Question: The CPA has published its annual report on government delivery in the built environment. What is the main message the report sends to Tony Blair?

Allan Wilen:The main objective of the report is to assess how the government is delivering in a number of areas.

Government has made a lot of firm commitments to improve the urban environment, which we welcome, and deliver long term improvements to housing, transport, hospitals and schools.

In the report we highlight where the government is making good headway and give examples of where improvement is not happening and recommend courses of action to rectify that and to ensure that the improvements everyone wants to see are delivered.

Tony Blair has said: "The public has paid its money. It now expects the results."

Our message to Tony Blair is twofold: Firstly, if you've got better information and able to track what is happening, you can identify where there are problems much faster. Secondly, and looking ahead to next year, 2004 will see the spending review and more specific targets must be in place as they help to focus the minds of ministers and encourages them to spend their money more wisely.

Question: The government has often repeated its claim that ministers are spending more on education than ever before. What progress has been made?

Allan Wilen:Education is probably one of the brightest spots, although one of the disappointing things about it is that the government's own monitoring isn't really there.

But we have seen that the increased funds have led to increased construction activity so we are encouraged that progress is being made.

In terms of tackling the backlog, the government has produced some initial estimates showing that substantial progress has been made but we really won't have a detailed answer to that question until early next year when the government publishes the 2003 survey of school stock.

This comes only once every three years and one of the things we are recommending is that there should be more of these surveys - maybe on an annual basis. We understand that ministers are reluctant to impose more bureaucratic burdens on schools but we believe there are ways around this.

It would help industry to learn how much work has been undertaken and how much is in the pipeline, and it would also help the government to know what sort of progress is being made.

One area we are concerned about is the recent government decision to raid the capital fund to help pay teachers' salaries - it set a very worrying precedent, especially as one of the things that we had really welcomed about the government's approach was that they recognised that funds for salaries and buildings were two separate things.

Ministers had previously recognised that investment was for the long term and this move has just served to increase uncertainty in the industry.

Question: What about housing? Has the government made progress in tackling the lack of affordable housing?

Allan Wilen:The government has made a lot of play on the need for more affordable housing for key workers.

Its communities plan contained a specific target for additional housing supplies over the long term in the south east and that was something we welcomed.

But when you actually sit down and look at the plan there aren't many clear targets on how much social housing is required. One of our concerns is that the government hasn't undertaken detailed research on the growing need for social housing.

Question: Has there been any progress on the transport sector?

Allan Wilen:On the roads front, we've been encouraged by the progress made by the Highways Agency - they have been pressing ahead with schemes and are progressing well.

Our concern is, looking beyond that over the next couple of years, there may be a dip in the new build coming through. Planning hurdles could well be delaying new schemes, which is a bit of a lost opportunity.

This means that easing congestion and cutting traffic delays will not happen as soon as they should. The government has already admitted that it is unlikely to meet its target for cutting congestion by 2010 but there is a real need to make sure the investment does go through.

On the rail side, this is something we've looked at for the first time this year. In the past we've deliberately shied away from it because of the total chaos the network was facing.

The new structure is bedding down and it is important that the SRA and the train companies work together to ensure that there is sufficient resources to meet the current targets.

We saw the channel tunnel rail link opening this month which we welcomed. But this is quite rare - there has been less progress on other major projects such as Crossrail and Thameslink 2000.

Question: What's the diagnosis on the NHS?

Allan Wilen:I think one thing we've been looking at is delivering the leading hospital programme which has now been extended to 113 hospitals in the year to 2010.

That much we welcome but we are concerned that the rate of progress is two slow. It's been slipping behind schedule over the past two to three years.

It's important to get back on track to deliver on this increased spending. They are also behind schedule on their targets for improving the repair backlog in NHS estates.

One of the targets - to make 90 per cent of the estates health and safety compliant by March 2003 has already been missed.

Question: How does the construction industry itself assist the government in delivering?

Allan Wilen:I think we are the ultimate agents of delivery for that investment. Most of the hospital builds, for example, are going through the PFI route but we are here to ensure that it is cost effectively done.

In addition to that, from the construction products side, we can work with contractors and clients - in this case the government - from an early stage of the design process. We can then help to drive down costs in an effective way.

Question: In terms of the future, are there any specific things the government should be doing to improve delivery?

Allan Wilen:We've made a number of specific recommendations in the report under the five headings of social housing, school buildings, health, roads and railways, but generally there are three main messages.

The first is, in the run up to the 2004 Spending Review, make sure that adequate funds are available to meet the targets that have already been set.

Secondly, set clear interim targets so that progress can be monitored. And, finally, ensure that robust mechanisms are in place to measure performance against those targets.