CECA Communicates

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The Olympics may have dominated the headlines for the last two months, but government has also made a number of eye-catching announcements on infrastructure, which it has placed at the very heart of its growth strategy.

The return of Parliament after summer recess has also seen the publication of a CECA report. Infrastructure: the Routemap for Growth is a detailed series of policy proposals to government

which sets out CECA’s position on how best to achieve growth in the economy through the infrastructure sector.

CECA will be sending Infrastructure: the Routemap for Growth to senior parliamentarians, policy-makers and industry stakeholders, as we ramp up our campaigning to make the argument from industry that infrastructure investment remains Britain’s best hope of a swift return to sustainable economic growth.

Issue XX • Month 2011

INSIDE THIS MONTH:

3 Workload Trends

5 2012 Card Audit

6 Government Construction Strategy

8 Accident Statistics

9 CSCS

10 Construction4Growth

11 DECC Select Committee: Building New Nuclear

CECA CommunicatesINCLUDING A SPECIAL REPORT ON WORKLOAD TRENDS

Issue 83 • September 2012

Bridging the Gap?CECA publishes theRoutemap for Growth

CECA Communicates

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It is with great pleasure that I welcome our members to this issue of CECA Communicates, which is packed with the latest industry news and analysis of the UK’s infrastructure sector.

The Olympics may have passed off successfully, but now that the party is over the UK is striving to secure a lasting economic recovery. That the government has rightly placed achieving progress in the infrastructure sector at the heart of its growth strategy is laudable - CECA has long argued that infrastructure underpins economic success, and in order to create the right conditions for a burgeoning private sector the UK’s ‘infrastructure deficit’ must be addressed.

While it is encouraging that the UK has climbed the rankings in this year’s World Economic Forum Global Competitiveness Report, the same study finds that we continue to lag behind our competitors in terms of our infrastructure. This impacts not only business, but the whole of society.

There are signs the government has taken this message to heart. But as CECA’s Workload Trends Survey shows all too well, workload remains by far the greatest challenge facing our

members. While the government is right to plan for the future, CECA’s members need work now, not just tomorrow. This is why we have been working hard to lobby the government to release funds for repair and maintenance work, which could feed through to the market before the end of the year.

So that we might refine our message of what can be done to get the economy on track, CECA has published a major new policy document - Infrastructure: the Routemap for Growth. In it, we set out on a sector-by-sector basis the actions you have told us can be taken to get growth back into the economy through infrastructure provision. CECA will be campaigning hard on these issues at all three of the party conferences in England, as well as supporting the work of CECA Scotland and CECA Wales to spread our message in the devolved nations.

Elsewhere in this issue, you will find articles on the 2012 CECA Card Audit, the launch of a new campaign by CITB-ConstructionSkills, changes at CSCS, the results of the 2011 Accident Statistics Survey, and CECA’s appearance before a Department for Energy and Climate Change Select Committee

First Words

on Building New Nuclear: the Challenges Ahead. It is clear the UK has a long way to go before recovery is assured. CECA looks forward to working with you so infrastructure contractors can live up to our potential in delivering jobs and growth in the economy.

Best wishes,

CECA National Managing Director Mark Roper

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CECA Communicates

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Workload Trends 2012 Q2A Crisis in the Infrastructure Sector?

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119 members took part in CECA’s 2012 Q2 Workload Trends Survey. The survey responses are weighted by size of firm, to ensure that results are representative of the industry as a whole. If you are a CECA member who would like to take part in the next survey, please telephone 020 7340 0450 or e-mail info@ceca.co.uk.

Workloads Fall while Industry Outlook Remains Uncertain

CECA’s Workload Trends Survey for the second quarter of 2012 confirm that the infrastructure sector has fallen back into decline.

Across Britain, workloads fell, with 20 per cent of firms, on balance, reporting lower workloads. CECA members reported that they expected the importance of repair & maintenance work (R&M) to rise, with 21 per cent of firms predicting a rise in future orders.

Cost inflation moderated slightly from 2012 Q1, but 54 per cent of member companies continued to report higher costs year-on-year. Employment of skilled operatives and staff increased compared with the same quarter last year. CECA members in England reported that they expected labour market conditions to improve in the next

Workload fell across Britain in 2012 Q2 (see graph, above). The importance of repair & maintenance work is expected to rise, with 21%

of firms predicting a rise in future orders.

year, while their counterparts in Scotland and Wales were less optimistic.

