The Government must make construction a priority, says the Federation of Master Builders (FMB), in response to the latest GDP figures released by the ONS, which show that construction and manufacturing have dragged the economy back into negative growth.

FMB Director of External Affairs Brian Berry said: "These GDP results are not surprising, our latest state of Trade survey for the last three months of 2011 showed that workloads in the SME construction sector have declined in each of the 16 quarters to the end of December 2011. Confidence in the building industry has collapsed with only 5% of small building companies expecting workloads to increase in 2012.

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"The GDP figures released prove that construction is essential to the health of the UK economy. However the industry needs the Government to adopt a bold approach to reducing the burdens upon it; pursuing the proposed planning reforms and a reduction in the overall burden of developer contributions, which are still making many sites unviable, are urgently needed. Proposed changes to part L of the building regulations must be delayed. The Government must do more to ensure banks return to reasonable rates of lending to the construction sector."

(CD/GK)