the debate at the election will be about
as having substantial policy to communicate to the right the economy, the parties will reflect this in their manifestos
people. Accordingly we will be backing up the proposals and CECA will work to influence them within the context of
with solid research and not simply hoping that people see that debate.
the world from our point of view. We can read in their state-
ments how the Opposition parties are viewing the situation
and what may or may not appeal to them, even if they have
yet to publish any hard and fast policies.
We know each political party will be preparing tough eco-
nomic packages to get public finances under control. Projects Rosemary Beales, Director
that currently appear safe may be reviewed and solutions
that are less dependent on construction, such as managed
www.ceca.co.uk
CECA
Conference
Corporate
Responsibility
7th July 2009
Keynote Address; Jonathon Djanogly MP,
Shadow Minster for Corporate Governance
Plus speakers from:
9.15 am-5.30 pm CECA Members
Network Rail
Price - £45 + VAT
Bam Nuttall Institute of Directors
Contract Journal 116 Pall Mall Non-members -
Carillion London £90 +VAT
Expanded SW1Y 5ED
Considerate Constructors Scheme
Register now via CECA’s
Kier Group
CEEQUAL Website - www.ceca.co.uk
Chartered Institute of Personnel and
Development NEW! Presentation of the CECA/
Amey NCE Contractor of the Year awards
Costain will take place at the conference.
Corporate Citizenship
Constructionline
May Gurney
For more information contact Phil Morgan philmorgan@ceca.co.uk or 020 7227 4625
CECA (National) Contacts:
John Wilson (Technical and Environment)
Rosemary Beales (National Director) 020 7227 4624
020 7227 4620 Alasdair Reisner (Industrial Affairs)
Joe Johnson (Training) 020 7227 4629
020 7227 4626 Robert Jenkins (Communications)
Phil Morgan (External Relations) 020 7227 4623
020 7227 4625 Laura Ellis (PA/Administrator)
020 7227 4620
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