POLITICAL UNCERTAINTY AND ECONOMIC CHALLENGES CONTINUE TO IMPACT OUR INDUSTRY

The continuing budgetary crisis enveloping every aspect of life in Northern Ireland is certainly, in my 23 years at helm of his Association, the worst and most frustrating crisis faced by individuals and businesses. I say this from two points. Firstly, it is a crisis made in Northern Ireland and one that should have been avoided by a realisation that no matter what any political party did here it was not going to change what had been agreed between the EU and the UK in an international agreement and on which the future relationship between two huge trading blocks depended. Secondly, handing over the budget decision-making power for NI to a Tory Secretary of State, particularly from the current UK Government brand of Conservatism, is foolish in the extreme. Having said that though I and many others would raise the question, given our own local MLAs inability to make difficult decisions, “Can you actually blame the Secretary of State for implementing such a harsh budget and asking top civil servants to come up with proposals for revenue raising in NI such as water charges, removing free prescriptions, free travel allowances and may other cuts to services that people here have got used to and depended on.

Looking forward to the Autumn though there are hopeful signs that conversations have been ongoing and there is general agreement that NI cannot continue like some rudderless ship left to the gales and turbulence of economic uncertainty and global pressures.

Assembly And Departmental Submissions

Recently MPANI joined other construction organisations in calling for the immediate restoration of the NI Assembly and Executive to introduce some sense of stability that will give a level of confidence to the significant number of inward and local investors who wish to take advantage of the two-market access that NI will enjoy as a result of the Windsor Framework. Yes, of course, it is not a perfect agreement but as the name suggests the new agreement between the EU and the UK is a “Framework” that addresses the problematic areas of the old protocol and introduces a mechanism for discussion and problem-solving for unresolved issues and any future areas of contention that will inevitably arise, such as divergence.

MPANI also submitted a response to the Department for Infrastructures Budget Equality Impact Assessment (EIA) and will responding to other Departments EIAs in due course. While the 2023/24 Northern Ireland budget announced in April by the Secretary of State, Chris Heaton-Harris, only reduces the overall Departmental budgets by 0.4%, this figure masks the impacts as it does not reflect the extent of pressures due to inflation, rising costs, increasing demands and pay pressures.

We are encouraged that many Departments have taken the opportunity to communicate the budget implications to the public, and several Departments have started Equality Impact Assessment consultations on the implications of budget allocations. Clearly, the stark options included in these consultation documents will have a significant impact on people visiting, living and working in Northern Ireland.

Ramifications Of Budget Cuts

Of particular concern is that the operation and maintenance of our essential infrastructure continue to be underfunded. Such assets underpin the daily functions of our society and dramatic cuts to these will have far-reaching implications. MPANI is alarmed by the options being considered by the Department for Infrastructure such as switching off streetlights, providing no winter road gritting, reducing our water and wastewater services, redrawing public transport provision and a reduction to ‘emergency-only’ services for road maintenance and flood risk management.

Equally concerning is the proposal from the Department for Communities to reduce the NI Housing Executive budget, saying that this will likely impact on their ability to ‘deliver better homes and support people into independent living’.

The Department for Communities is also considering a reduction in investment in public realm and regeneration projects which will impact the quality of life of citizens and hamper the economic development of retail and hospitality businesses. All of this will impact negatively on our Industry’s workload.

The Department for the Economy has also indicated that cuts to their budgets will impact on skills and education initiatives, including key programmes such as All Age Apprenticeships. It has already been confirmed that the Department of Education will not be awarding any new contracts for extensions or new schools in 2023/244 – pausing the process for these will impact the quality of the teaching environment and the need to provide modern, fit-for-purpose facilities. Everyone recognises that Infrastructure projects and services underpin the daily activity of our society, and the budget crisis will have far-reaching implications.

Construction Concerns

The feedback on the Departmental proposals from my colleagues across the NI Construction Group and others is alarming as they will impact every citizen and visitor to Northern Ireland – and some of the options under consideration could well put people at serious risk of harm. Beyond that, there are implications looming for the wider economy and, in particular, for our young people. We in construction understand that the budget situation is difficult but, if allowed to continue, we will see skilled workers seek opportunities elsewhere and that will reduce the scope for skills development across our workforce. This will reduce our economic output and our attractiveness for inward investment in the future.

Our message is clear, “The restoration of the Executive and Assembly is essential to get local, accountable and responsible political decision-making being made on a daily basis for the benefit of all here in NI”.

Challenging Business Environment

On the economic front, MPANI members continue to report a challenging business environment but one that is not as bad as was predicted for the middle of 2023 when projections were made last Autumn. Richard Ramsay’s May PMI report highlighted NI’s private sector notched up its fourth successive month of growth in business activity in May, albeit it was the slowest rate of expansion in this sequence. Employment growth also eased to a four-month low but local firms increased their staffing levels at the fastest rate of all UK regions bar Scotland. New orders maintained the same modest rate of growth as April.

Richard Ramsey commented in his report: “A welcome slowdown was also evident in inflationary pressures, with input cost and output price inflation easing to its weakest level in around twoand-a-half years. It is encouraging to note that NI’s inflationary pressures are the least marked across the UK regions. There were some reports of energy prices coming down, with ongoing inflation linked to higher wages.

“In terms of sectors, the services sector was the only one to record a rise in business activity in May, with construction and retail joining manufacturing in contraction territory. Services also posted the strongest rise in new orders, followed by retail. Retail’s recent purple patch of growth in sales and orders appears to have passed although retail is still recruiting hard. Meanwhile, the slump in construction orders continued and is approaching two years of continuous decline. But again, construction firms are increasing staffing levels to address long-standing skills gaps.

“Encouragingly all four sectors expect growth in business activity in 12 months’ time, with manufacturing the most optimistic and retail the least. But firms said that hikes in interest rates and political stagnation have been impacting on growth and cuts in public expenditure are also a concern. None of these factors is expected to go away any time soon.”

Condolences On The Loss Of Two Colleagues

Since our last edition of Plant we have experienced two fatalities in our Industry here in NI. Colin Thomas who worked for Tobermore Concrete for many years and was a valued colleague and friend to all who worked there was killed on the 26th April. William Houston who was a subcontractor and worked for FP McCann at their Loughside Quarry near Larne died from injuries received from a falling object. Our best wishes and sincere condolences go to all their families, friends and work colleagues at Tobermore and FP McCann

The lessons that are to learned from these tragic incidents will come out following the current details investigations. However, we would strongly recommend that everyone in our sector, but particularly our senior management and leaders at all levels, re-double their focus on health and safety. MPA has recently updated the safequarry. com website and I would encourage as many of you to avail of this world class resource at Overview (safequarry.com)

6 Strategies To Improve

1. An unrelenting approach to eliminating the things that can kill or seriously harm people through adoption of industry safety principles and good practices focused on ‘The Fatal 6’.

2. Developing competent and committed leaders at all levels.

3. Promoting recognition as a means to support a positive culture within the workforce.

4. Creating forward looking measurement systems which balance the measurement of ‘the presence of safety’ with the ‘absence of incidents’.

5. Helping members to create workplaces where health and well-being is protected and promoted.

6. Actively promoting and facilitating engagement from all member organisations

May I take this opportunity to wish you all an enjoyable summer break and take care and Stay Safe!!

If you’re interested in becoming a full or affiliate member of MPANI and get access to up to date Industry news and guidance don’t hesitate to give me a call on 07876136929. It would be great to have you on board.