General Election - 4 July 2024

A brief message and information from the CFA re the forthcoming general election.

Now that an election has been announced, lobbying activity and work with government departments is all but suspended.

Much of the work of the CFA in terms of lobbying is carried out through our two umbrella organisations, Build UK and the Construction Products Association (CPA), who work tirelessly on our behalf when dealing with policy, legislation, standards and other government related issues. As we move towards an election these organisations have set out their positions in advance of engagement with the next incumbents.

Build UK
Build UK have said that there is a need for a clear and consistent voice from #TeamConstruction and that working collectively to deliver their infrastructure needs is more important than ever. Build UK focus includes:

• Improving Business performance.
• Increasing productivity.
• Recruiting Training and Retaining Talent.
• Benchmarking payment performance.
• Streamlining the pre-qualification process.
• Showcasing careers in construction.

CPA
The CPA has published its 'Asks of the Next Government' document which can be viewed in full here.  In summary, there are three main areas that the CPA are asking a new government to focus on for the construction industry, they are:

1. Support for a policy framework promoting growth, innovation, and performance.
2. Support the transition to a more sustainable built environment.
3. Mission-oriented policy goals with consistent, long-term investment.

Key election dates are:

• Friday 7 June 2024 - Deadline for candidate nomination papers to be submitted by 4pm, followed by publication of statement of all persons nominated at 5pm.
• Sometime before Thursday 4 July 2024 manifestos will be launched by the major parties, usually within a few days of each other. The Institute for Government have noted that since 1997 they have been launched between 18 and 29 days before the election date, which would put them somewhere between 5 June and 16 June.
• Tuesday 18 June 2024 - Deadline to register to vote.
• Thursday 20 June 2024 - The Bank of England's Monetary Policy Committee will announce the Bank Rate, a key economic moment in the campaign.
• Thursday 4 July 2024 - Polling Day.
• Tuesday 9 July 2024 - New Parliament will be summoned to meet, the speaker will be elected, and members sworn in.
• Wednesday 17 July 2024 - State Opening of Parliament.

If you have not yet registered to vote, please follow this link.

Once a new Government is in place, the CFA will continue our work in areas such as Payment Practices, Pre-qualification, the Building Safety Act, Sustainability, the Future Homes and Building Standards, products regulations and the growing landscape around competence, to name a few of the areas where CFA has engaged with our lobbying organisations, CLC and Government in recent times.