黑洞社区

The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform received a mere 66 responses to the latest consultation on the Construction Act.

More than 350 submissions were made for the Act鈥檚 first consultation, which was handled by the new department鈥檚 predecessor, the Department for Trade and Industry.

Officials will sift through results and consult with Stephen Timms, construction minister, before deciding whether the Act merits a slot in the next session of parliament.

Timms did little to downplay industry fears that the Act would miss its slot when he spoke at the launch of the National Specialist Contractors Council鈥檚 Fair Payment campaign.

鈥淲e will look to push for the changes that are required in the Act as soon as parliamentary time allows,鈥� he said.

The lack of response and repeated delays may mean the plans will not be included in the Queen鈥檚 Speech on 6 November.

If the Act were to make the Queen鈥檚 Speech, the changes would be introduced as primary legislation, rather than as a legislative reform order.

It is still planned that a draft Bill will be produced by the end of the year.