When Chancellor, Rachel Reeves announced £600m worth of investment to train up to 60,000 construction apprentices the media judged it a triumph in strategy; however, as employers know, construction apprentices not only need a place to gain their work experience and someone to retain them afterwards but the businesses who do take them on need to know they can do the job.

Being ‘work ready’ is more complex but ensuring there are the businesses and work pipelines for apprentices to be taken on is something the Government can help with and therefore the following up the Chancellor’s push on planning reform with considerable levels of new funding to train more construction apprentices is sensible. It shows she understands that without business certainty and high quality training opportunities, new learners will struggle to be trained and most importantly retained.

With SMEs training 73% of construction apprentices, the Chancellor will now need the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), Department for Environment Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), Department for Transport (DfT), Department for Education (DfE) and the Department for Business and Trade (DBT) to support her ambitions and ensure they all working together to ensure our SMEs, the trainers and retainers, are able to win the pipelines of work which mean they can afford to take on and support apprentices train, grow and establish meaningful careers.

History tells us this will be quite a challenge and already we have seen DESNZ take control of the Future Homes Standard (FHS), without understanding that MHCLG need to permit grid infrastructure more quickly and DEFRA will need to get out of the way.

Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG), which DEFRA controls, directly impacts MHCLG housing targets and DBT investment and projects.

If DfT doesn’t get transport projects moving and continues to push onerous planning conditions which impact not only project delivery but material access during mornings, then projects will stall.

We haven’t even mentioned the Health and Safety Executive (HSE) and the Building Safety Regulator (BSR).

If departments work together, the following announcements, which are positive and show there is an understanding of the many aspects which need support, will fail.

  • £100 million of new investment to fund 10 new Technical Excellence Colleges
  • £165m of new funding to help colleges deliver more construction courses
  • £100 million of funding for new entrants, returners, or those looking to upskill within the industry
  • £20m for Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIP)
  • New foundation apprenticeships back by an additional £40m
  • A further £100 million of government funding for the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB)
  • £80 million capital fund will support employers to deliver bespoke training based

The Chancellor should be commended for understanding growth is primarily about business certainty and people, rather than tax breaks. Funding for colleges and trainers is particularly welcomed as they are key to ensuring apprentices get the best training possible.

However, education reforms must not prohibit or deter the most experienced construction workers from teaching in colleges or academies because they are deemed unqualified.

Planning reform must shift its focus from the biggest builders to finally start focusing on the 99% of housebuilders who train 7 in 10 apprentices.

Grid reforms need accelerating, with energy policy recognising connection challenges and costs. And both environment and procurement policies require continually review. 

Too many years has been wasted trying to solve single issues, when we should be taking a systems approach to growth.

Rico Wojtulewicz, Head of Policy and Market Insight for the NFB