Queen’s Speech plans offer potential for joinery sector growth but the cobwebs of uncertainty still remain
The British Woodworking Federation (BWF) has responded to today's Queen’s Speech which set out the government’s agenda for the coming session of parliament. The Federation was broadly welcoming of the new measures on housing but offered a few words of warning that uncertainty over skills and the UK’s place in Europe could discourage investment and undermine growth measures.
Iain McIlwee, Chief Executive of the BWF said today:
“This speech has some real positives for Housing. The government’s plans are hugely significant to our members who stand ready to support growth in the UK’s housing supply, which will in turn deliver jobs and growth in manufacturing across Britain. On supply side, the proposals to extend Right-to-Build and incentivise local authorities to support self and custom build could be hugely significant– this element of the house building market is under-represented in the UK and critical to meeting new housing demands. There is also logic to ensuring that high-value vacant council houses are sold, but in order to address the current housing crisis the proceeds must be ring-fenced to ensure supply through direct investment in new housing.
“Support for first-time buyers, with 200,000 starter homes made available to under-40s at a 20% discount is also great to hear, but these need to be new houses, not simply reallocating those already in the pipeline. Extending the Right-to-Buy scheme to cover housing association tenants should help to boost further demand, but again it is vital that we ensure that profits are redeployed to build more.
“One potential constraining factor for the joinery sector is skills. As a heavily apprentice-led industry we need 4,000 new entrants each year –and we would like more certainty around the funding and processes to help our companies invest with certainty. Currently the detail is lacking. Identifying failing schools is critical, but we also need to focus on creating a better framework for success. If schools are about preparing our young people for life, adequate careers advice is intrinsic. Inspiring the next generation into the right career for them must be a top priority for any 21st Century education system. Within this system, funding for and access to genuinely vocation courses such as woodworking needs to be protected within schools and colleges. The woodworking sector provides genuine employment and careers opportunities, yet the current system is still not optimised to help us to deliver this.
“The new government has offered a very positive and tangible focus on tackling late payment through the Small Business Conciliation Service and we hope that it is motivated to back this up by ensuring that fair payment is a fundamental and enforced principle of any public sector contract.
“On measures to "increase energy security", the issue here is again about supply and demand. Stimulating RM&I work to embrace energy saving upgrades, such as double or triple glazing will help to improve matters but the Green Deal in its current form is not the answer. We also need to look at supporting those sectors that are genuinely reducing demand for energy – woodworking is a low energy manufacturing option and can be used to replace energy intensive alternatives.
“We look forward to working with government on the Business Rates review and ensuring that investment is rewarded rather than penalised in this system. It is encouraging to hear the red-tape cuts, but we should be mindful that there are areas, such as Building Regulations that are so essential in maintaining standards and delivering safe, high quality buildings. We have seen perpetual ‘performance gap’ issues with new builds and this needs to be eradicated. Carbon input needs to be considered carefully if the UK is to benefit from a genuinely sustainable housing stock.
“So there is plenty of scope to make this next session of parliament a productive one for the woodworking industry, but with question marks on the horizon on the nature of the push towards further devolution, not to mention the proposed vote on the UK’s decision to remain within the EU, it is perhaps time to revisit one of the major lessons of the last few years, that uncertainty is rarely good for business.”
The BWF has been working hard to raise the profile of the woodworking sector and highlight how our industry supports the economy and delivers maximum results with minimum environmental impact. Our latest manifesto articulates the BWF position on key policy areas such as jobs, skills and housing. You can download the new A4 leaflet summary of our manifesto here: www.bwf.org.uk/publications/campaigns-toolkit
