Sean Houlston has been in Parliament meeting with business leaders from the heritage construction sector, alongside Nigel Huddleston MP, Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, to discuss the challenges facing specialist firms and the reforms needed to protect skills, jobs and historic buildings.
The discussions focused on skills shortages, the lack of clear training routes for heritage trades, and concerns that current net zero and retrofit policies are poorly suited to older and historic buildings.
Business leaders also raised concerns about public sector procurement, warning that existing frameworks often exclude smaller specialist firms despite their expertise being essential to high quality conservation work.