The motorways and local roads sectors continue to suffer the impact of capital spending cuts,

with falls in workload of -53 per cent and - 42 per cent reported in these areas. Balances in the gas and preliminary works sectors turned negative again in 2012 Q2, with -2% and -7% balances recorded respectively.

Changes in Workload and Order Books - Great Britain

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Work in the regulated sectors continued to return stronger results, with expansion of the existing rail network boosting workloads in the rail sector, with a balance of 52% of CECA members reporting increased activity.

However, preliminary works, which alongside roads is one of the most important sectors for those responding to the survey, saw alarming declines in activity.

Results from the survey were bolstered by the fact that an in-creased number of CECA members took part - 119 companies, twen-ty more than replied in 2012 Q1. CECA would like to thank those who took time out to complete the questionnaire.

As part of the Workload Trends Survey, twice a year CECA asks its members to list what the major issues are that are adversely impacting their business. The results from the latest survey showed that collapsing workload remains the industry’s biggest concern. A full third of respondents reported that falls in workload were the main issue impacting their companies, up from just over a quarter at the start of the year.

As in January, suicide bidding was reported as being the next biggest concern to CECA members with 17 per cent of firms reporting that rivals were pricing work at unsustainably low margins in order to stay in business. However, on this occasion it was in joint second position, with the same number of companies reporting poor client practice as a major concern (see graph).

CECA took the opportunity to warn of an impending ‘infrastructure crunch’, telling government that such increasingly bleak trading conditions are putting the future of the UK’s infrastructure sector at risk, as pressure from clients pushes companies to the edge. The urgency of this situation, and the steps needed to tackle it, are set out in CECA’s Infrastructure: the Routemap for Growth (see page 7).

The road ahead: workloads continue to represent the main concerns of CECA members, although poor client

practice (see graph below) is an increasing problem

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2012 CECA Card AuditMatching Skills to Jobs

In October 2012, CECA will carry out the Annual Card Audit of member companies as part of our determined effort to assist members in ensuring that employees have the right skills for the job they are employed in.

The information that is collected during the audit has been refined to be more comparable with that collected by other federations within the industry.

The primary objective is to ascer-tain how many employees carry a CSCS card and / or a CPCS card, and to ensure that the momen-tum created by the Qualifying the Workforce initiative is main-tained. With ongoing debate on competence within the industry, highlighted by the recent PYE Tait Report (http://www.hse.gov.uk/

research/rrpdf/rr877.pdf) it is es-sential that the Audit not only re-veals the number of people who carry cards, but also shows how many people have the correct card for the role they are employed in.

The Audit in Action

The manner in which the audit is carried out is down to you, the employer, but it is not designed to add significantly to your workload. There are two main ways in which the information can be collected: by conducting site entrance audits or from the information that you hold company databases. Database information can easily be inputted. If your company has recently conducted an audit for your own internal purposes then this information can also be used.

For those companies who are also members of UKCG, the spreadsheet you complete as part of their audit can be sent to CECA and we will transfer it into our format, in order to ensure comparable and accurate results. The dates of the audit are as follows:

The Results of the CECA CSCS Card Audit

The results from all CECA members will then be consolidated and and assessment of the survey will be published in the December Training Bulletin of CECA Communicates. The audit details will be distributed via your Regional CECA Offices in September, and will be available for completion on both a hard-copy version and an on-line questionnaire.

CECA’s Annual Card Audit seeks to measure the extent to which members’ employees have the right skills for

the jobs they are employed in

If you have any queries regarding the Card Audit, please contact Jemma Carmody at jemma@ceca-yorks.co.uk or telephone 07976 218410.

• Figures to be collected: 4th to 11th October 2012

• Data to CECA: by Friday 18th October 2012

• Results published: December 2012

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Government Construction StrategyOne Year On & Cabinet Reshuffle

Coalition put infrastructure at the heart of its Growth Strategy, ahead of new Construction Adviser’s Appointment & Cabinet Reshuffle

This summer, industry leaders met with government at the publication of the Cabinet Office’s report Government Construction Strategy: One Year On.

The government announced that the first year of the strategy had secured savings of roughly 10 per cent, having identified £279 million of savings from spending of £2.9 billion. The report stated that the government is on track to meet its target of a 15 to 20 per cent reduction in contract costs by 2015.

CECA is a strong supporter of the Strategy, having worked closely with the outgoing Chief Construction Advisor Paul Morrell, who is to be succeeded by Peter Hansford, a former President of the Institute for Civil Engineers.

