Building Weekly Digest: 13 May 2022

Welcome to the second edition of Building's weekly LinkedIn digest

It's been another busy week with the Queen's Speech and the subsequent Levelling Up and Regeneration bill and further policy briefings driving plenty of chatter among those who care about housing and planning especially. We've also asked if construction has acted fast enough to tackle building safety concerns in the wake of Dame Judith Hackitt's recent criticisms, and explored issues raised by Mental Health Awareness Week as part of our Every Person Counts Campaign. And on top of all of that we hosted our Net Zero Live conference online. Discover more on all this below.

Queen's Speech: What does it mean for construction?

The Queen's Speech this week unveiled the government’s legislative programme - a quick summary can be found in this handy recap. The measures most likely to affect housing and construction related to planning reforms in the Levelling up and Regeneration Bill, which represents a significant scaling back of government ambitions since publication of the Planning White Paper in August 2020. Where the white paper had been branded by critics as a developers' charter, the government appears to have switched back to favouring localism saying the planning changes will be designed “to give communities a louder voice, making sure developments are beautiful, green and accompanied by new infrastructure and affordable housing”. Housing secretary Michael Gove then said in a media interview that the government would not be bound by the previous 300,000 home a year target, one of its manifesto pledges. All the politics aside, important details emerged around the new infrastructure levy, and an environmental assessment shake-up. There were also details of?the delayed procurement bill that has been welcomed by industry, and an Energy Bill that is set to extend the price cap and encourage innovation across the sector. (Picture credit: Parliament TV)

Is construction moving fast enough on building safety?

Having spoken to Dame Judith Hackitt Building's head of content Carl Brown has taken a look at the industry's pace of change on the building safety front five years on from the Grenfell fire and four years after Hackitt’s Building A Safer Future report. While the Building Safety Act has now come into law, the construction industry stands accused of dragging its feet on safety. But is the charge entirely fair?

And if you're interested in building safety why not take a look at our Risk & Regulation Summit, which is taking place on 25 & 26 May. We have four great sessions on offer including navigating Gateways 2 & 3, and embedding the golden thread into the construction process. All the sessions are free to attend. (Picture credit: shutterstock.com)

Developers eye wider implications of Gove planning decision

On Wednesday Building splashed with an exclusive story by Dave Rogers revealing Michael Gove (yes, him again) had thrown in to doubt plans to turn the former ITV headquarters on London’s South Bank into new offices. The scheme, known as 72 Upper Ground and set to be built by Lendlease, is one of the biggest building jobs in central London to be let this year. There is a lot of controversy with local communities and beyond around the design and scale of this project, but developers will be watching for what happens next as it could have wider implications for plans to demolish and build on a large scale on sensitive sites as our coverage explains.

Building's Top 150 Consultants is back for 2022!

It's that time of year again - Building's Top 150 Consultants survey is out! Take part in this year’s survey to by simply fill in your details here, which will let you download the form.

You’ll need to answer questions on:

• The?number of staff?at your company, including staff number changes from 2021
• The?fee income?received in recent years as well as a fee breakdown by sector
• Your?views on the market conditions?and changes from the past year

Please return your completed form, no later than Friday 24 June 2022, to Hewes & Associates on?[email protected].

Mental Health Awareness Week

Mental health has become an increasing consideration in construction in recent years, with more and more employers looking at the best ways of supporting their staff. As part of Mental Health Awareness Week we have heard from a young person’s mental health journey from unemployment to an apprenticeship at Balfour Beatty, explored the challenges opening up about mental health challenges in a male-dominated industry, and why we need biophilic design now more than ever to help tackle stress levels.

Net Zero Live recap

We also hosted the first instalment of our Net Zero Live event for 2022. The day included three bumper sessions, a keynote interview with the UKGBC's boss Julie Hirigoyen, an exploration of how material specification can help achieve net zero targets, and what the UK infrastructure sector needs to do to support net zero goals. All the sessions are available to watch for free on-demand.

Have a wonderful weekend and we'll be back next week