Tag Archives: CIOB

SkillsPlanner’s partners and collaborators include a number of major infrastructure providers (Tideway, Crossrail, HS2 and Transport for London, for example), but that doesn’t mean we are ignoring the needs of other construction sectors, such as house-building. So we are particularly interested in the work of the National Housing Taskforce, convened by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS – another SkillsPlanner collaborator) and the All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) for Housing & Planning.

The Taskforce has identified 12 workstreams with one particularly focused on construction skills, materials and technology:

We cannot achieve either the desired quality of quantity of new housing without addressing the skills gap that currently exists across the construction sector. Furthermore, there are unprecedented opportunities for improving productivity and driving down costs through the use of new construction techniques, such as off-site manufacture (OSM).

This work-stream is charged with addressing the main issues in the construction labour market, including availability, productivity and diversity. It will develop ideas for action for both government and industry, aimed at ensuring we have the capacity to deliver the homes we need.

Each work-stream is being led by a relevant organisation that will submit recommendations to the Taskforce by the end of the year, and the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB, author of a 2015 report on the ageing workforce), has issued a call for evidence (to be submitted by 9 September 2016). CIOB policy manager David Hawkes said:

“At its most basic level, what this workstream boils down to is capacity. Studies have shown the housing sector needs 120,000 new employees just to meet the required annual level of homes the UK needs. At the same time, house builders say they cannot build more than 150,000 homes per year via conventional means.

“What this suggests to us is that something needs to fundamentally change if we are to properly address the housing crisis. We need more people working more productively and we have to work out how best to utilise and implement new technologies, materials and processes.”

Mr Hawkes said that the CIOB will analyse the responses it receives and then host ‘inquiry-style discussions’ before submitting its recommendations to the National Housing Taskforce by the end of the year. The final National Housing Taskforce report, incorporating recommendations from all 12 workstreams, is expected to be released by spring 2017.

We hope this initiative will helpfully coincide with the publication of the Farmer Review. When the UK government launched its Post-16 Skills Plan last month (post), it committed to taking action in response to the review commissioned from the Construction Leadership Council and Mark Farmer of the functioning of the labour market, including skills provision, in the construction sector.

Housing is also, of course, a particularly acute issue for London and the south-east – the target area for the initial SkillsPlanner project.

Update (24 August 2016) – New London Architecture is holding a free breakfast debate, “Are we facing a construction skills crisis in housing?” on Friday 30 September 2016. More details here.

Can Sadiq Khan help London’s skills shortage?

24 May 2016

Rebecca Lovelace

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As a collaborative R&D project focused, initially, on the construction skills challenges of London and the southeast, our SkillsPlanner team has learned a lot about the need for joined-up thinking in and around the capital. We have also watched the London Mayoral and Greater London Assembly elections with considerable interest. Now that the votes have been cast, we hope Sadiq Khan, his GLA colleagues, and his proposed “Skills for Londoners” Task Force will make a profound difference in how we deliver future skills to support new housing and infrastructure over the next five years – and beyond.

As the CIOB’s CEO Chris Blythe recently remarked, the lack of a construction skills pipeline could damage the London Mayor’s housing and infrastructure plans. But it’s not just about our immediate skills shortages.

We also need to show young people that they can enjoy a long, exciting and rewarding career while they help deliver our built assets. And as London grows and technologies change, our people also need to know they can retrain, gain new knowledge and skills, and continue to contribute to the London construction economy.

Our ambitions seem well aligned with Mr Khan’s manifesto commitments:

to “develop a city-wide, strategic approach to skills…”
to “map the skills gap”
to “create a pipeline of skilled London workers”, and
to “close the gap between our … housing targets and the need for more skilled construction workers in London.”

To do this, in our view, high quality information – data – will be vital. If we can clearly forecast future skills needs and match London organisations’ ability to deliver, we can reassure both workers and employers – and London policy-makers. I hope Sadiq Khan encourages more pan-London data-sharing, including via SkillsPlanner, to help us make construction better connected and more resilient.

Catch them when they’re older

5 February 2016

Paul Wilkinson

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SkillsPlanner isn’t just about young workers. It will also embrace programmes focused on the three R’s: in this case, returning, retraining and retaining.

A lot of the UK construction skills shortage rhetoric tends to focus on ‘catching them when they’re young’. For example, we read about making the industry more attractive to young people, encouraging young people to look at science, technology, engineering and maths (STEM) routes to future careers, and promoting construction-related apprenticeships to school leavers. All very laudible, but additionally there are huge opportunities for older generations of workers.

Returnship programmes

It was encouraging today, for example, to read how SkillsPlanner partner Tideway is specifically targeting potential industry returners, including women who have taken time out to raise families, with a programme of paid-for internships. Commited to creating a more diverse workforce, Tideway CEO Andy Mitchell sees the returnship programme as an obvious way to attract experienced and able workers:

“It is widely recognised that one of the biggest pools of untapped talent is with professionals who have taken a break from their career, and then found it difficult to find work in their area of expertise because of the gap of relevant experience in their CVs.

“Building on our successful returner programme from last year, the first outside the banking sector, we have expanded our scheme to include our delivery partners Amey, Costain, Ferrovial Agroman and Laing O’Rourke. This, combined with our flexible working policy, provides a very positive pathway for professionals to return to a fulfilling career.”

Returnship programmes are among the initiatives that SkillsPlanner is intended to support and exploit to bridge the gap between industry demand for skilled workers and individuals looking for rewarding careers.

Retraining redundant workforces

A related opportunity is to look at retraining workers from other industry sectors. For example, in recent months we have seen major redundancy programmes affect steelworkers in north-east England and south Wales, among other areas; many of these workers will have transferable knowledge, skills and experiences that can readily be redeployed in the construction sector, particularly if there are major regional projects offering potential employment.

Yesterday, SkillsPlanner team members attended the launch of the In-Site Forum at Celtic Manor near Newport in south Wales and heard how skills shortages are creating a damaging ‘bidding war’ for skills. Event organisers Acorn, Y Prentis and The Celtic Manor are collaborating in a bid to avoid this, and support for their cause came this week from Sir Terry Matthews, chairman of the Swansea Bay City Region local enterprise group. He told Construction News that a government rethink on the long-term funding of the Swansea Bay Tidal Lagoon Project could be key to providing much-needed employment for workers who have lost their jobs.

While SkillsPlanner’s initial focus is on London and the south-east, we are keen to extend the concept to cover other parts of the UK.

Retaining older workers

Of course, skills shortages might be reduced if we didn’t lose construction workers in the first place. The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) has been researching the effects of the ageing population on the construction industry and in its second major report, Exploring the Impact of the Ageing Population on the Workforce and Built Environment (PDF here), published in December 2015, outlines how retaining ageing workers’ knowledge and skills is also crucial: we need greater investment in and recognition of ageing workers.

With 19% of the construction workforce set to retire in the next five to ten years, the CIOB said employers need to overcome stereotypes and repurpose, where necessary, job descriptions to attract and, most importantly, retain older workers. Importantly, this is not a substitute for investing in training, but should work hand-in-hand to help alleviate the ongoing skills crisis. CIOB deputy chief executive Bridget Bartlett said:

“… if construction is to meet the skills crisis it faces and fill the 224,000 vacancies needed by 2019, … employers must also recognise the skills of their existing workers and put in measures such as flexible working, career reviews or even retirement planning to encourage longer working lives. … Skills shortages in construction are compounded by those entering the industry not being suitably qualified for the position. We should take this opportunity to use older workers to tap into their skills and knowledge and ensure they are passed onto the next generation.”

House-building skills gap review launched