Prescott praises industry but raises stakes

The Government this week laid down the gauntlet to clients to draw up a charter of best practice for themselves and their contractors.

By this time next year, Deputy PM John Prescott wants enough clients to represent at least half of the UK's £60 billion construction output to have signed up to the charter.

He also called on clients to renew their leadership by creating a dynamic pan-industry organisation for the client movement embodying both private and public sectors.

In a speech at the second Movement for Innovation conference, given in his absence by construction minister Nick Raynsford, Prescott called for "a charter that sets out minimum standards clients expect in their construction procurement today", and "a steadily more demanding set of targets that will drive up performance year by year."

Prescott also urged "measurement of clients satisfaction with supply side performance, and with the product." And in a new and welcome move, he called for benchmarking of clients by the industry, saying they must be "measurement of the supply size's assessment of the clients' performance."

Prescott also announced that he wanted the Movement for Innovation to become fully industry-owned and supported. This coincides with a review of the future of the Construction Industry Board, and is sure to lead to closer working and possibly even merger of the two organisations.

Prescott, Raynsford and Sir John Egan all had high praise for the progress achieved by the industry in the year since the Egan report was launched.

"What I have observed over the last 12 months has been immensely encouraging. We should be celebrating the progress made in such a short space of time," said Sir John. And he predicted " The industry is at the cusp of something really big.

"We now need to develop people with the skills to see how the processes (identified in the Egan report) can fit together. We need to encourage the next generation entering the industry and give them the freedom to explore new ways of doing things and not to confine their thinking to the traditional silos."

However, Prescott's speech registered his frustration with the response of professionals. The Deputy Prime Minister was "disappointed" by the defensive attitude of architects and asked them " Why be scared, timid or negative?"

A RIBA delegate at the conference commented; "I completely accept there has been reluctance on the part of architects....real work and real change is on the way from the professions." He added that the RIBA had set up a new think tank to respond to the Movement for Innovation.