All public spending articles
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NewsBudget and autumn spending review: What can construction expect?
Expectations for big spending pledges set low as Sunak seeks to bring down deficit
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NewsGovernment launches huge £30bn construction framework
ProCure23 deal broken down into five lots
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NewsContractors give Carillion's Midland Met Hospital job the cold shoulder, forcing bosses to ask for public bailout
NHS Trust set to go cap in hand to government after board meeting tomorrow
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CommentNicky come lately still doesn’t get it for all his Damascene conversion to capital spending
Nick Clegg doesn’t realise how important public spending is to unlock private sector funding
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CommentConstruction output: So far it’s better than last year, but can that last?
Output figures are looking good but why, how and is this sustainable?
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Comment
Buyers’ index suggests rapid growth in construction, how ironic
How ironic that just as the construction industry is sucking in its tummy and preparing for savage cuts the latest survey by the buyers’ body CIPS shows some of the strongest growth experienced over the past decade.As can be seen from graph on the right the current level of the ...
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Comment
We're back to double-digit growth in house prices, oh dear
House prices are booming again, crack open the champagne!Well maybe not.If I was a house builder reading the latest survey from the Nationwide building society showing a double-digit rise in prices over the past year (see graph) I would be worried.Looking at my short-term prospects, naturally I would be chirpy ...
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Latest construction forecasts suggest there is more to fear than hope for
The latest round of forecasting by construction experts paints a picture little changed from three months ago with little hope of significant growth, much uncertainty and the risks to growth heavily weighted on the down side.The general pattern they expect can be seen from the graph (right).It shows that after ...
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Comment
It’s a double-dip recession for construction, if the statisticians’ first stab at growth is right
Construction has fallen into a double-dip recession – that is if the preliminary estimates by the statisticians putting together the first quarter 2010 gross domestic product figures are to be believed.The preliminary GDP figures put growth at a pallid 0.2% for the economy as a whole. This low level of ...
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Good news in the employment figures, but the future for construction jobs remains uncertain
The latest employment data will provide economists, politicians and strategists with plenty to chew on.The headline figure for unemployment jumped by 43,000 to top 2.5 million for the first time since 1996, the number of people in employment fell by 89,000 and the number wanting a job rose again.But there ...
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Joy deferred as CIPS shows construction activity grows for first time in two years
So the construction activity indicator produced by the buyers’ body CIPS finally points to growth after two years of measuring falling workloads. But this seemingly uplifting moment appears to have brought little joy.The March figure popped its head above the 50 no-change mark on the back of rising activity in ...
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Why construction firms must recruit financial engineers
Financial engineers – you can be forgiven for holding them in total contempt. The finger of guilt for the recession ravaging construction firms points witheringly in their direction.But, galling as it might seem, construction now needs financial engineers more than it needs civil, structural, mechanical or electrical engineers.The tools and ...
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Comment
Budget figures confirm the urgent need for new sources of investment in construction
As if in compensation for all the anticipation before and excitement during the Budget announcement, we are left with the dull thud back to reality afterwards.Certainly, for construction the Budget itself changed little of substance.Alright the first-time buyer stamp duty holiday was an eye-catching cheeky move. But we all know ...
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Comment
Comforting data ahead of the budget
As the Chancellor Alistair Darling puts his final touches to the Budget he will be relieved by the recent spate of comforting data.Last Wednesday we had employment statistics showing that the unemployment was falling.On Thursday the figures on public finances were far healthier than expected, with the Institute for Fiscal ...
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Comment
Official figures show construction output falling again, but devils lurk in the detail
Construction output slumped back into decline in the final quarter of 2009, after a supposed rise out of recession in summer.That is the headline story from today’s release of the construction output figures.But dig a bit deeper and we see some unsettling implications in the numbers.Firstly the statisticians now believe ...
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Growth eludes construction as economy grows –that’s how CIPS sees it
The latest set of figures from the buyers’ body CIPS shows that construction remains mired in recession and the general pattern painted by the numbers provides little scope for optimism.The level of incoming orders fell for the third month in a row, says the report. And this will be from ...
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Comment
Fewer redundancy in construction, but the future remains bleak on jobs
For the optimists in the construction industry there is much hope to be gleaned from the latest employment figures.Equally for the pessimists there is plenty within the numbers to fret about.So what should we make of the latest batch of labour market numbers that, among other things, show that 163,000 ...
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Annual orders figures reveal extent of construction freefall – a £17 billion drop in two years
The recession has ripped away from construction roughly £17 billion in annual new orders, despite £ billions more public sector sponsored work.That’s the clear message to me from the annual tot up of the new orders won by contractors released today.Forget the niceties of which sector is doing how well ...
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Brighter outlook from forecasters, but severe risks remain
The forecasts from Hewes & Associates and Leading Edge sit interestingly against the other winter forecasts for construction output released over the past couple of weeks.They seem to back up the mood among other forecasters that construction workload might not fall as much was feared in the middle of last ...
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Forecasts point to a tough and risky road ahead for construction
The latest Experian forecast is out today and it paints a broadly similar, albeit slightly more optimistic, picture to that of the recently released forecast from the Construction Products Association.The main point of departure is on the views towards housing. Here the Experian forecasters are more bullish, if you can ...