Ghani to retain construction brief following BEIS shake-up

Minister Nusrat Ghani will retain the construction brief in government following a Whitehall shake-up which saw the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) split into three.

Ghani, who took up the role in November after the collapse of Liz Truss’ government, will operate within the new Department for Business and Trade (DBT), which will be led by former international trade secretary Kemi Badenoch. 

While there is no minister with dedicated responsibility for construction, the junior minister within BEIS appointed to co-chair the Construction Leadership Council was widely seen as the de-facto construction minister within the industry.

After the announcement earlier this week that BEIS would be broken up, it had initially been unclear which new department the construction brief would fall under, and whether Ghani – the ninth construction minister in four years – would retain the brief.

But a spokesperson for the now defunct department confirmed to Building today that Ghani would remain the industry’s main point of contact with the government

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As well as the DBT, Rishi Sunak’s decision to split BEIS also resulted in the creation of a Department for Science, Innovation and Technology, led by former culture secretary Michelle Donelan, and a Department for Energy Security and Net Zero.

The latter, which will be led by former business secretary Grant Shapps, fulfils a promise made by Sunak during his campaign to lead the Conservative party.