Welsh Government has set out a plan for Wales in its two documents: Taking Wales Forward and Prosperity for All: the national strategy. The government points to the crucial five years ahead of us all, key priorities facing Wales such as an ageing population, climate change, healthy living and improvement in the economy and public services. This is a very welcome vision for the future with a specific reference to infrastructure: “We will invest in the 21^st century connections we need to thrive and compete, joining up people, communities, businesses and services to drive prosperity.”

Modern infrastructure, which is central the government vision, is a key enabler of competitiveness and productivity – the investment required often acts as a catalyst for wider regeneration and supporting vibrant communities. But to be effective this investment, with almost all its focus being delivered by Welsh construction, needs more detail.

It is why, as an industry we need to help Welsh Government by creating a strategy – which is the reason CEW is leading Construction for Wales Strategy Workshops around the country.

We can take as a starting point the papers produced by the UK Government has produced a series of papers. The most recent, Government Construction Strategy 2016-20, builds on the more well-known Construction 2025 paper. It outlines a new plan to increase productivity in government construction to deliver £1.7 billion efficiencies and support 20,000 apprenticeships over the course of this parliament. The strategy sets out ambitions for smarter procurement, fairer payment, improving digital skills, reducing carbon emissions, and increasing client capability. This echoes a lot of the ambitions of Welsh Government – indeed, some of it echoes the cross-cutting strategies outlined in Taking Wales Forward. But there is no comparable document for Wales focusing on construction.

Most of Government Construction Strategy 2016-20 applies in Wales and we do now have our own Welsh legislation in the form of the Environment (Wales) Act 2016 and the Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. These two pieces of legislation alone will have a significant impact on the industry in Wales, but there is nothing binding them together. A strategy will link these ideas.

We need something specific and we believe a Construction Strategy for Wales is long overdue. It is why in September we held the first meeting of the Construction Strategy for Wales Task Group. It took the form of a facilitated workshop out of which a smaller working group – or groups – will take shape. The aim is to be constructive, not critical. Welsh Government has a tough balancing act – so there is a real need for industry to step up and help.

What we hope to do is take heed of one line in Taking Wales Forward: “The challenges that we face as a nation are complicated and inter-related and require us all to play our part.”

Swansea is keen to promote the Tidal Lagoon project and one way of doing it is to share the love for the idea – something CEW is fully behind as the concept is all about celebrating the potential that construction can deliver.

What the Swansea team is after are short video clips of support from yourselves and others, outlining who you are and why you’re backing the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon project.

Video clips by phone are fine (ideally in landscape and about 20 seconds or so long). The video clips can either be emailed to Greg Jones or sent by What’s App to him on 07590 196580. He will then add the videos of support to the Love the Lagoon Facebook, Twitter and Instagram accounts. Video clips can also be sent to these accounts directly.

All clips that we receive will eventually be merged into one video that will be sent to the UK Government to illustrate the scale of support for the project across South Wales.

Any videos you could send would be hugely appreciated – ideally as soon as possible. We’re gathering videos from everyday people as well as representatives of the South Wales business, sports, academic and cultural communities.

You can access some background here.

Just to check the contact details here they are again – people can send short video clips of support for the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon project in any of the following ways:

• Inbox the Love the Lagoon Facebook page
• Send it to @lovethelagoon on Twitter or Instagram
• Email to this email address greg.jones@swansea.gov.uk
• What’s App it to Greg on 07590 196580

'The Farmer Review of the UK Construction Labour Model' was commissioned in February 2016 by the Construction Leadership Council at the request of the government. Led by CEO of Cast Consultancy, Mark Farmer, the report investigated the current labour model and proposed actions to safeguard the industry's future.  The report suggests that the UK's construction industry faces 'inexorable decline' unless longstanding problems are addressed.

It has come to be known as ‘Modernise or Die’ a deliberately provocative title chosen by Farmer to drive debate and make sure people took notice of his recommendations.

It must be “modernise or die”, warns Mark Farmer, who believes that within 10 years it will have shrunk to a shell of its former self. Farmer believes the skills crisis facing construction will cripple the UK, and which it may never recover from. 

“I tried to say it in as stark terms as possible – to get people to sit up and take notice,” he says, adding that the Government told him not to pull any punches. “Because if you’re not careful, it will just play out in the background.”

He describes the problem as a “ticking time bomb”: due to an ageing population and a lack of new entrants, put off by the boom and bust cycle, the workforce will decrease by 20-25pc in the next 10 years. A 2015 paper by construction consultancy Arcadis, where Farmer used to work, said that 700,000 people need to be recruited in the next five years just to replace those leaving the industry.