CECA took the opportunity of commending Mr. Morrell’s trailblazing work in the role, and described his successor as an ‘exemplary’ choice, who will bring together his considerable private sector experience with a detailed knowledge of government and Whitehall.

Mr Hansford’s appointment came as the Chancellor George Osborne announced his plans to underwrite £50 billion of infrastructure investment under a ‘UK Guarantees’ scheme to unlock growth in the economy. CECA welcomed this scheme as

Michael Fallon MP has taken on the construction brief at the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills

a step in the right direction, but warned that it must not be seen as a cure-all to the challenges facing the industry. Certainly, the ‘UK Guarantees’ scheme has the potential to unlock projects which are currently stalled by the confidence gap preventing private sector investment in infrastructure. However, it will require more detail - likely to be given in the Autumn Statement - before industry can look to the scheme with sufficient confidence as a potential jump-start that will begin to address the infrastructure deficit the UK is facing over the next ten years.

September saw Prime Minister David Cameron embark on the first cabinet reshuffle of this

Parliament, which saw the new Business Minister Michael Fallon MP take over the construction brief from Mark Prisk MP, who has been promoted to become the new housing minister.

Similar changes were afoot in Scotland, where First Minister Alex Salmond announced his reshuffle. Among those Ministers promoted was Alex Neil MSP, who was promoted to Secretary for Health. Nichola Sturgeon MSP, who is also Deputy First Minister, has taken over as Cabinet Secretary for Infrastructure, Capital Investment and Cities. CECA Scotland is looking forward to establishing the same excellent working relationship with Ms. Sturgeon as it had with her predecessor.

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Ahead of the return of the Westminster, Cardiff and Holyrood parliaments after summer recess, CECA has published a major new series of recommendations to solve the UK’s infrastructure crisis.

Infrastructure: the Routemap for Growth is a detailed set of policy proposals which have been devel-oped using input from members as to the main achievable steps the government can take to un-block the infrastructure sector and return the economy to growth.

CECA’s members have told us the steps that government can and should take now to get the economy back on track and return UK plc to growth. Now it’s up to CECA to get your messages across. The Routemap for Growth will be used by CECA in its meetings with MPs and other senior political figures during forthcoming party conferences, and in the run-up to the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement.

CECA’s headline recommendations to government are:

• Develop cross-party consensus on nationally-significant infrastructure policy and a long-term delivery programme

• Rebalance infrastructure investment across the UK

• Ensure appropriate finance and funding models are in place to meet future investment needs

• Provide immediate short-term funding to boost shovel-ready repair and maintenance activity.

Governments in Westminster, Holyrood and Cardiff have all published plans which recognise the importance of infrastructure to the economy, and have begun to prepare the ground for long-term investor confidence. Infrastructure: the Routemap for Growth sets out the steps that must be taken to ensure these plans are delivered.

Too often the overriding need for infrastructure is blocked by short-term politics. We want to see all sides recognise that the vital need to improve the UK’s transport and utility networks should rise above party politics.

We also want to see future investment in infrastructure more evenly balanced across the UK, helping to rebuild local economies throughout the country. To do this, we will need to attract new forms of funding and finance, something that can only be achieved with appropriate models in place.

Finally, where there are individual opportunities identified to deliver more direct boosts to industry

CECA director of external affairs Alasdair Reisner discusses CECA’s new policy document

activity these must be taken. CECA is asking the government to direct new resources through existing infrastructure repair and maintenance contracts to provide an immediate shot in the arm to the economy.

CECA plans to send hard copies of Infrastructure: the Routemap for Growth to members in the near future. In the interim, it is available to download at: http://www.ceca.co.uk /news-and-media /press-releases / infrastructure-the-routemap-for-growth.aspx.

Infrastructure: the Routemap for Growth sets out suggestions to government in the following areas:

• Water - making the most of every drop

• Funding Infrastructure Nationwide

• More effective procurement

• Power - Keeping the Lights On

• Skills for future Infrastructure

• A Safer Industry

• Improving the UK’s Roads

• Infrastructure & the Environment

If you have any questions relating to Infrastructure: the Routemap for Growth, contact CECA director Alasdair Reisner on 020 7340 0450 or e-mail alasdairresiner@ceca.co.uk

Infrastructure: the Routemap for GrowthCECA’s Recommendations to Government

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CECA issued its annual Accident Statistics Report for 2011 on 24 August 2012. Although there were no reported fatalities, the first time in eight years of reporting, CECA members fell short of achieving its All Accident Incidence Rate target of 443 with an incidence rate of 541. While there was a slight increase in major injuries most of the increase was in “over three day” injuries.

