Austerity not inevitably agony

£6.2bn down, £149.8bn to go. OK, that’s an exaggeration. The government isn’t planning to eradicate the UK’s budget deficit entirely overnight, but it is looking to make a very big dent in it very quickly.

The big question every business is asking is how will the cuts affect them and the problem here is that, while the government has prepared us all for pain, it hasn’t said precisely where it will inflict it. But with the proviso that no-one will know for sure possibly until the autumn spending review, tentative forecasts from the timber and related sectors are that the new regime is going to result in pain, rather than agony.

The Construction Products Association warns that if plans to save £1.7bn in government contracts hit capital projects, it could keep construction mired in recession. But it welcomed proposals to reinvest £170m of savings in social rented housing and £50m in further education colleges.

British Woodworking Federation chief executive Richard Lambert also said that likely cuts in the Building Schools for the Future programme would be a blow, but other government policies could offset the damage. The Decentralisation Bill could free local authorities to boost housebuilding and the Energy Bill’s targets for improving housing energy performance may boost spending on joinery and other timber products.

The consensus also seems to be that steps timber companies have taken to tough out recession leave them better equipped for a new period of government austerity. And the feeling is that trade has picked up recently. Financial results are generally better and capital spending, a leading machine maker told TTJ this week, seems to be in slow recovery.

What the sector clearly does need to do today more than ever is maintain its market profile and talk up its products to ensure, as far as possible, that the budget-cutting knife hovers over them and moves on. Which is why it’s particularly good news that TRADA is planning to launch a new exhibition for the industry. Timber Expo should be a great opportunity to present a positive, forward looking industry with exactly the materials and solutions needed in a leaner, meaner, greener UK.