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Race against time for Latham law
00:00 30 Mar 1995
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The consultation period on legislation to underpin construction
contracts could be as short as a month because of the tight
legislative programme.
The Government's consultative document on the legislation is likely to be published next week - certainly before Easter - but concern is mounting over the timetable if a Bill is to be included in this year's legislative programme.
Last week the Government outlined its intentions for the forthcoming year, but although the Construction Contracts Bill was not listed it would most likely be attached to other legislation so is still very much on the cards.
But to make the programme it is expected that the Bill would have to go to the Cabinet's legislation committee in June in order to be included in the Queen's speech to Parliament next autumn. And that would leave little more than a month for the consultation process.
Unofficial soundings already suggest that the consultation document may turn out to be 'a bit lame'. And, if the legislative outline is not as radical as some would have hoped, then the root and branch reformers will be faced with a period of intense lobbying to secure a comprehensive Bill.
The broad areas for legislation proposed in the Latham report cover:
n unfair contract conditions, such as pay-when-paid clauses;
n setting up payment trust funds;
n liability law reform; and
n compulsory latent defects insurance.
There is a measure of consensus on the last two items. But government departments and local authorities have signalled that they may have technical difficulties with trust funds.
But the outlawing of 'unfair' contract terms remains the most contentious issue. Major contractors are expected to fight tooth and nail to preserve the right to include pay-when-paid clauses. And the suggested statutory right to interest on late payments looks an improbable option for the consultation paper. Such a proposal was specifically rejected by the Government only a year ago.
As one source said this week: 'The struggle is just beginning.'
The Government's consultative document on the legislation is likely to be published next week - certainly before Easter - but concern is mounting over the timetable if a Bill is to be included in this year's legislative programme.
Last week the Government outlined its intentions for the forthcoming year, but although the Construction Contracts Bill was not listed it would most likely be attached to other legislation so is still very much on the cards.
But to make the programme it is expected that the Bill would have to go to the Cabinet's legislation committee in June in order to be included in the Queen's speech to Parliament next autumn. And that would leave little more than a month for the consultation process.
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Unofficial soundings already suggest that the consultation document may turn out to be 'a bit lame'. And, if the legislative outline is not as radical as some would have hoped, then the root and branch reformers will be faced with a period of intense lobbying to secure a comprehensive Bill.
The broad areas for legislation proposed in the Latham report cover:
n unfair contract conditions, such as pay-when-paid clauses;
n setting up payment trust funds;
n liability law reform; and
n compulsory latent defects insurance.
There is a measure of consensus on the last two items. But government departments and local authorities have signalled that they may have technical difficulties with trust funds.
But the outlawing of 'unfair' contract terms remains the most contentious issue. Major contractors are expected to fight tooth and nail to preserve the right to include pay-when-paid clauses. And the suggested statutory right to interest on late payments looks an improbable option for the consultation paper. Such a proposal was specifically rejected by the Government only a year ago.
As one source said this week: 'The struggle is just beginning.'
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