MP is hailed as 'best briefed construction minister since Nick Raynsford'

The industry has welcomed the appointment of the 鈥渂est briefed鈥� construction minister since Nick Raynsford, following years of complaints about unsuitable politicians covering the industry, writes Andrew Hankinson.

Mark Prisk, Tory MP for Hertford and Stortford, who is a qualified chartered surveyor, has taken responsibility for construction as the minister of state in the business and innovation department.

Stephen Ratcliffe, director of the UK Contractors Group, said: 鈥淎t last we have a minister who will know what he鈥檚 talking about. He鈥檚 up and running on the issues, so he鈥檚 probably the best briefed minister for construction on day one since Nick Raynsford back in 1997.

鈥淭he major issue concerning everybody is public sector work flow. And as we鈥檝e been talking to Mark it鈥檚 clear that he understands how important it is to the industry. Now we鈥檙e past the purdah period we can pick up with him where we left off.鈥�

Under the Labour government, the industry often complained that the construction brief was handled by a junior politician at the under secretary level. Further frustration came from frequent reshuffles, meaning that since Nick Raynsford covered construction in 1997-2001 it has been passed through Brian Wilson, Nigel Griffiths, Alun Michael, Margaret Hodge, Stephen Timms, Baroness Vadera, Ian Pearson and lastly Ian Lucas.

Rudi Klein, chief executive of the Specialist Engineering Contractors鈥� Group, said: 鈥淚鈥檝e got a tremendous amount of time for Mark Prisk. First of all he knows the industry 鈥� he鈥檚 a chartered building surveyor 鈥� and one of his shadow responsibilities was construction, so he鈥檚 made it his business over the last few years to get to know the industry.

鈥淟ucas was always very helpful and prepared to talk, but he was at the most junior level in the department. Mark being a minister of state is obviously preferable. And I think he will want to keep the construction adviser in place.鈥�

Who鈥檚 who in the new government


Philip Hammond (con) Secretary of state for transport

The son of a civil engineer, Hammond is one of the richest MPs in the Tory party, having earned millions through his property company Castlemead.Rob Holden, chief executive of Crossrail, said: 鈥淭ransport will be new to him. I expect he鈥檒l spend some time getting briefings.鈥�

Bob Neill (con) Parliamentary under secretary of state, working in the communities department

It is understood that Neill will look after planning. He studied law and was a barrister, before becoming an MP in 2006. Was the shadow planning minister before the election, and claims to campaign to 鈥減rotect the green belt from over development鈥�.

Grant Shapps (con) Minister for housing

Has covered the housing brief in opposition since 2007 and is well known to the industry, which has this week largely welcomed his appointment for that reason. Has said he wants to make the UK a 鈥渘ation of housebuilders鈥�, but concerns remain about his localist policy agenda, which is due to sweep away regional housing targets and replace them with financial incentives for local authorities to allow more development.
One housebuilder told 好色先生TV: 鈥淵ou can鈥檛 doubt his sincerity. But he鈥檚 barking mad,of course.鈥�

Ed Vaizey (con) Minister for culture


The son of a life peer, Vaizey will look after architecture. He studied history at Oxford, then practised as a barrister and managed a PR consultancy. As shadow minister he threatened to scrap the Architects鈥� Registration Board.This week he said he would focus on embedding good design across construction, in particular in housebuilding and played down talk of making Cabe self-funding.

Hugh Robertson (con) Minister for sport and the Olympics


Studied land management at Reading then became an army officer until 1995, after which he worked as a property investor at financial house Schroders.As an MP was made shadow Olympics minister. Margaret Ford, chair of the Olympic Park Legacy Company, said his property investment experience would help the legacy programme.

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