Nigel Copner’s Post

In his weekly column for The Times, Lord Hague makes a compelling case for vocational education and that the lack of it is holding back the economic growth of the nation 🏚 The UK's goal to build hundreds of thousands homes annually is challenged by a skilled trades shortage, especially post-Brexit with fewer EU workers. 🔧 Skilled workers like electricians and plumbers are essential but in short supply, needing years of training and apprenticeships. 📉 Government initiatives aim to fill skill gaps, but rapid improvement in construction skills remains difficult. 👷♂️ The CITB predicts a need for 225,000 extra workers by 2027, highlighting a vast skill shortfall in the sector. 👩🏭 Cultural shifts and support for practical skills, especially among young people and women, are needed alongside incentives for small businesses to train apprentices. As he notes "We do not have in this country the electricians, plumbers, bricklayers, plasterers, tilers, scaffolders, bathroom fitters and roofers who would be needed to build 300,000 homes every year. Their skills cannot just be conjured up but need training and apprenticeships that can take years. They are the very skills that will also be in demand to retrofit existing homes with heat pumps, change cladding that should never have been installed, and work on big infrastructure projects such as HS2" And they are skills that we (as a society, including industry and schools, as well as ministers of all parties) have not been producing in sufficient numbers for a long time. This cannot be allowed to continue and there needs to be a serious reappraisal of the tertiary education system in all parts of the UK at a time when there seems to be a disconnect with what industry requires and what is currently being provided. The fact that the Llywodraeth Cymru / Welsh Government has reduced its apprenticeship budget by 25% at a time when we need more skilled young people in key areas of the economy is just one example where priorities have gone wrong. With 10,000 fewer apprenticeships in 2024-25, it's been estimated by one Welsh FE College that this decision could potentially cost the Welsh economy more than £400m over the long term. Whilst skills is a devolved matter, this is nevertheless an issue that needs urgent attention across the whole of the UK. I would hope that such reform will form a critical part of the manifestos for the this year's general election as this is not a failure of one political party but of successive governments over the last 40 years and it is a failure that is holding back the future of our economy. #skilledtrades #apprenticeships #vocationaltraining

🔍 Recently, The Times published an eye-opening piece: "Britain can’t build without a trades revolution." 🚧🇬🇧 The UK's ambitious goal of 300,000 new homes per year is in jeopardy, not only due to regulatory challenges but also due to a severe shortage of tradespeople. Key trades like plumbing, bricklaying, and electrical work are facing a deficit. CITB predicts a need for an extra 225,000 construction workers by 2027 to keep up with current demand, while Kingfisher forecasts a £98 billion loss in output due to these shortages. Investing in apprenticeships is indeed a brilliant move. It’s pivotal for long-term growth and skill development in the sector. However, the reality we face is that apprenticeship programs, while beneficial, won’t suffice to meet today’s soaring demand. Through my lens as an economist, there's an imbalance: a surplus in fields like accounting and HR and a deficit in trades. While educating the youth about the benefits of trade careers is crucial, it takes time to see results. 🌏 My recent discussions with counterparts in Canada and Australia reveal a similar scenario. The reliance on human skill in trades is undeniable, as AI isn't yet a viable substitute. 🤔 So, how do we address this immediate need? A potential solution I'm investigating is skilled-based immigration for construction workers. Training workers in their home countries to meet UK standards – covering practical, theoretical, and safety aspects – could be a game-changer. This approach, which we've successfully implemented in the Middle East, could be pivotal globally. This multifaceted issue demands diverse solutions. Let’s collaborate and innovate! https://lnkd.in/et36vC_4 #UKConstruction #TradesShortage #HousingCrisis #SkilledLabour #EconomicGrowth #Apprenticeships #SkilledImmigration #GlobalSolutions Raaj Singh Pav Singh

A must-read article that summarises the challenge ahead of us in the construction industry: - 300,000 homes per year target from both parties - Shortfall of workers from the EU post Brexit - 225,000 workers needed by 2027 - UK to lose £98bn in output due to a shortage of tradespeople - 13% of 16-25 year olds encouraged to consider trade career options - Low pay and poor incentives for apprentices meaning completion rates are dreadful But, getting this right means the prize is huge: - Those acquiring the right skills in construction will have a job for life - "Those acquiring the right skills will have a job for life: however impressive artificial intelligence programmes become they will struggle to install the electrical wires in your bathroom, guarantee they are safe and connect the right wires to the fuse box. Such jobs will be better paid than the national average." Not mentioned here is how companies actually source their skilled labour which is one of the biggest contributing factors to why there are so many delays. Relying on their personal networks to source people in a world where the number of skilled workers has been hit by Brexit is clearly no longer fit for purpose. And when that fails, using traditional recruitment agencies, and adding a 20 - 30% cost onto every hire, clearly isn't a long-term solution either, especially when trades hired through agencies aren't given access to training. At Fixed, we believe we have an efficiency problem of how the trades are matched with jobs and that we can use technology to improve this 100x. William Hague Lucy Clarke Henryk Jakubiak https://lnkd.in/eAvQWwV4 #construction #constructionjobs #skilledlabourshortage #greenskills #apprenticeship #brexit

