Construction Industry: Retention Payments

Lord Stunell Excerpts

Thursday 14th January 2021 Lords Chamber

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

At the risk of repeating myself, it would require primary legislation and there is pressure on the legislative timetable. There are a number of different options to take this forward. We are committed to ending the practice of late payment and we will work with industry to try to find a solution to this problem.

[Lord Stunell (LD) [V]]

The Minister’s answers so far have been deeply disappointing. Of course there is no consensus within the industry, because there are winners and losers. The winners of the present system are the big companies; the losers are everybody else. The current retention system undermines trust and confidence, destroys capacity and deters long-term investment in training and skills. Having heard noble Lords today, will the Minister agree to come back to your Lordships’ House before the end of this Session and say exactly how and when the Government plan to mitigate the damage caused by the current system? He cannot sit on his hands and say he is waiting for other people to come to their decisions first.

[Lord Callanan (Con)]

We are not waiting for other people to come to their decisions. We are actively working with the Construction Leadership Council to try to find a solution to this problem.