The construction industry will be turning its attention to new faces in government as Theresa May has completed appointing her first Cabinet.
Among the main changes are Croydon Central MP Gavin Barwell as housing and planning minister and minister for London and Ben Gummer as Cabinet Office minister with responsibilities for the government’s construction strategy.
Gavin Barwell: “honoured”
Barwell takes over the post from Brandon Lewis who has been moved to the Home Office and will report to overall communities secretary Sajid Javid.
Speaking on Twitter, Barwell said he was “hugely honoured” to have been asked to serve as minister for housing and planning and that he is looking forward to “working with councils, housing associations, developers and investors to ensure we build the homes people need and deserve”.
Gummer’s new role will see him lead the country’s construction strategy, with responsibilities including procurement, cost-cutting and BIM. He has been the Conservative MP for Ipswich since 2010.
Elsewhere, Greg Clark will head up the newly created newly-created Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, which the Department of Energy and Climate Change has been rolled into.
Chris Grayling was appointed transport secretary over a year after he was replaced as justice secretary by Michael Gove. The transport position is particularly high profile, with a number of key decisions to be made over nationally significant projects such as HS2 and Heathrow expansion.
Robert Halfon, MP for Harlow, has been assigned to the Department for Education (DfE) as the Skills Minister. Boles resigned from the post just hours before Theresa May was confirmed as the new Prime Minister.
Ben Gummer
Speaking about the new appointments, in particular that of Barwell, Brian Berry, chief executive of the Federation Master Builders, said: “We welcome the appointment of Gavin Barwell as the new minister of state for housing and planning.
“The government has rightly identified housing as one of the greatest challenges facing this country and having reaffirmed its commitment to building one million new homes over the course of this parliament, Barwell is assuming an important position at a critical juncture.
“Brexit presents a challenge to the house building industry, and it will require bold leadership if the progress that has been made over the last few years isn’t to be lost as a result of any sense of uncertainty within our sector. Momentum must be maintained.”
