The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) is searching for training managers to coordinate a £2m scheme to create jobs for up to 500 unemployed construction workers and boost training capacity in Greater London.
The programme is being backed by CITB in partnership with the London Enterprise Panel, London’s strategic employment and skills body, and forms part of a £10m Joint Investment Strategy (JIS) for construction training across nine UK cities including Sheffield, Birmingham, Manchester, Bristol, Nottingham, Leeds, Liverpool and Newcastle.
It aims to take a different approach to training by improving employers’ ability to respond to new business opportunities by improving their productivity and working practices.
The £2m funding will be allocated to the following areas:
- Supporting 500 unemployed construction workers to return to work.
- Developing a shared work placement pilot for 100 people who are not currently in employment, education or training.
- Developing specialist business development interventions for 700 participants from small construction businesses.
- Providing support to London Boroughs that are interested in adopting the CITB’s National Skills Academy for Construction and Client-Based Approach schemes.
- Understanding the potential for researching the development of cooperatives between small construction businesses.
Chair of the London Enterprise Panel and London mayor, Boris Johnson, said: “Cranes can be seen on the skyline of every corner of the capital and the construction industry needs thousands of new workers every year to keep pace with demand. It is a fantastic time to start work in that sector and we intend that this scheme will help provide Londoners with all the necessary skills to do so.”
Janette Welton-Pai, sector strategy manager for Greater London at CITB said: “This is an ambitious and unique programme, but most importantly it implements a new approach to addressing skills and training needs. We have been using intelligence from CITB and the LEP to help identify the region’s specific requirements and closely map out local priority needs. One size doesn’t fit all when it comes to skills and it’s particularly important in the current climate to ensure that any training or up-skilling undertaken is relevant and purposeful.”
The CITB says that around 1,300 new skilled construction workers will be required in Greater London every year until 2019 to fulfil the industry’s order book.
The overarching JIS will see £5m of CITB levy funding matched by £5m pledged by the nine cities using funding from central government’s City Deals programme.
London’s £2m fund will incorporate £1m of CITB funds, while the remaining eight cities will each receive £0.5m, matched locally by a further £0.5m.
The exact mix of projects will be decided locally by the city councils and local enterprise partnerships. The strategy is based on the principle that construction is a key route out of recession, with a need for the construction industry and local government to work in partnership to take the sector back to growth through skills and employment.
