The Builders Merchants Federation (BMF) has welcomed the Construction Leadership Council’s (CLC) first sector-wide skills plan for construction, the Industry Skills Plan for the UK Construction Sector 2021-25, which sets out how to tackle key skills challenges facing construction.
Traditionally, there has been a narrow definition of the construction industry, limited to those who construct, repair and maintain buildings but behind the sector-wide plan is the belief that the industry should increasingly be viewed in broader terms.
It looks out to include the supply chain for construction materials, products and assemblies, and professional services such as management architecture, engineering and surveying, as the current and future fortunes of all these activities are critically intertwined.
The CLC’s plan sets out a series of clear actions and commitments for both industry and government to help meet these challenges, grouped under the following four areas: careers; standards and qualifications; training, education, and development; and culture and working environment.
Commitments include:
- Creating Talent View, a one-stop-shop portal for new entrants
- Recruiting 7,000 construction STEM Ambassadors
- Developing an industry standard for work experience
- Producing competence frameworks
- New training standards for net zero and smart construction
- A pledge to promote direct employment
John Newcomb, chief executive officer of the BMF, said: “This is a plan for the broader construction industry, encompassing a total workforce of over 3.5 million people. It can only benefit the whole industry to work together with the government and education bodies to develop appropriate pathways from schools, further education, higher education, as well as for adults changing careers, into every aspect of construction.”
