Support grows despite Bill postponement

UK: The Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) says the decision to postpone the second reading of the Aldous Bill will give the construction industry more time to build support.

The Bill, which seeks to ensure retentions money owed to sub-contractors is protected from misuse and loss, is now scheduled to be put before the House of Commons on June 15 following its postponement from last week.

Meanwhile, support for the change has continued to grow with 130 MPs and 78 trade bodies now behind the Bill championed by Peter Aldous MP.

The MP explained that the pressure on government time and the sheer volume of proposed legislation meant the Bill’s second reading had to be held back until June, but that the campaign was “stepping up”.

Research from Creditsafe has revealed that business failures across the construction sector soared by more than 73% in the first quarter of this year and that bad debts in construction leapt by 66% in the same period.

“These figures are truly shocking and show just why the work being led by Peter Aldous is so important,” said BESA’s public affairs and policy manager Alexi Ozioro.

“However, momentum is now clearly behind reform and the Aldous Bill has generated a tremendous level of political and industry support,” he said. “The campaign continues to grow and strengthen, but we have a lot of work to do and the extra two months gives us a great chance to further grow the support for change.”