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Making £600m count: how government can close construction’s skills gap
Corin Egglestone and Mags Bexon Learning and Work Institute
Image: Dreamstime
The government’s latest fiscal update may have been light on construction announcements, but its £600m plan to train more workers could still prove important for employers
The chancellor’s spring statement had little new information for the construction industry, despite renewed confirmation from the OBR that housebuilding targets are likely to be missed.
This contrasts with the 2025 statement, which announced £600m of investment to train 60,000 more skilled construction workers.
Although last year’s news, this investment is still in play – and is sorely needed (if not sufficient in itself), with CITB estimating that almost a quarter of a million extra construction workers will be needed by 2029.
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The investment is focused on the expansion of skills bootcamps, newly accredited technical excellence colleges and for existing colleges to expand their construction provision.
As well as numbers, though, it’s essential that there is a specific focus on developing higher technical skills in the sector. For example, these are the types of skills essential for building information modelling (BIM) or for someone looking to become a site manager or retrofit coordinator.
This is a gap for many UK employers compared to other countries, despite the importance of higher technical skills for driving growth and taking advantage of productivity improvements and evolving opportunities such as net zero. So how can we best support this?
Employer and employee insights
Learning and Work Institute’s (L&W) recent research, funded by the Gatsby Foundation, explored how employers and employees make decisions around higher technical skills training. We focused on the voice of employers and employees themselves to gain insights from their perspective.
Several key themes emerged. First, employers and employees told us – unsurprisingly – about the key role that apprenticeships play in their skills development. But there were concerns about the suitability of apprenticeships for developing higher technical skills.
Where already productive employees are required to enrol on a multi-year apprenticeship, L&W heard that these may only be partially applicable to skills needs. Instead, many employers would welcome more short-form or modular-style courses to meet their needs much more quickly.
Although this type of training can be funded through the CITB levy, the £80m bespoke training fund included in the government’s announcement could increase access to it – and, of course, employers can themselves invest beyond their existing levy payments if they wish.
Further details are needed as to its implementation, but this could be a great opportunity to increase delivery of this kind of short but intense higher technical skills training.
More investment may be needed, though. Reforms to the Growth and Skills Levy provide the opportunity to think about how skills development could be best tailored to the needs of construction industry employers.
Although funding for short ‘apprenticeship units’ has been announced for priority sectors, L&W has argued that this should go further. A proportion of levy funds should be spent on accredited non-apprenticeship provision across all sectors, where this is the most appropriate training for employees and where those sectors also increase their investment in career starter apprenticeships for young people.
Talent pipeline
Another key issue is an entry pipeline into the sector for young people. The government’s announcement contained steps aiming to address this, including investment in industry placements.
But this is something that employers can take action on too, by engaging with young people during their education to proactively address sometimes negative or uncertain perceptions of the sector.
What is less clear is whether foundation apprenticeships – another component of the announcement – will be successful in their intention to provide an entry route into the sector for young people with low levels of qualification. Take-up of foundation apprenticeships has so far been limited, although it is, of course, early days.
As L&W has argued elsewhere, the design of such schemes needs to be of sufficient quality, meet an actual employer need, and be part of a clear and integrated pathway into full apprenticeships.
And, of course, not everything needs to be called an apprenticeship where it isn’t really.
Further action is needed
Where employers could make a difference, however, is in increasing the supply of intermediate (level 2) apprenticeships, which are a tried-and-tested entry route for young people.
Employers should also be encouraging upskilling among workers of all ages, with particular encouragement for older employees, who are often more reluctant to engage with training, and clear signposting of progression routes for people at all stages of their career.
This new research has highlighted the importance of ensuring employers are able to support workers to develop higher technical skills, to meet employment needs in the sector.
There is a clear need for an increased focus on how best to develop these skills to ensure the sector remains innovative and productive, and is an attractive option for new talent.
Corin Egglestone is deputy head of research and Mags Bexon is a research manager at L&W.
