The construction industry faces more changes

AFTER a challenging few years, the construction industry seems set to go through another change. A recent report suggests the development of a national level will drop 3% during 2012 with 45,000 additional skilled workers and trades people are expected to lose their jobs. The annual Construction Skills Network report, carried out by CITB-ConstructionSkills in partnership with a number of construction employers across the UK, calculated over a five-year forecast for the industry. The main point of these results indicate that although growth is expected, slow and uneven. In the first quarter of 2011, the number of people working in the construction industry fell by more than two million, the lowest quarterly total in nine years. Although it is stated that the industry should start to see some growth in 2013, in 2016 the work was still 5% below the industry high 2007/8. According to the Office for National Statistics, in the first quarter of this year's national construction output fell by 4.8% compared to the last quarter of 2011. Infrastructure The area most severely affected, which saw output decline by 16% quarter on quarter. As expected, reducing the output of the public sector, cuts in public spending started to filter through. This figure also shows that the number of new jobs fell by 5.6% compared to the same quarter in 2011 with private sector housing only to see slight growth of 1.3%. As in other professions, our region seems to struggle more than other areas of the output of the construction industry in the North East tend to be down 6% from the current £ 3 billion, about two times more than the national average. It is estimated that it would be equivalent to around 2,500 jobs have been lost in our region. Talking to colleagues John Nielsen through its presidency of the Construction Industry Council of North East (CICNE) will meet with the local Eastern Partnership Company (NELEP) recently, everything seemed a dull report made. John commented on the fact that development is still a major part of our regional economy, making up 10 percent of regional GDP. NELEP formed to create growth in the region and with this in mind that he is developing a coordinated response to the necessary infrastructure. For more information about creating excellence in the North East, please contact chief executive, Catriona Lingwood, on 0191 374 0233 or catriona@cene.org.uk. Catriona Lingwood, chief executive of the North East to develop efficiencies