CONSTRUCTION EMPLOYERS FEDERATION THE VOICE OF THE INDUSTRY
ENGAGEMENT WITH GOVERNMENT CLIENTS AFTER BUDGET ANNOUNCEMENT Through our sectoral committees, and in the wake of the agreement of the Executive’s 2024/25 Budget, we have recently met a series of government clients including the Department of Education, Translink and NI Water to understand what that budget means for their procurement pipeline in this financial year. With the budget sitting, in cash A RESTORED NI ASSEMBLY MEANS LOTS OF ENGAGEMENT ‘ON THE HILL’ This engagement has also led to us giving oral evidence to three Assembly committees in recent weeks - Finance, Economy and Communities - on many of the areas highlighted above. As each of the statutory committees gets into the granular detail of their work, we have also provided these and other committees with a series of detailed briefing notes on areas including
PROCUREMENT ACT SET TO GO LIVE IN OCTOBER The UK government’s Procurement Act – which will set the procurement regulations for all public sector procurement in England, Wales and Northern Ireland – is set to go live on October 28. A programme of industry awareness and training is expected to be forthcoming in late summer/early autumn, and more details will be communicated to members on the NI element of this in due course. SOCIAL VALUE PROCUREMENT POLICY UNDER REVIEW Some two years after its introduction, PPN 01/21, which led to a minimum tender scoring of 10% for public sector projects in NI, is currently being reviewed. The main focus of this review is whether the minimum scoring should be moved to 20% and whether any amendments are required to the policy guidance which underpins the PPN. CEF members have been involved throughout this process and the review is likely to be completed in the coming weeks. BUILDING REGULATIONS – THE NEXT STEPS After a call for evidence in late 2023, the Department of Finance is to provide the industry with its proposed next steps on building regulations in early August. Given the phased approach outlined in the Executive’s Energy Strategy, it is likely a further consultation will be conducted on how fast we proceed, for newbuild housing, with PV panels and the further electrification of heat, before the next uplift will come into force – something now unlikely to happen until 2025.
terms, at the same level as it was 17 years ago, it is undoubted that all clients face a challenging year ahead with zero foresight at this stage as to their likely budget in 2025/26 and beyond. revenue raising, the 2024/25 draft Executive Budget and the reform of public procurement in Northern Ireland. As the Executive moves forward with its legislative programme once the Assembly returns from recess in September, it is likely that our political engagement activity will focus on very specific matters that are likely to include the Executive’s Investment Strategy, the Housing Supply Strategy and proposals around the reform of employment law.
SOCIAL HOUSING THE FOCUS AT DFC INNOVATION LAB
A critical concern emerging from the constrained Executive Budget is that housing associations will only receive enough grant money in this financial year to take forward a maximum of 400 new social homes against a target of over 2,000. As this not only further exacerbates the social housing waiting list but also significantly restricts a key area of work for the construction industry, we were delighted to be invited to a DfC-led workshop on how we sustainably grow the number of
units housing associations are able to commence in any one year. The workshop sought ideas on how to grow the number of new social housing starts to 3,000 a year – a headline figure of which the CEF is strongly supportive.
For more information on the Construction Employers Federation, T: +44 (0)28 9087 7143 - E: mail@cefni.co.uk Visit: www.cefni.co.uk
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