星空传媒

6
The number of roving safety representatives construction union UCATT is recruiting following a six-month pilot scheme in north-west England.

The closing date for applications for the posts, which will command a salary of 拢21,000, was 28 April, with the first appointments in early June.

The reps' brief will be to advise contractors on training needs for health and safety, presenting toolbox talks, encouraging links between employers and workers and promoting the benefits of good safety management.

"We are looking for people with a passion for safety," said UCATT's George Brumwell.

The pilot has failed to win support from the Construction Confederation because it does not provide a mechanism to measure safety improvements. But a spokesman said it did support the reps, since the system is voluntary for firms.

9
In pounds, the minimum rate skilled tradespeople will earn per hour, following negotiations between UCATT, TGWU, GMB and the Construction Confederation.

The 拢1.70 rise to 拢9 represents a 23.3% hike. The unions had initially put in for a 37% rise to 拢12.

Labourers will get 90p more at 拢7.83 and the starting rate for apprentices grows 6.1% to 拢122 per week.

The rises will be applied in three stages of 5.07% in the first year, 7.17% in the second and 9.49% in the third. The first year's rate applies from 30 June 2003.

555
The number of pounds, in millions, that the Department for Transport will give councils this year for the upkeep of minor roads. That's double the amount allocated in 2000. Also, the highways agency intends to increase its maintenance budget from 拢748m to 拢822m next year.

The boost appears to be much needed. Last month The Guardian reported that wheel ruts, weeds and cracked surfaces are blighting the country's small roads, and that the Department for Transport's "defects index" had jumped a record 12% on unclassified roads last year.

The extra money will be seen as further evidence that Gordon Brown will keep his pledge to earmark extra public spending for the built environment despite current uncertain global economic prospects.

1680
The number of public sector clients registered with Constructionline, the government's Web-based pre-qualification register. This represents a 23.5% rise over last year. More construction companies are using it, too. There are now 12,100 firms registered, a hike of 16.9% over the previous 12 months.

Constructionline has attracted plenty of criticism, with even the Construction Confederation calling it ineffective. But a report from the Local Government Task Force has praised improvements to the service, including faster Web access thanks to new IT equipment and more up-to-date information, as companies now have to supply data once a year instead of once every three years.

21,000
The number of CSCS cards issued in the first three months of this year. This compares to 43,000 for the whole of last year.

The CITB is having to increase its staffing numbers by one third to cope with the increase in enquiries to 3000 a day.

The Major Contractors Group has set itself a deadline for its sites to be fully carded by the end of the year. The last audit in January showed that 55% of operatives held cards. MCG counted up again at the beginning of April although this figure will not be made public.

216,838
The salary of the RICS's chief executive Louis Armstrong. Some RICS members are up in arms about the institution's hike in membership fees. Ordinary members will see their fees rise from 拢190 to 拢250 a year, while fellows will be forking out 拢434, up 拢120. Big players like Davis, Langdon & Everest, Cyril Sweett, AYH and EC Harris which pay their staff's fees are facing bills of 拢1m.

The reason RICS needs more cash is for its efforts to modernise. So far the institution has spent 拢1m on Agenda for Change report recommendations, published in 2000, changing the structure to 16 faculties, upgrading IT and marketing.

Armstrong's counterpart at the CIOB, Chris Blythe, gets paid 拢86,000 a year. Blythe claims the CIOB is in sound financial shape, having increased its reserves by around 拢500,000.