News

Q&A Peter Eisenegger

New teaching and social space has opened at the University of the West of England campus, but fewer construction students will be there to enjoy it

The National Consumer Federation is supporting the Construction Sector Transparency Initiative (CoST), which aims to increase accountability in public sector construction projects. Peter Eisenegger of the NCF’s executive committee explains why.

Why is this project so important? Our experience in other markets shows that if an industry determines what it’s going to tell you and what it isn’t, people don’t tend to trust it. We’re at the very beginning of a process that will see transparency play a signifi cant role in the way various different markets and public services operate.

Student numbers take a dip

The number of undergraduate students applying for and being accepted onto construction-related degree courses has taken a worrying dip in the recession, according to fi gures from the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS). In 2010, a total of 5,846 people applied

for places on undergraduate courses with “construction” or “building” in the title, a drop of 6.4% compared with the 6,251 who applied in 2009*. But there was a 12.1% fall in the

number of candidates being accepted onto courses, with just 1,989 offered a place this year compared with 2,263 in 2009. The squeeze on places is a refl ection

of universities’ stricter “caps” on student numbers, as they are fi ned by government if they over-recruit. At the University of the West of

England, applications to its three construction degree programmes were broadly in line with last year, but it offered just 36 places compared with 50 last year, and around 60 at the height of the boom. “We would have liked to have made more offers to good candidates. We were constricted last year, but more so this year,” says Julian Spicer, admissions manager in the faculty of environment and technology. Academics have suggested that

construction courses, which are relatively 4 | OCTOBER 2010 | CONSTRUCTION MANAGER

expensive to run compared with traditional academic subjects, are vulnerable to universities seeking effi ciency gains. The University of Abertay Dundee

stopped running construction courses in 2007 partially because the cost of running them was high in terms of staff/student ratios. “Surveying equipment is very expensive, as are several software licences, journal subscriptions and essential books,” said Edward Simpson MCIOB, a lecturer in the University’s environment division. Meanwhile, some universities also

report a decline in the number of part-time students, whose studies are supported fi nancially by their employers. At the University of Northumbria in Newcastle, part-time applications are down by 50% compared with 2009. “Most contracting organisations appear

to be cutting training, particularly where they are involved in publicly-funded projects,” said Dr Andrew Platten MCIOB, associate dean of the faculty of arts, environment and society at Leeds Metropolitan University. “Elsewhere the need to reduce overheads is preventing students from gaining sponsorship on courses from their employers.” *The UCAS fi gures do not include students on courses without the search terms in the title, such as quantity surveying.

“ We would have liked to have made more offers to good candidates. We were constricted on numbers last year, but more so this year.” Julian Spicer, University of the West of England

What are consumers’ biggest concerns regarding construction? The CoST pilot study focused purely on construction projects, but many people also want transparency on planning and proof that completed buildings actually match up to what was promised — they need to see that their money has been well spent and that a building is fi t for purpose. They are also concerned about sustainability and recycling issues.

How will information on projects be made available? Our steering group meetings have shown that a broad range of data needs to be made available and the way that’s analysed and brought together will likely be the responsibility of the organisation charged with ensuring transparency. We expect local councils to provide information to consumers on local projects, because construction tends to affect public opinion at a local level. National public bodies such as the Highways Agency and the Environment Agency will also have to publish information on costs online.

Will increased transparency keep costs down? Increased transparency keeps businesses on their toes. Vince Cable has been talking about breaking large businesses down into smaller chunks to increase competition, but I believe pushing them to increase transparency is a more effective alternative.

What happens next? Over the next three months we will work with other CoST members to develop a coherent plan for increasing transparency in UK public sector construction projects. We’re hoping to get funding to develop a set of online software tools that will allow people to search for specifi c projects and specifi c data on them.