The new prime minister’s plans for decentralising power has been well received by the industry, but CIOB warns implementation will remain crucial.
The construction industry has offered measured support for new prime minister Andy Burnham’s initial focus on devolution and skills to support the sector since he took
up his new role in July.
Burnham pledged to decentralise power to let local leaders “improve public transport, build homes and create jobs” on his first day and announced new plans to introduce new technical education pathways for 14-year-olds in his second week in post.
There has long been a strong case for devolving more skills funding and decisionmaking to combined and local authorities
CIOB welcomed this focus from Burnham, saying a focus on devolving skills funding and local decisionmaking would improve local decisionmaking.
CIOB chief executive Victoria Hills said: “There has long been a strong case for devolving more skills funding and decisionmaking to combined and local authorities, as well as empowering mayors to work closer with local employers, educators and trainers to tackle local skills gaps. Regional leaders are best placed to understand local demand and the skills required to deliver priorities like retrofitting, housing and infrastructure.”
New and returning ministerial appointments
Blair McDougall, construction minister
MP for East Renfrewshire since July 2024, McDougall (pictured) holds a joint ministerial role across the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero and the business department. Prior to entering politics, he worked as a political strategist, campaigner, speechwriter and special adviser in the governments of prime ministers Tony Blair and Gordon Brown. He served as the campaign director and head strategist for the unionist Better Together campaign during the 2014 Scottish independence referendum.
Kanishka Narayan, AI minister
The MP for Glamorgan took up a new cabinet level post as AI minister after serving previously in a junior level for the role. This is jointly based in the Cabinet Office and the Department for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade. Narayan previously worked in the civil service and as an investment banker at Lazard before becoming the first Wales’s first ethnic-minority MP.
Angela Rayner, housing secretary
Rayner returned to the post she had held under Kier Starmer until she resigned last September. She will oversee national housing strategy, planning reform, regional devolution, and local government finance. A former trade union rep at Unison,
she was first elected as MP for Ashton-under-Lyne in the 2015.
However, they warned that it was crucial that further devolution from the former Manchester mayor was properly implemented.
Head of policy and public affairs UK David Barnes said it risked failure without the “right resources, expertise and importantly accountability”. “These need to go hand in hand to make it successful,” he said.
Barnes said recent attempts by the government to tackle the crisis in construction skills by increasing technical training places had struggled due to a shortage of capacity and expertise. He said: “Have we got enough teachers that have the skills and competence to do this training? If they’re people who have worked in the construction industry, why would they go into it? They’ll probably earn more money in the construction industry because the pay [in training and teaching] is poor.”
Burnham also announcement a ministerial reshuffle in the days after taking up his post. For ministerial posts covering key policy areas for construction industry there are a mixture of new and existing faces with a new construction minister in post – Blair McDougall – mixed with some relatively familiar faces.
Matt Pennycook remains housing minister and Baroness Smith continuing to hold the skills portfolio. It is unclear who holds the brief for safety – this is likely to be either Florence Eshalomi or Sally Jameson.
CIOB’s Barnes said the clearest change since Burnham had started was “in tone” rather than in policy to date but that the industry would have a better picture of his longer terms plans and more detailed policy plans and proposals when the Budget is announced on 28 October.
He added that the industry was facing significant legislation in the coming months and years, from bills covering housing and payments to a new strategy impacting construction professionals.
Before Burnham became prime minister, industry leaders urged him to commit to the government’s 10-year infrastructure plan.
In an open letter signed by 28 leading built environment bodies and companies, including CIOB, the sector warned “now is not the time to go back to square one”, and that infrastructure investment is “key to meeting many of the UK’s challenges”.
