Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what assessment he has made of the capacity of the building supply trade to supply the needs of shovel ready projects.

The construction sector will be a key part of our economic recovery following the Covid-19 outbreak. The Government continues to work closely with the sector to ensure that it is in a position to support the economic recovery, including the building supply trade.

This includes the work of the Construction Leadership Council’s Coronavirus Task Force, which has established a product availability working group comprised of product manufacturers, builders’ merchants and suppliers, contractors of all sizes, and housebuilders. The Task Force will monitor the supply and demand of products and identify those in short supply.