Minister for the Cabinet Office Francis Maude has announced £22 billion of investment in Government construction projects over the next three years.
Speaking at the Construction Procurement Conference, Mr Maude confounded expectations that construction funding would be slashed. The figures will be confirmed later in the autumn, along with further details on exactly where the money will be invested.

He said: 'The Government's construction strategy is reducing costs by up to 20 per cent by reforming the way we procure construction projects across all sectors. However, we are still investing billions of pounds annually; with the same money we will procure more schools, hospitals, courts and prisons. Despite an incredibly difficult economic climate we are investing in and prioritising our construction industry.

'The Government and the construction industry have a shared obligation to cut waste and find new and better ways of doing business. This is especially important when we are talking about creating first class, modern, fully functioning public service delivery buildings like hospitals and schools.'

The Government plans to help the construction industry plan and prepare better for projects by publishing a full pipeline of projects from the autumn. This has never been done previously, but is part of a new drive by the Cabinet Office to run government in a more transparent and businesslike manner.

The Minister also revealed further details about the new Government Construction Board chaired by Paul Morrell under which the Efficiency and Reform Group Steering Committee will be chaired by Andrew Wolstenholme, who will work with task groups chaired by Nick Pollard, Tim Eaton, Deborah Rowland, Mark Bew and Bill Yardley.

The IUK (Infrastructure UK) Steering Committee will be chaired by Peter Hansford, working with task groups chaired by Simon Kirby, Prof Brian Collins and Steve Fox.

To view the Construction Strategy click here.