The Minister for the Cabinet Office, Francis Maude, has issued the Government's new Construction Strategy to reform the way that Whitehall procures construction. In doing so, it aims to reduce costs by up to 20 per cent by the end of this parliament.
Mr Maude said: 'These savings are not only significant but long overdue. The commitment to reduce the cost of construction by 20 per cent is no small thing, but it will help the Government and the construction industry. This strategy will stimulate growth by enabling more to be constructed within the funds available.

'I fully support the challenge that the Government's Construction Strategy sends out to the public sector and to the construction industry. The public sector needs to be a better, more informed and strategic client. The construction industry, in turn, will benefit from a more collaborative working relationship with the public sector, allowing for innovation, increased efficiency, and delivering better value for money.'

To provide effective co-ordination and alignment of procurement across the Government's construction and infrastructure programme a new Government Construction Board, chaired by Paul Morrell, the Government's chief construction adviser, will be established.

Mr Morrell said: 'The Government Construction Board will help strengthen the public sector's client power in the scoping, design, procurement and delivery of all construction projects. We will work with the Government and the construction industry to enable more effective relationships between the two in order to enable growth and sustainability across the sectors.

'The strategy sets out challenging new ways of working that will deliver considerable benefits not only to the taxpayer, but also enabling growth in the industry and better understanding of the future direction for public sector construction.'

The Construction Strategy can be found here: http://www.cabinetoffice.gov.uk/resource-library/government-construction-strategy