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Construction output in October fell 2.5% from September and is 2.7% down on October last year, the latest Office for National Statistics figures have revealed.
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Construction output in October fell 2.5% from September and is 2.7% down on October last year, the latest Office for National Statistics figures have revealed.
The end of October marked just over a year since the Chancellor's Comprehensive Spending Review, when the government staked its reputation on the belief that private sector growth would offset the damage from reductions in public sector expenditure.
The latest ONS figures show that, for construction, this has not been the case. A year on, new work is falling in the private and public sector. In the three months to the end of October output in the sector is 1.1% down on the same three months a year ago, and new orders are down 1.8%.
Big reductions in public sector work are feeding through - new public non-housing work over these three months was £456 million down (a fall of 12.6%) on 2010 - but there is no private sector recovery in sight. On the contrary, private industrial new work dropped even more sharply, down 13.5% (£130 million in total).
Chief Executive of the National Federation of Builders, Julia Evans, said: "This is indeed more depressing news, though not unexpected. While we welcome the rise in new infrastructure work and a small rise in repair and maintenance work, the evidence is increasingly clear that, while the drop off in public work has hit the industry, private sector work is not taking up the slack, leaving the industry in an increasingly precarious position."
"The NFB will do all it can to support the government in its aim to kick start the economy and we remain hopeful that some of the measures announced in the Autumn Statement will bring relief; in particular shifting public expenditure towards capital investment in infrastructure and help for first time buyers. However more needs to be done to channel finance into private sector construction. The right 'sticks and carrots' must be put into place to make sure that the banks increase their lending to the sector and do not continue to sideline construction SMEs."
Contact Information
Sameena Thompson
National Federation of Builders
B&CE Building
Manor Royal
Crawley
RH10 9QP
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