The government’s extremely ambitious house building targets are creating a debate around whether we have the construction workforce to actually deliver 1.5 million homes over the next five years. At the minute the industry has sufficient capacity to build the 200,000 homes a year it is currently delivering. But if the government can create an environment where around 300,000 homes could be built each year, the industry would have to recruit and train tens of thousands of new people across a range of trades. That is a big ‘if’, even with the new funding announced over the weekend. There are other considerable barriers to increasing supply; while the planning policy changes the government has made are very welcome, there are other market and regulatory costs and delays in the planning process they need to tackle before ‘skills’ even comes into play.
However, the intent is clearly there and regardless of the debate around housing policy, it is key that we put in place the building blocks to enable us to effectively train the workforce of tomorrow.
One vital area that needs to be tackled is vocational qualifications. Currently just 25 per cent of those on FE construction courses go directly to working in the industry, according to a 2020 report from the Construction Industry Training Board – a shocking statistic that from an industry perspective we simply have to address.
The main reason for this is that too many courses today fail to equip learners with the practical skills and qualities that employers’ demand. As a result they struggle to find jobs in construction, often abandoning their career ambitions or having to enrol in additional training to become work-ready.
This means the time before they get into useful productive work, and crucially start to get paid well, is elongated.
We have to find a way to reform vocational courses so they are responding to industry needs and providing a viable route into employment.
Some T levels are now fulfilling this requirement. The design surveying and planning course is providing a real pathway into a quantity surveying degree apprenticeship. And there are some similar BTEC examples. But many trade specific courses are not and fundamental changes are needed to make them a useful option for learners and employers alike.
A starting point must be the structure of the courses. Providing students with just 16 hours a week in total learning, of which only around four hours is practical training, is never going to provide tomorrow’s bricklayers or joiners with the skills they need.
Funding is clearly critical here, and whilst we have the ear of a government that has put increasing housing supply as its number one policy commitment, we’re ensuring that they’re aware of this point. We simply must adequately fund FE colleges to ensure vocational courses are full-time, well-resourced, and properly staffed. This will enable learners to complete their courses with the skills and experience needed to be work-ready and fully employable.
Properly funding FE colleges and improving the courses they offer will provide a section of our young people that currently are not served well enough by the education system, with huge opportunities.
Less than 20 per cent of 25–64-year-olds in the UK hold a vocational qualification, compared to nearly 50 per cent in other European countries like Germany. This discrepancy must have an impact on our productivity and growth as an economic competitor.
We need to make the case to decision makers and more broadly in schools and to parents, that a good vocational qualification can lead to a rewarding, and very well-paid career.
We are prioritising this through our ‘partner a college’ initiative, which connects member companies with colleges to provide support and shape courses to better meet industry needs. We’re working with the government and stakeholders on improvements to apprenticeships, the development of skills hubs, and our ongoing women into construction programme. If we can get this key route into industry right, it will help ensure we are well positioned to deliver the workforce, houses and growth the government and the country desperately need.
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