Minister for Skills Meets Homebuilders to Address Skills Shortage

REPRESENTATIVES from SME builders, major housebuilders and industry trade bodies were joined by the Minister for Skills, Jacqui Smith, on Tuesday 25 June for a roundtable discussion on how to build the housebuilding workforce the country needs.

Hosted by NHBC COO David Campbell and CITB CEO Tim Balcon, the discussion covered a range of issues affecting construction skills development.

Attendees spoke about the commercial challenges employers face, including how market uncertainty often limits investment in training. There was agreement on the importance of training providers delivering programmes that reflect employer needs and ensuring apprentices add value quickly on site.

Topics also included the role of transferable skills, the need for modular and flexible training pathways and better use of tools like CSCS cards. Attendees discussed the importance of improving retention and absorption rates, especially among SME supply chains, and increasing incentives for smaller employers to take on apprentices.

Following the event, the minister said: “We need more skilled construction workers to deliver our Plan for Change by building new homes, upgrading our infrastructure and driving economic growth – and the Homebuilding Skills Hubs we are backing will help make sure this happens.

“On top of this work we are investing £625 million to train 60,000 more skilled workers, launching new foundation apprenticeships in construction, expanding construction skills bootcamps and opening 10 new construction technical excellence colleges to ensure we take skills seriously as a country again – unlocking opportunity and driving growth.”

Construction Skills are Vital

During the roundtable, Jacqui Smith said construction skills are a ‘vital part’ of the government’s wider growth strategy and ambitions to increase the delivery of new homes. She spoke about a need for change in how the sector is skilled and discussed how recent announcements covering new construction courses, bootcamps, foundation apprenticeships and funding for industry placements aimed to support efforts to strengthen the talent entering the industry. Technical colleges are also expected to play a role by building on progress made by initiatives such as NHBC’s training hubs.

The minister had the opportunity to hear directly from housebuilders and training providers about the real-world challenges employers face. She discussed the need for stronger collaboration between employers and colleges and how industry can make career routes into construction clearer and more attractive. Jacqui also spoke about plans to simplify the skills system and remove underperforming courses, while ensuring that foundation apprenticeships provide learners with a broad understanding of the sector.

Productive Discussion

David Campbell, NHBC COO, said: “It was a productive discussion on one of the most urgent challenges facing our sector: the chronic shortage of skills in house building.

“We know that without a growing, skilled workforce, meeting the demand for quality new homes simply won’t be possible.

“At NHBC, we’re committed to being part of the solution. That’s why we are investing £100 million in 12 new multi-skill training hubs, with the ambition of creating 3,000 apprenticeship starts a year, training skilled workers in real-site conditions from day one. Each of these new hubs, which will be roughly two-thirds the size of a football pitch, will initially support training for the most urgently needed trades – bricklaying, groundworks and site carpentry.

“With high achievement levels and retention rates of around 90% at our current hubs, we’re confident many apprentices will go on to build meaningful careers in the industry.”

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