Following the results of Wales’ Senedd elections, could this mean good news for the civils sector?
It was a pretty historic election for Wales with Plaid Cymru becoming the largest party with 43 seats followed by Reform on 34 seats. The 27 year reign of Welsh Labour is over with the other parties trailing. Given that it was also a new electoral system based wholly on proportional representation with an increase in the size of the Senedd it was good to see an increase in the number of people choosing to vote with the highest turnout since the start of devolution.
In the lead up to the election CECA Wales produced its “policy asks” report Senedd elections 2026 – making the case for infrastructure – CECA, which was sent to all parties as they were developing their manifestos. We’ll be using this report in our post-election discussions with the new Ministers and other Senedd Members to make the case for infrastructure. However, whilst there were a range of infrastructure related commitments across all manifestos the overriding factor will be affordability and deliverability.
The current economic climate is challenging to say the least. Construction economists have slashed the outlook for the industry across the UK, warning output will fall 2.5% in 2026 as shockwaves from the Gulf ripple through costs, confidence and project pipelines. Forecasters at the Construction Products Association (CPA) say the sector faces a tough 12–18 months, with oil and industrial energy price spikes already feeding into double-digit product inflation and forcing clients to delay schemes. The downgrade marks a sharp reversal from the CPA’s winter outlook, with risks now “heavily skewed to the downside” as the fallout from Middle East tensions intensifies. Private housing is expected to take the biggest hit. Output is forecast to slump 7% this year as higher mortgage rates, falling buyer confidence and worsening site viability stall new starts. The housing repair, maintenance and improvement market will also shrink sharply, down 8%, as households rein in discretionary spending. There is some optimism in the infrastructure sector though, with growth of 3.2% predicted in 2026, supported by long-term energy and water programmes, although rail and roads pipelines are showing cracks under cost pressure.
From a CECA Wales perspective we still feel that there are things that can be done better to support the industry with a push for greater visibility of public workload, simpler, fairer and more pragmatic procurement measures and support to get more people trained in the sector. This includes more investment in degree apprenticeships and support for the civils trades training hubs that we’re progressing across north and south Wales (if you’d like more information and to see a short film of the development of the site and how it will look follow this link Civils Infrastructure Training Alliance (CITA) – Coleg Penybont. Plaid Cymru’s flagship manifesto commitment for the economy was the re-introduction of a WDA type body which, in itself, should provide opportunities to address some of our concerns as an industry so we’ll be watching this closely.
Given that Plaid Cymru have now formed the next government, and are looking to other parties to support them on specific policy matters, there are plenty of opportunities in our sector for Plaid and all parties to demonstrate their commitment to the Welsh economy. We’ll be making this very clear to them over the coming weeks and months.
Ed Evans
Director CECA Wales