Legislation to ring fence cash retentions delayed until June

The second reading of the Aldous Bill, which aims to ring fence retentions in construction that was scheduled to be put before MPs today, has been postponed in order to give more time to secure the support of government.

Peter Aldous MP was due to present the second reading of his Construction (Retention Deposit Schemes) Bill in the House of Commons but a decision was made to delay it until 15 June and give the Bill a greater chance of being heard. There was concern that there were too many Private Members’ Bills this Friday and it will also give the government more time to consider whether they support the Bill.

Professor Rudi Klein, chief executive of the Specialist Engineering Contractor’s Group, said: “Support continues to grow across the construction industry to tackle the abuse of retentions and we now have the support of the Small Business Commissioner. The delay will give more time for the government to follow the support of ministers and formally support the Bill when it comes back to the House of Commons.”

The Second Reading is where most private member legislation fails, so securing an additional two months to grow the campaign is considered a positive move.

The number of MPs supporting the Bill has grown to 130 and 78 trade bodies support the Bill.