Public sector construction work experienced its largest quarterly decline in the two decades since Office for National Statistics output records began. The amount of public sector work, excluding housing, fell by 10.9% in the second quarter of 2019. Overall output fell by 1.3% in the three months to the end of June, largely reversing the 1.4% increase in the first quarter. Mark Robinson, Scape Group chief executive, said: "Local authorities [are] both reluctant and unable to push forward with delivering new offices, schools, hospitals, surgeries and shops. The stark reality is both the public and private sector are continuing to err on the side of caution and new work has flatlined." Robinson said ongoing political instability driven by how the UK will leave the EU at the end of October was to blame for the slump.
展开▼
