UK government announce investment and training boost for UK construction sector

Ahead of tomorrow’s Spring Statement, Chancellor Rachel Reeves has announced £600 million worth of investment to train approximately 60,000 skilled construction workers.

The investment aim is to build a skilled workforce for the future to help drive economic growth, which is the central mission of the UK government’s Plan for Change, as per the news story released by HM Treasury on 23 March.

The Plan for Change has promised to deliver 1.5 million homes by the end of this Parliament, but with recent Office for National Statistics figures showing a significant shortage of skilled workers and a subsequent high amount of unfulfilled job vacancies across the sector, the gap between promise and delivery has seemed a daunting one.

It is hoped this investment will serve to start closing that gap, with the government claiming the injection will see:

• up to 60,000 more engineers, brickies, sparkies and chippies being trained by 2029
• reforms getting young people into well-paid, high-skilled jobs in the sector by funding additional placements, establishing Technical Excellence Colleges, launching new foundation apprenticeships and expanding Skills Bootcamps; and
• experienced builders helping to train and inspire the next generation.

The government funding will sit alongside a £32 million contribution from the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), which will establish more than 40,000 industry placements each year for all Level 2 and Level 3 learners, NQG, BTEC and T-level students, and advanced apprenticeships. CITB have also pledged to double the size of their New Entrant Support Team, which focuses on supporting small-to-medium business apprenticeships.

For the full breakdown of the plans for the £600 million investment, and related policies, see the UK government’s announcement here.