Government construction
The Government Construction team is working with central government departments and industry to reform the way in which government procures construction across all sectors, and in doing so aims to reduce costs by 15-20% by the end of this Parliament. The strategy is designed to reduce waste, tackle bureaucracy and support economic growth through a more efficient construction industry.
In May 2011, we published the Government Construction Strategy to stimulate growth by enabling more to be constructed within the funds available. The strategy is overseen by a comprehensive governance structure, which also covers elements of work led by Infrastructure UK. Government’s Chief Construction Adviser, Paul Morrell, and Cabinet Office have set up six Task Groups to drive forward various elements of the strategy, including trialling practical solutions and new approaches. The strategy takes a long-term approach, based on a relentless focus on waste, a transparent picture of the costs of public building works, new models of procurement and smarter use of technology. Updates on progress with implementation of the strategy, including newsletters, are published regularly.
The key to success is partnerships – when government departments work with the main contractors and their supply chain to develop innovative solutions – and so the Government has started a new relationship with industry characterised by openness and collaboration. Part of this new way of working is to publish a range of resources:
- Pipelines providing detailed projections of spend on construction so that the industry can see what is ahead and have confidence to plan accordingly;
- Cost benchmark data and cost reduction trajectories. Cost benchmarks highlight the average and projected costs for construction so departments know how much they should be spending on projects and encouraging innovation by construction companies to offer the most competitive prices; cost reduction trajectories indicate the speed with which savings will be achieved by departments;
- Information on Project Bank Accounts (PBAs), which help to speed cash through the supply chain and in doing so support SMEs in particular;
- Common Minimum Standards for procurement of the built environments in the public sector;
- Information on trial projects which are testing a range of new approaches.
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