Construction industry ‘suffering’

The Union of Construction, Allied Trades and Technicians (Ucatt) has expressed concern about the extent of government spending cuts on the building industry, with further job losses a real possibility.

A spokesman for Ucatt criticised the Conservative-Liberal Democrat coalition for the speed at which it is implementing cutbacks and warned that the private sector's ability to generate increased employment will be severely tested in the coming years.

"In construction, we have seen that – because of the cuts in public sector spending – those additional private sector jobs will not be created," he explained.

The representative cited a recent report from financial services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers – which predicted as many as one millions jobs could go by 2015 – as evidence that the coalition's policies are having a "disastrous effect".

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Earlier this week, a survey from the Federation of Master Builders found that small construction companies have experienced declining business for three successive years.

Posted by Hayley Edwards