Government must address construction skills ‘crisis’, says West & North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce
West & North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce has written to Education Secretary, Bridget Philipson, calling on the Government to address the “crisis” surrounding a lack of construction skills in the UK workforce.
The chamber said it fears the lack of construction skills could lead to a “breakdown in future UK infrastructure projects”.
Construction is a major part of the UK’s economy, employing 2.15 million people and worth six per cent of the country’s GDP. However, the sector’s workforce is sharply declining, with more than a third of those working in construction now aged over 50 years old.
Mark Casci, head of representation and policy at the Chamber, said: “The situation regarding future staffing needs for the construction industry is nothing short of a crisis.
“The problem is the lack of capacity in learning provision. For example, York College currently has around 580 apprentices, 70 per cent of which are in construction. However, recruiting a retaining staff remains a challenge across all learning providers. Teaching salaries in further education remain significantly below what can be commanded in private industry.
“If the Government is to hit its ambitious housing targets, build and maintain schools and hospitals and roll out the infrastructure projects we do desperately need to compete internationally, it will need the people to create it.”
The Department for Education did not respond to requests for comment at the time of publication.
According to research from the Construction Industry Training Board, a total of 251,500 additional workers are required to meet UK construction output by 2028. This equates to 50,300 workers per year.
Yorkshire and the Humber’s annual recruitment requirement also stands at 5,320, according to the research.
The Chamber added that it had written to the secretary of state for education, to seek clarity on “what policy instruments [the Government] intends to deploy to help avert the crisis”.
Nikki Davis, principal and chief executive at Leeds College of Building, said: “The construction and built environment sector and its workforce require quick, decisive action from government to support its skills demands.
“Without this, government priorities such as house building, retrofit or mass transit will be stalled. FE Colleges, such as Leeds College of Building are instrumental to the training demands and are doing much already but with limited resources and we need government to recognise the significant funding challenges which remain in the sector.”
Ken Merry, principal and chief executive at York College, said: “At York College, we are extremely proud of the work we do to ensure the construction and build environment has the skilled work force that is needed to deliver the ambitious government targets for new houses across the UK, but especially in York and North Yorkshire where the capacity of building will need to at least double to meet the local targets.
“We train close to 1,000 people to enter the sector annually. However, this great work is achieved despite successive governments under funding further education and skills.
“We support the calls for this Labour government to show that they are a party that can deliver on ambitious targets by ensuring further education providers receive the funding they need in order to ensure that the future of our great nation is protected and provided for.”