The built environment professions are to be given more clout in Parliament with the launch of an all-party group for the whole of the industry after next week’s election
The group, which has the working title Professionals in the Built Environment and is the brainchild of the Construction Industry Council, will represent the interests of architects along with other groups such as planners and project managers, according to the CIC.
The RIBAwelcomed news of the forthcoming launch this week but admitted it had not been aware of it. Head of public affairs Anna Scott-Marshall said: “I think it would be a useful thing. The main thing is to get a good group of MPs and peers showing up.”
“It will carry more weight if it represents the whole of the built environment”
Graham Watts
More than a dozen all-party parliamentary groups exist which touch on construction, including the Architecture and Planning group, whose members include shadow architecture minister Ed Vaizey as well as peers Richard Rogers and Norman Foster.
But CIC chief executive Graham Watts told BD the plan for the new group was to bring all the professions together under one roof in order to beef up construction’s influence in Parliament.
“We’ve never done this before but we want to up construction’s profile with MPs. It’s not about replacing groups like the one on architecture but it’s more about being a level above the architecture and planning group,” he said.
“We think it will carry more weight if it represents the whole of the built environment and allows the whole of the industry to interface with Parliament. At the moment, it’s a bit disparate.”
Watts said the search for MPs to join the group would begin immediately after the polls close, with a launch date pencilled in for July 7 at a venue in Westminster.
Former housing minster Nick Raynsford — a former CIC chairman — is believed to be an early front runner to chair the group.
Alan Howarth, Labour peer and chairman of the Architecture and Planning group, said the CIC’s plans “could be a very good thing” but warned: “If it’s portrayed as the hired voice of the construction industry it could be very bad news for all concerned. They have to be careful of commercial sponsorship. It will need delicate negotiations and discussions.”
The CIC, whose members include RIBA, will send out its manifesto, launched last autumn and revised ahead of the election, to all MPs next Friday.
The manifesto has incorporated parts of RIBA’s manifesto Buildings Matter.
Despite a number of RIBA hustings events around the country, many architects have been angered by the low profile of architecture and construction during the election campaign.
Wrexham-based RIBA member Margaret Caunce said: “I have not heard a single word during this election campaign from any politician about the state of the construction industry.”
Why is Construction Being Ignored in this Election
Open Letter to the President RIBA
I am extremely frustrated and angry that my profession and that of other professionals in the construction industry are not being represented on, TV, radio and the media. - I have not heard a single word during this election campaign from any politician about the state of the Construction Industry and in particular the high redundancy levels being experienced by its professionals.
Politicians and most of the public seem to be oblivious of the fact that the Construction Industry makes a huge contribution to the economy and the loss of professional offices with expertise and experience will endanger economic recovery.
Recovery takes years not weeks or months. That in turn will affect every skilled and unskilled worker and many manufacturers. The media, in this part of the world feature BAC and Ellesmere Port Vauxhall workers on an almost daily basis about job losses yet nothing is said about the predicament of professionals and workers in the Construction Industry.
• Why is this not being discussed in the media? We make an immense contribution to the economy but we are ignored.
• . It is an industry most likely to suffer savage cuts whoever gets into power, so why are we invisible?
• Could it be because we talk incestuously amongst ourselves when we should be influencing the media and informing the public?
• Why have we not seen a single representative ie the Presidents of any of Constructions Professional Institutions being interviewed on TV. Shouldn’t we be part of the election debate?
• One would have thought that interviewing the first woman president of the RIBA would be high on the invitation list, so why isn’t it happening?
• The Construction Industry never features in the media pundits economic analysis. Why not?
• The only political comment I have heard about construction was about building a nuclear power plant and installing housing insulation. Not very useful to the Architectural profession!
• Who is not briefing the politicians
This letter is the result of increased frustration because no-one seems to be speaking on our behalf. I am retired, so I am not directly affected by the current situation but I do care passionately about my profession and about the construction industry. I hope that our Professional Institutions have plans to vigorously defend and speak up for us in the next Government but as those who represent us have been invisible up to now I am not very hopeful.
Yours sincerely, Margaret Caunce RIBA
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