Dr David Hancock, head of construction at the Cabinet Office, has said he is considering endorsing the idea of gender quotas for women on government-funded construction projects in order for more to be attracted and recruited to the construction industry.
Hancock, who is incharge of drawing up a new construction strategy said the percentage of women working in construction was still far short of expectations and that it was equally the government and the industry’s responsibility to improve construction’s image.
Speaking on the first morning of the Construction Industry Summit 2016, in London, Hancock said a shift change was needed to address the issue.
He said: “I was never one for quotas in the industry or using it but I’m moving towards that thinking.”
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Hancock mentioned the recent Construction Manager of the Year Awards that he attended last week.
He praised the awards for trying to expand and include more women, but said he was “mortified” that there was no single nominee or even entrant to the annual event.
“Something needs to change overall, you can’t choose a woman for an award if they don’t apply and for that we need more women in the industry.”
It is estimated that 99% of workers on site are men; and around 10% of the overall construction workforce, including HR and admin staff, are women.
In a wide-ranging presentation, other areas Hancock touched on were the lack of skills investment and poor image overall of the industry.
He said the construction industry urgently needed to attract new talent and keep them; one area that could prove beneficial would be by offering greater flexibility and work patterns.
Prior to his current position as head of construction for the government’s construction team, Hancock was head of risk for TfL with responsibility for the risk and project services across its £15bn capital portfolio.
He has worked with the public, private and voluntary sectors and has been the director of risk and assurance for two London mayors and executive director for Halcrow (now CH2MHill).
