On 17th March the leading professional bodies and trade association in the construction industry staged an Election Special Question Time at Arup Campus in Solihull. The event was dedicated to the construction and housing sectors and allowed questions to be raised to one sitting member of parliament and to two parliamentary candidates representing the three main parties.

The event, organised by WMCCE, Advantage West Midlands and ARUP, was chaired by Dhiran Vagdia, the West Midlands Regional Chairman of RIBA.

The sitting Member of Parliament was Lorely Burt (Liberal Democrat), and the Parliamentary Candidates were Jack Dromey (Labour)  and Maggie Throup (Conservative). Each first stated their intentions for the industry before taking questions from the audience. 

80 industry leaders attended the event and questions raised covered areas including:

• Creating jobs in the construction & manufacturing industry
• Identifying & releasing sufficient land with planning permission
• Building new homes & improving existing ones to meet demand
• Retaining current skills & investing in tomorrows ‘green collar’ jobs
• Reducing levels of carbon emissions from new & existing housing stock

Dhiran Vagdia commented “The hustings was a good occasion; it showed our Politicians that the construction industry in the West Midlands is ready and willing to build Britain out of recession.  Interestingly, the discussions revealed much about the individual Party knowledge about relevant construction issues.  Above all though, the debate set a high standard of what the regional construction sector expects of our Politicians.”

The event was a success and gave the diverse cross section of industry executives present the opportunity to find out what the future holds for the industry in the West Midlands.

Photo - from left to right - George Marsh (WMCCE Board Member), Jack Dromey (Labour MP), Lorely Burt (Liberal Democrat MP), Maggie Throup (Conservative MP), Dhiran Vagdia (FORCE Chairman)and Phil Wilson (WMCCE Operations Director)