By Daniel Hunter
A survey by the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) has found that 65% of businesses don’t have confidence in government policies concerning infrastructure spending.
“The Chancellor George Osborne has spoken of investing somewhere in the region of £300bn in infrastructure projects like energy and transport and home building,” said construction sector entrepreneur Will Davies.
“The government has a list of 576 infrastructure projects but to date only seven have been completed and most of the others are still on the drawing board.
“Spending on house building would help solve the housing crisis, create jobs and boost the economy."
The CBI survey of 526 companies discovered that 65% of them reported that they thought government policies would have ‘no tangible effect or even make things worse’.
John Cridland, CBI director general, said: "The faltering speed of delivery on infrastructure creates a worrying sense that politicians lack the political will to tackle some of the major issues head-on."
Mr Davies - who was a who was an investment banker before creating his property maintenance company — said that spending on infrastructure projects would have to be accompanied by spending on improving training and apprenticeship opportunities for young people.
“If infrastructure expenditure does appear to kick-start projects we have to ask ourselves where the skilled tradesmen are going to come from?” he said.
Research from a leading UK small business insurer published earlier this year discovered that 25% of plumbers and 19% of bricklayers have left their trades over the last four years.
“We need to be able to support employers in providing the training that will give them the skills they require to complete infrastructure projects,” said Mr Davies.
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