It is worth noting that since CECA commenced gathering Accident Statistics from members since 2004 the Incidence rate for All Accidents in 2011 is about half of the rate reported in 2004.

Just under 60% of CECA members submitted their accident statistics

2011 Accident StatisticsCECA Report Published

for 2011 covering about 100,000 employees and sub-contractors. CECA members have continued to support this initiative.

CECA would like to take this opportunity to thank all CECA members who took time to submit statistics on which the report is based. Without the co-operation of those members it would be impossible to address this important issue.

Members should note that the CECA All Accident Incident Rate Target for 2012 is 399.

CECA will carry out the collection of accident data for 2012 from members in February 2013.

A copy of the full Accident Statistics Report is available on the CECA website in the Members’ Area at: http://www.ceca.co.uk/members-area/members-only/h e a l t h - s a f e t y / c e c a - 2 0 1 1 -accident-report.aspx.

Incidence Rate for All Accidents in 2011 Halved Since 2004

If you have any further questions on CECA’s Accident Statistics Report, please contact CECA’s Technical Director John Wilson on johnwilson@ceca.co.uk or telephone 020 7340 0450.

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CSCS Card SchemeNew Chief Executive Writes for CECA Communicates

Since joining CSCS in May this year I have spent a great deal of time talking to people from across the construction industry to get their views on the scheme and how they would like it to develop. Despite it being an extremely diverse industry in terms of size and types of companies, the trade bodies they belong to and the type of work that they do, it quickly became apparent to me that there was widespread agreement on the issues the CSCS team should focus on.

The CSCS entry-level green card, aimed at labouring type occupations, is by far the largest by number in circulation. For some already holding qualifications this is the wrong card for the job. However, the biggest issue with the green card by any measure is that it is too easy to obtain and does not necessarily demonstrate the cardholder has the necessary skills to carry out the job for which

they are employed. This is unfair to those companies that are investing in appropriate training for their staff who feel they are not being rewarded for their commitment. In the future we want workers to have the right card for the job and for contractors and clients to regularly check this is the case. We are also starting work on raising the standards relating to the green card.

Our ongoing relationship with CITB-ConstructionSkills is a key concern with Industry. It is widely known that ConstructionSkills served notice to exit the Service Agreement with CSCS in March last year. The notice period in the Contract is five years. I am pleased to report that we have renewed discussions with ConstructionSkills with a view to concluding a mutually acceptable agreement between both parties.

Having previously worked as a SME contractor in the civil engineering and building industry, I know that a common complaint is the limited number of qualifications recognised by CSCS. Whilst we are determined to retain rigour in what will be accepted, we are currently looking at alternative qualifications, those that the industry deems valuable and whether they can be integrated into routes to a CSCS card.

Finally, it is clear we have undersold the benefits to industry of using the CSCS SmartCard, introduced in early 2010. From time and attendance reporting, training and toolbox talk records, access control, documenting inductions and using smartphones to read data on SmartCards, the potential for this technology is huge. We are talking to contractors large and small to see how the CSCS Smartcard can be integrated with other software solutions to meet their needs.

Graham Wren took over as CSCS Chief Executive in May and tells Communicates where he is taking the scheme

If you have any comments about the scheme or suggestions for its future development, please let CSCS know by e-mailing feedback@cscs.gb.com

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CITB-ConstructionSkills UpdateConstruction4Growth Campain Launched

CECA Yorshire & Humberside Training Manager Jemma Carmody on the new CITB-ConstructionSkills Campaign

CECA is a proud supporter of the new industry-wide campaign Construction4Growth, launched by CITB-ConstructionSkills earlier this month.

Construction4Growth calls on government to invest in the UK construction sector as the best route out of recession, and of returing growth to the UK economy. Overall, since the start of the 2008 recession, the construction sector has shed in excess of 177,000 workers. With more than three million workers employed in its supply chain, it is clear the construction sector has a vital part to play in the UK’s economic recovery.

Recently, I attended the second of three Parliamentary Lunches in Westminster, organised to promote Construction4Growth in Whitehall. The event was hosted by Esther McVey, MP for Wirrall West and recently appointed Minsiter for the Disabled, and was well-attended

Construction4Growth is asking government to:

Invest for growth

With £200bn infrastructure investment already pledged the Government urgently needs to get these projects moving to se-cure the long term growth potential they offer. And by diverting other funds it can also create hundreds of thousands of con-struction jobs in the short term through new housing and repair and maintenance projects to get Britain working now.

