New business secretary tells construction to keep going during lockdown on first day in role

New business secretary Kwasi Kwarteng has written an open letter to the construction industry telling it is safe to carry on working and spelling out why sites are continuing to stay open.

His letter comes as concerns about working through this latest lockdown have grown in the week since it was announced by prime minister Boris Johnson.

Construction was again spared the stay-at-home message but several firms contacted by Building have said keeping sites open in the coming weeks might not be as straightforward as previous lockdowns.

Several pointed out that sites are open this time around when cases are higher than the first lockdown in March last year while schools, closed as part of the third lockdown, have drawn up detailed plans for homeschooling.

One small contractor told Building that one of its senior team was forced to take his five-year-old daughter to his site office last week. “His wife works in a hospital. He had to drop something off at the site so his daughter had to come along as well.”

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