‘A decent little choir’

His criticism was timely and true. Many of construction’s constituent parts barely spoke to each other, let alone worked together to present a unified voice, and that speech provoked the discussions that led to the formation of the CIC, which now brings together 50 organisations representing the communities that serve the built environment.

Heseltine criticised us presiding over a Department of State that brought together the responsibilities for creating the built environment. He was the sharp point of government in its relationship with the industry. After the 1997 general election, it seemed that Labour would go further in extending this “joined-up” focus by creating the Department of Environment, Transport and the Regions.

Yet in place of a Secretary of State, a Minister of State and a Junior Minister, Labour’s relationship with us was shrink-wrapped into a part of a single Junior Minister’s brief. But because of Nick Raynsford’s ability, the cracks in this diminished interface were papered over.

So today it is the way government recognises us that is a mess. There are at least 13 departments with responsibility for some aspect of policy , and sponsorship within government has been significantly eroded.

Heseltine spoke of our inability to speak with one voice. Now, at least, we have established a decent little choir that can sing the important tunes in harmony. Our problem is that we need to hire the Albert Hall in order to reach the scattered parts of government.