The Minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude this week announced £22 billion of investment in Government construction projects over the next three years.
CIHT understands that the full details including where the money will be invested and the final amounts will be confirmed in the autumn.

Minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude, said:
“The Government’s Construction Strategy is reducing costs by up to 20% by reforming the way we procure construction projects across all sectors. However, we are still investing billions of pounds annually; with the same money we will procure more schools, hospitals, courts and prisons. Despite an incredibly difficult economic climate we are investing in and prioritizing our construction industry.

“The Government and the construction industry have a shared obligation to cut waste and find new and better ways of doing business. This is especially important when we are talking about creating first class, modern, fully functioning public service delivery buildings like hospitals and schools."
The Government also gave further details on its initiative to publish a full pipeline of projects from the autumn; this is designed to assist the construction industries preparation and planning. This has never been done previously, but is part of a new drive by the Cabinet Office to run government in a more transparent and businesslike manner.

The Minister also revealed further details of the new Government Construction Board chaired by Paul Morrell under which:
• the Efficiency and Reform Group Steering Committee will be chaired by Andrew Wolstenholme, who will work with task groups chaired by Nick Pollard, Tim Eaton, Deborah Rowland, Mark Bew and Bill Yardley.
• the IUK Steering Committee will be chaired by Peter Hansford, working with task groups chaired by Simon Kirby, Professor Brian Collins and Steve Fox.