Constructing Excellence looks for industry figure – and some form of windfall tax – to implement key strategy.
The government is to recruit a key figure from the construction industry to chair an infrastructure forum.

Dennis Lenard, the chief executive of Constructing Excellence, and Peter Rogers, its chairman, have been in discussion with large infrastructure companies such as Skanska and Balfour Beatty to identify candidates.

The move comes against the background of a rapid expansion of housing in the South-east, which will require a corresponding increase in transport and utilities provision.

In an interview with Building, published in this issue, Lenard identified infrastructure as the key to the overall strategy of Constructing Excellence.

He wants the body to have a "major role" in providing infrastructure, and is advocating some form of levy on the uplift in property values created by transport links. He said: "The next wave of development is going to be in infrastructure. Only it's not going to be funded through public–private partnerships but by the community."

The prospect of an extension of the East London Line through Hackney has coincided with a 30% increase in house prices in the borough, compared with an average for central London of 12%.

The infrastructure forum is intended to work alongside other key sector bodies such as the Housing Forum and the Local Government Taskforce, under the Constructing Excellence umbrella.

We want to minimise ‘head office syndrome’, but we don’t want to create empires

Dennis Lenard, Constructing Excellence chief

Constructing Excellence was created in July by the merger of two Egan bodies: Rethinking Construction and Construction Best Practice. Rogers said it would consolidate and co-ordinate the strands of the Egan initiative.

He said: "We want a system whereby if you have a housing issue, you can phone the Housing Forum chairman Hugh Try, and if you have an infrastructure issue, you phone the new head of the infrastructure body."

Constructing Excellence has yet to appoint a board, which is expected to have 12 members drawn from the DTI and industry subsectors.

Lenard stressed that Constructing Excellence's head office in London would hold major launches and promotions, but that much of its authority would be devolved to the regional centres.

"We want to minimise 'head office syndrome' but we don't want to create empires," he said. "Each region will work on its own areas of strength or weakness. The action should be at the coal face."

Lenard added that he anticipated that funding from the industry would account for 30% of Constructing Excellence's total funding within two years. He moved to allay fears that the rest of the money, which should come from the DTI, would not be forthcoming.