Weekly round-up 6 August 2014

Construction industry to grow 10%, hiring of staff in manufacturing at an all time high but council spending heading for 30% fall since 2010.

Jackie Whitelaw
06 August 2014

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1. The construction industry will grow 10% over the next two years, contributing £11bn to the UK economy according to the Construction Products Association Summer Forecasts. The main drivers are housing, infrastructure and commercial developments.

2. Five cities in the North of England have unveiled a £15bn plan to improve road and rail connections in the region. The joint One North report includes plans for a new 125mph inter-city rail link, faster links and better access to ports and airports. It has been developed by an alliance of five cities - Leeds, Liverpool, Manchester, Newcastle and Sheffield and comes after George Osborne said faster links could create a "northern global powerhouse". 

3. Government should provide more support to companies developing low carbon technologies says a new report from the cross-party Energy and Climate Change Committee. It says resources don’t match policy ambitions and criticises governance and transparency of the policy body Low Carbon Innovation Coordination Group. Read report here

4. Hiring of staff reached an all time high in the last three months among small and medium manufacturers according to the latest CBI SME Trends Survey, which also highlighted a fourth consecutive quarter of growth. Report here

5. New £2.5m pollution barriers are to be installed on the M62 at Simister in Greater Manchester. The Highways Agency will measure the barrier’s effectiveness at reducing nitrous oxides over 12 months.

6. Brendan Bechtel will become the fifth generation of the Bechtel family to be president of the 116 year old firm it was announced last week. Brendan, son of board chairman Riley Bechtel will also be the CEO.

7. Construction of the Finningley and Rossington Regeneration Route Scheme (FARRRS) has reached an important stage in its journey. Over the last two weekends, 27 pre-cast concrete beams were lifted onto the bridge which will carry the £56M link road over the Brancliffe to Kirk Sandall (BKS) railway line. Preparation work for the second and longer bridge over the East Coast Main Line is also underway with piling works for the foundations about to start. The completed road, which will connect south east Doncaster to the dramatically improved White Rose Way at Junction 3 of the M18, is expected to be fully open in early 2016. Contractor is Carillion and consultant is Mott MacDonald. 

8. A temporary toll road that bypasses a closed section of the A431 between Bath and Bristol has been opened. The Kelston Road was shut in February after a landslip and will not be repaired until the end of the year. Businessman Mike Watts arranged for the the track to be built which costs £2 per car for the 400m journey.

9. Council spending will have fallen by nearly 30% by the end of the current parliament as a result of government funding reductions, an analysis of expenditure by CIPFA has found. The analysis also calculated the reduction in spending across a host of different service areas in the year. The biggest fall in budgeted spend is housing, where councils have reduced funding by 7.8%, followed closely by education, although much of the 7.6% cut to spending is likely due to schools converting to academies, removing their funding from local authority control. Other areas seeing significant reductions are culture services, down 6.3%, and highways and transport, reduced by 6.2%.

10. A legal challenge by Ireland’s National Trust, An Taisce, to stop the new nuclear Hinkley Point C being built has failed. The judicial review ruled the case should not be referred to the European courts and dismissed the application.