Taskforce sends Raynsford cowboy-busting package

摘要

A government taskforce on cowboy builders has recommended cash compensation, a national helpline giving details of firms with a "Quality Mark" and a cut in VAT on repair and maintenance. The taskforce report, which will be sent to ministers this month, also suggests a standard contract for small works, a national publicity campaign for the Quality Mark and testing of staff for "competence". The report, obtained by Building this week, was due to be agreed at a meeting on Tuesday. Construction minister Nick Raynsford, who set up the working group that wrote the report, is expected to put the ideas out for consultation, followed by a six-month pilot study, before the new system is implemented in summer 2000. Senior industry sources said the government sees its cowboy crackdown as at least as important as Sir John Egan's Rethinking Construction report last year.