The report dwells on the importance of finding a home-grown solution to the crisis, which is particularly salient with Brexit. The UK can look to Japan for what the future of its construction industry might look like. “They are probably ahead of us on the ageing demographic curve, and they are really struggling,” says Farmer. It has the same problems as the UK - namely an ageing population and a difficulty enticing new entrants - and its industry has shrunk by a third since 1997.

If you have heard any of his comments, read the report or seen any of the discussions subsequently it is worth attending this event. Mark Farmer will be speaking at a CEW Breakfast event on 17th October held in Cardiff, to book your place please contact CEWales Events stating your full contact details. Substitution of delegates can be made at any time.

Construction firm Willmott Dixon has expanded to larger offices in South Wales on the back of a growing portfolio of projects. The firm has relocated from smaller offices at Cathedral Road in Cardiff to the Celtic Gateway Business Park in Cardiff Bay.

The company has taken a 10-year lease on 7,769 sq. ft. of space at the scheme's Global Reach building. Willmott Dixon has a long track record of delivering projects in South and West Wales, including the Royal Welsh College of Music, Cardiff and Vale College, the One Central Square office scheme in the centre of Cardiff and the new Computational Foundry at Swansea University.

The company is currently close to completing the new £25m Eastern High school for Cardiff council. Cardiff's booming office market has had its best performance for 15 years. Neal Stephens, Managing Director for Willmott Dixon in South Wales said: “As a growing business, we are proud that our construction work provides significant benefits to the South Wales economy in terms of sustaining jobs and employing local companies. Locating to the Celtic Gateway Business Park is an exciting new chapter for us that supports our expansion and we will ensure as we continue to grow that local companies in South Wales also prosper as a direct result.”

A milestone has been reached in the construction of the University of Wales Trinity Saint David's (UWTSD) new digital and media centre, which is also set to become the new home of Welsh language broadcaster S4C.

A topping-out ceremony has been held to mark construction of the Yr Egin building reaching its highest point. When complete, the 40,000-sq. ft. building will feature broadcasting and performance space on the ground floor, with offices for S4C and other partners on the other two levels.

Medwin Hughes, UWTSD's Vice Chancellor, was joined at the ceremony by Ian Jones, S4C Chief Executive; Steve Nicholls from Kier Group; Emlyn Dole, Leader of Carmarthenshire Council, and Mark James, Chief Executive of Carmarthenshire County Council; as well as representation from the Welsh Government, which has provided £3m funding towards the new centre.

Hughes said: "The building has reached its highest point and clearly indicates the realisation of the University's exciting and bold vision to develop a creative and digital cluster that will greatly benefit the county, the region and the creative industries across Wales. Co-locating a range of creative, digital and cultural practitioners within the same building - with S4C at its core as the main anchor tenant – will create opportunities, encourage innovation and enable job creation in this key priority sector."

Wales, like most other nations, is undergoing a period of rapid transformation, with digital technologies playing a central role in both business and society. This is seeing an increasing number businesses in Wales accessing broadband and associated digital technologies such as cloud computing, videoconferencing etc. Despite this, we know surprisingly little about how businesses use these technologies, and how it affects the wider Welsh economy. To address this Cardiff University is conducting a five-year programme of research on digital technology use, examining impacts in different sectors and different parts of Wales.

The National Digital Maturity Survey was first launched in 2016 as a way of measuring digital technology use in Wales’ small and medium enterprises (SMEs), and to understand change over time. We would now like to invite SMEs to take part in the second Digital Maturity Survey. By completing the survey SMEs will help us build a picture of the emerging digital economy in Wales, and inform the work of Welsh Government and partners in supporting its development.

The survey can be accessed by clicking here: National Digital Maturity Survey 2017

Contact: superfast@cardiff.ac.uk

From April 2018, the Welsh Revenue Authority (WRA) will be responsible for collecting and managing landfill disposals tax and land transaction tax, replacing UK landfill tax and stamp duty land tax which are currently collected by HMRC.

The Criminal Powers consultation outlines proposals regarding the impact of the WRA being provided with specific criminal powers and invites views on:

• the need to tackle devolved tax offences through the use of criminal powers
• the organisations which may be involved in criminal investigation and prosecution
• the practical implications of making use of different elements of UK criminal powers legislation
• ensuring appropriate safeguards and governance on the use of these powers. 

The consultation period started on the 10^th July 2017 and ends on the 2^nd October 2017. The consultation can be accessed using the following link: https://consultations.gov.wales/consultations/welsh-revenue-authority-powers-tackle-tax-crime

For further information please contact FinancialReformMailbox@gov.wales or visit www.gov.wales/wra  www.llyw.cymru/acc