New homebuilding skills hub launch and industry response

[edit] New skills hubs launched to get Britain building

5,000 more construction apprenticeship places will be made available per year thanks to £140m industry investment to get Britain building again. A total of 32 pioneering new Homebuilding Skills Hubs will deliver fast-track training to local areas that need more housing, while giving apprentices vital skills to boost housebuilding in the UK and drive forward the government’s growth mission. The purpose-built hubs will provide a realistic working environment for training for key construction trades, including bricklayers, roofers, plasterers, scaffolders, electricians, carpenters and more.

[edit] Collaboration for fast track trainiing

The government is working with the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) and the National House-Building Council (NHBC) to launch them. Working hand in hand with Skills England to identify the areas that need construction workers the most, this will ensure employers and businesses have access to high quality apprenticeship training, kickstarting economic growth and creating jobs across England.

The fast-track apprenticeships offered by the hubs can be completed in 12-18 months, up to half the time of a traditional 24-30-month construction apprenticeship. This means more construction workers can be trained quickly, unlocking economic growth by getting more people into highly skilled jobs.

[edit] Ministerial comments and discussions

Minister for Skills, Baroness Jacqui Smith, said:

"This government is committed to 1.5 million homes being built across this parliament, while breaking down barriers to opportunity by fixing our broken skills system. If we are to meet this ambitious target and fix the foundations of our economy, we need to ensure we have a skilled workforce, and give more apprentices a foot on the career ladder. The need to boost our country’s skills is crucial to our mission-driven government, and I am pleased that this initiative will give apprentices skills to seize opportunity."

At the end of November 2024, Minister for Skills Jacqui Smith hosted a roundtable with MHCLG’s Housing Minister Matthew Pennycook MP, DBT’s Minister for Industry Sarah Jones MP, and Social Security and Disability Minister Stephen Timms MP from DWP to discuss how government departments can work together with industry to reach our shared goals of more good-quality homes being built. A further visit to the students at Oldham College by the skills Minister will help to find out how these hubs will help students to develop their skills.

Minister of State for Housing and Planning Matthew Pennycook said:

"A skilled and efficient construction sector is essential to building 1.5 million new homes in this parliament. This new funding will help to grow, upskill and diversify the housing workforce and deliver the government’s housebuilding target."

[edit] Comments from the partners

Roger Morton, Director of Business Change and NHBC’s Training Hubs, commented:

"Our £100 million investment in a national network of 12 NHBC Multi-Skills Training Hubs will train quality apprentices and help shape the future of UK house building. Our expert facilities will shake-up the industry starting with training in critical areas including bricklaying, groundwork and site carpentry. NHBC’s hubs are designed to be flexible, adapting to local housing needs and regulatory changes. Our intensive training will produce skilled tradespeople faster, equipping them to hit the ground running from day one. At NHBC, our mission is to ensure every apprentice meets our high standards, delivering quality new homes the UK urgently needs. With funding support through the Apprenticeship Levy and generous grants, I’d say to builders and contractors, there’s never been a better time to invest in apprentices. It’s an opportunity to grow your workforce while offering talented people a rewarding and well-paid career in this essential industry."

Tim Balcon, Chief Executive of CITB, said:

"It is clear that we need to rethink how we train our workforce and be much more agile in our approach. We have worked closely with the homebuilding industry and government to develop a programme that is focussed on equipping individuals with the skills they need to be productive on site, in the most efficient way. This is truly a collaborative approach and one we are very excited about. This investment to launch 32 Homebuilding Skills Hubs will help meet the homebuilding targets while flattening peaks in demand for construction skills on homebuilding across the country."

Up to 32 training hubs will be set up across the country in the areas with the greatest homebuilding need, with all hubs scheduled to have launched by 2028.

[edit] CIOB reacts to the construction apprenticeship announcement

The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) has welcomed the announcement of 5,000 additional construction apprenticeship places per year.

David Barnes, Acting Head of Policy and Public Affairs at CIOB, said:

“This is a welcomed move which aligns with CIOB’s long-standing calls for the Government to help address the construction skills gap in the UK to help deliver a sustainable and resilient construction industry with an assured pipeline of future skills. We hope by establishing new skills hubs across the country, the Government can provide appropriate training for essential construction trades like bricklayers, roofers, plasterers and scaffolders which will help to deliver the ambitious housing targets set by the Government."

"While we understand addressing the skills deficit is a time-sensitive issue, the gap is about capability as much as capacity. There is a lack of teachers with current practice knowledge, which only investment in training and better remuneration will solve. We hope the Government will work closely with the construction industry to develop its course content, ensuring the right training is given – particularly in the shorter time frame. This will also be vital in ensuring we have the quality of homes consumers deserve.”

Barnes urged the Government to also consider the high dropout rates for trade apprenticeships, which could rise in a shortened and more intense programme as outlined in these new plans.

“Ultimately, while welcomed, this is by no means a complete solution to the housing plans, and there is still a long way to go to address the predicted shortfall of more than 250,000 workers needed to deliver construction output by 2028,” he added. We hope policymakers will soon also focus on increasing the number of building control professionals and local planners to ensure planning applications can be approved speedily and that the rights checks are done to make sure the homes built are high quality.”

The first section of this article was issued via government Press Release as "New skills hubs launched to get Britain building" dated 22 November 2024. The second second appears on the CIOB news and blog site as "CIOB reacts to UK Government's construction apprenticeship announcement" dated 22 November 2024.

--CIOB

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