Construction

Mr. David Jones
To ask the Minister of State, Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what recent assessment he has made of the state of the construction industry.

Ian Pearson
Overall, industry output was 0.4 per cent. down in 2008 compared with 2007. Orders however fell by 19 per cent. compared with 2007. Private new housing orders fell by 43 per cent. and private commercial orders fell by 28 per cent. However public non-housing orders rose by 26 per cent. (education, health and the Olympics featuring strongly) and infrastructure rose by 17 per cent.

Government continue their frequent discussions with the construction industry on the key issues the sector is facing. As the figures above indicate, public sector spending on construction is highly important.