Election season is upon us! Get ready to see lots of pictures of politicians in hard hats pointing at things. What have Labour already said about the construction and infrastructure sector? We will need to wait for the manifesto launch but Labour have already trailed several plans and policies aimed at supporting the construction sector: 1. The Green Prosperity Plan and forming Great British Energy, a publicly owned clean power company to be headquartered in Scotland. Labour have said the aim is to "ensure jobs and supply chains are built here in the UK, developing our clean energy industries". 2. A new industrial strategy created in partnership with business, through a statutory Industrial Strategy Council. 3. A new generation of Technical Excellence Colleges, offering more high-quality apprenticeships and providing training opportunities tailored to local jobs 4. Reforming the Apprenticeship Levy as a more flexible Growth and Skills Levy. 5. Policy to promote building housing on the "grey belt" (low quality green belt land) presumably through planning policy reform. 6. Merge the National Infrastructure Commission (NIC) and Infrastructure and Projects Authority (IPA) into a “new, powerful” body to “better support the delivery of major capital projects” 7. 1,500,000 new homes during the course of the parliament including good quality affordable homes. 8. Building new towns. 9. They've recently said they will be "faster in cracking down on late payments making sure the law is on the side of small businesses", a constant issue in construction but no indication, as far as I can see, that this would result in further changes to the regime that already provides some protection for construction contracts. #ConstructionSector #Infrastructure #GreenEconomy #IndustrialStrategy #Election2024

4 weeks of ….. Empties # 4 For Anthony here’s the current number of council houses in Southampton that are sitting empty and are capable of retrofitting. In order to tackle homelessness in the UK we need several approaches but in essence it’s:- ( 1) retrofitting UK’s 600,000 empty properties that are owned by Councils and private sector (2) using modular construction techniques to build new QuAlms Haus Co Living & Working Eco Villages on half football pitch size sites to enable the Young Underinvested to get a roof over their heads; a foot on the property ladder and continue their often interrupted education through specialist remote earn whilst you learn apprenticeships. I’m going to share my concept and other plans with Anthony so that he can use them in his discussions with the powers that be to try ( not try actually but) to reverse the rapidly increasing trend in homelessness for all age groups. https://lnkd.in/ekexJX7w

According to a 2022 U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) report, the typical union member’s median income is 18% higher than their non-union counterparts. Union membership is found to increase wealth between 167% to 228% for households of color, per the Federal Reserve.” With New York's Climate Act mandating the retrofitting of 50,000 buildings and the transition to zero-emissions transport, union apprenticeship programs are becoming more vital than ever, training the workforce needed to modernize electrical infrastructure and lead the green energy revolution. In a bylined article in City and State, Paul Iaccarino, the educational director of the BUILDING TRADES EDUCATIONAL BENEFIT FUND, encourages students to pursue this high-quality, no-cost pathway to the middle class. https://lnkd.in/e5_WgG8u #sustainability #ClimateAction

Building more housing: Politicians seem to be magicians talking through their clackers. Promising'more social housing' & an extremely unachievable number of houses by any stretch of time or imagination. On average each house takes between 8 - 12 months to build, add council approval times for building, land development etc which can stretch out to 2 years+. Couple this with increasing migration, building company failures; lousy sub-contracting rates, pathetic lack of trained trades people - who take at least 4 years to qualify at base levels, lowest apprenticeship take up in all trades for the past decade. All that doesn't take into account the trades involved in renovations, repairs etc. 2030? 2095 more likely. I wish they would stop inhaling the Canberra marijuana then going out believing they have "solved"another pressing problem.

Our public affairs and policy director, Martin Reid MBA FCILT sets out how we're supporting our industry in #NorthernIreland, #Scotland and #Wales. We continue to #collaborate with devolved governments on our members' key priorities including: #skills, #decarbonisation, driver #facilities, #infrastructure, cross-border #trade and cost pressures. https://lnkd.in/eEF7Kq_u

Green Rose CIC is delighted to join over 30 other civil society organisations in supporting this Warm Homes Plan statement from leading thinktank E3G: https://lnkd.in/eBtj5kGu It sets out some straightforward actions that the next Government should take to ensure Britain's homes and warm and affordable: - commit long-term to funding schemes like the Energy Company Obligation (ECO) to give confidence to the energy efficiency industry - implement the proposed improvements to the Minimum Energy Efficiency Standards (MEES) for privately rented properties - introduce a Green Stamp Duty incentive to make it attractive for homebuyers to make energy-saving improvements to their homes - massively expand the training and apprenticeship opportunities for our industry to build a workforce that's capable of delivering the scale of improvement needed Four actions that would make a huge difference to ending fuel poverty for good.

What does The King’s Speech and a number of other announcements recently from the Government mean in construction industry?   “It’s got to be about people and placemaking, rather than what developers need out of the system.”Housing Minister Matthew Pennycock    If we build better homes which are supported by the right kind of infrastructure, people will thrive in them. We'll create solid, supportive, high-functioning communities... and then everything else will flourish too. This is exactly what we all need isn't it?   🏡 The new proposed Planning and Infrastructure Bill should streamline the process for approving critical infrastructure and planning.   🏡 Skills England to introduce apprenticeships and skills training that will hopefully help to bridge the skills gap.   🏡 An English Devolution Bill is expected to streamline the process transferring powers to elected mayors in combined council areas.    We have the solutions, we have the need, we have the will... we just need the dots joined up at the top!   If everything we have heard about recently comes to fruition , it could have a really positive impact not just our industry but more importantly all of us - our people. I truly believe that all of the above and the solutions available to us puts us closer to achieving what is needed. Saint-Gobain Off-Site Solutions Chris Griffiths Will Frost Lauren Arthur Iain B. Dylan Burns