Skill people for growth

Construction needs new talent to skill up for long term infra-structure projects - and yet this talent is still at primary school. So Government needs to finalise its vocational education policy and support skills and training opportunities in schools, across apprenticeships and into higher-education. It also needs to sup-port the upskilling of the existing workforce to prepare it for new and innovative ways of working - especially the green agenda.

Go Green for growth

Reducing the 47% of all UK emissions that stem from construc-tion and the built environment is a priority and the successful roll-out of the Green Deal will create work in new 'green' mar-kets for thousands of Construction SMEs. Government needs to do more to ensure this initiative is implemented to the full.

by industry representatives and a number of MPs. It was chaired by Mark Farrar, chief executive of CITB-ConstructionSkills, and was attended by a number of CECA members. The meeting sought to identify which aspects of the government’s current construction skills policy may be judged successful, and which aspects might be improved.

Over the course of the next year, engagement with industry and

policy-makers will culminate in the launch of an Action Plan for Growth, to challenge current thinking and provide new solu-tions in driving growth through construction.

To find out more about the campaign, and to pledge your individual support, please visit the campaign’s website at http://www.construction4growth.co.uk/. CECA will keep members updated on the campaign’s progress.

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Building New NuclearCECA Appears Before DECC Select Committee

CECA delivers evidence to Department for Energy & Climate Change Select Committee Building New Nuclear: The Challenges Ahead

CECA director of external affairs Alasdair Reisner has delivered evidence to the Department for Energy and Climate Change Select Committee Building New Nuclear: the Challenges Ahead in Westminster.

The Select Committee has been convened to investigate the viability of investment in new nuclear power stations. All but one of Britain’s existing nuclear power stations are scheduled to close within the next eleven years if their lifetimes are not extended, and the government’s indicative timeline for the first of a new generation of nuclear power stations is for it to be built by 2019. Due to the UK’s dwindling gas supplies, Britain has already become a net importer of fuel, and we are now dependent on supplies from remote and

CECA’s director of external affairs Alasdair Reisner (right) delivers evidence to the Select Committee in Westminster

potentially unstable regions. CECA has campaigned on the need for cross-party commitment to a long-term energy programme which both facilitates badly-needed investment maintains a focus on policies that ensure a new generation of nuclear power stations begin generating by 2020. At the same time, CECA has argued for the effective management of shale gas extraction through the implementation of operational best practice to complement the provision of power by nuclear generation.

The Committee requested that CECA appear before them to provide evidence from industry as to the threat facing the UK’s energy security should any delays to the building of the first new nuclear plant since the 1990s hold

up other new build projects.

CECA argued that this could potentially deepen Britain’s dependence on insecure fuel imports, and warned that unless steps were taken to address the issue, the delivery of the UK’s new generation of nuclear power plants could be hampered by a skills gap in the nuclear sector.

CECA’s director of external affairs Alasdair Reisner told the committee that the government’s timetable for building the next generation of nuclear plant - currently it is intended to have new plants up and running by 2025 - will not be met if there are significant delays in building EDF Energy’s planned nuclear reactor at Hinkley Point in Somerset.

The companies planning to build new nuclear plants in Britain are aiming to generate up to 16 gigawatts of new capacity by 2025, but CECA warned the Committee that following discussions with its members, “We have taken the view that we would need a fair wind behind us to meet the 2025 target.”

For more information, please contact CECA’s director of external affairs Alasdair Reisner at alasdairreisner@ceca.co.uk

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CECA Scotland Golf TournamentCongratulations to the 2012 winners

Congratulations to the winners in the annual CECA Scotland golf outing held at the Bruntsfield Links Golfing Society in Edinburgh in some very “challenging” conditions. The winners are as follows:

CECA Scotland Quaich for Best Team Score: Winners - I & H Brown

Miller Quaich for Guests:

Winner Alan Frew (Guest of BAM Nuttall)

Second Kevin Galbraith (Guest of Morrison Construction)

Third Allan Hunter (Guest of Global Infrastructure)

Fourth Mark Imrie (Guest of George Leslie)

If you would like to advertise in CECA Communicates, please email: hustongilmore@ceca.co.ukCivil Engineering Contractors Association 1 Birdcage Walk, London, SW1H 9JJ • enquiries@ceca.co.uk • 020 7340 0450

Drysdale Quaich for Member Companies:

Winner Bob Gray (Breedon Aggregates)

Second Jim Townend (I & H Brown)

Third Bill Henderson (George Leslie)

Fourth Alan Johns (Sir Robert McAlpine)