Chief Construction Adviser to UK Government

Summary

The role of Chief Construction Adviser is a British civil service appointment. It was created by United Kingdom ministers in 2009 to provide cross-departmental coordination and leadership on UK construction industry policy, and discontinued in 2015.

History edit

The "creation of a post of Chief Construction Officer" was recommended by the House of Commons Business and Enterprise Select Committee in July 2008.[1] The UK government directly or indirectly provides around 40% of the construction industry's workload so its influence as a client is significant.

Paul Morrell was the first person appointed to this pan-departmental role, with a slightly revised title of 'chief construction adviser', in November 2009; the role was initially for two years, and Morrell was re-appointed for a further one-year term in October 2011.[2]

In July 2012, Morrell's successor, Peter Hansford, was announced.[3] Hansford took up the role on 1 December 2012. On 2 July 2014, construction minister Michael Fallon announced that Hansford's term of office would be extended to November 2015.[4][5]

To the dismay of many in the industry,[6] in July 2015, the Government announced that "the role of the Chief Construction Adviser will not be continued after the incumbent Peter Hansford’s tenure ends in November 2015."[7]

References edit

  1. ^ Construction Matters, Ninth Report of Session 2007–08 (accessed: 3 March 2012)
  2. ^ Paul Morrell has been re-appointed as the Government’s chief construction adviser by Business Minister Mark Prisk Archived 2012-05-14 at the Wayback Machine (accessed: 3 March 2012)
  3. ^ Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. "Government names new Chief Construction Adviser". Wiredgov.net. Retrieved 2 August 2012. {{cite web}}: |last= has generic name (help)
  4. ^ Fitzpatrick, Tom (2 July 2014). "Peter Hansford to remain as construction adviser until November 2015". Construction News. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  5. ^ Hayman, Allister (2 July 2014). "Government hands Hansford an extra year in post". Building. Retrieved 2 July 2014.
  6. ^ Gardiner, Joey (23 July 2015). "Sector fears for industrial strategy after board shake-up". Building. Retrieved 24 July 2015.
  7. ^ "Government welcomes new Construction Leadership Council". Department for Business, Innovation & Skills. Retrieved 16 July 2015.