We as an industry must transform our image if we are to attract the brightest and best, but the government must help – and recognise the vital role that we have to play, writes Patricia Moore
The new government’s King’s Speech – while momentous – held few surprises. The measures were well publicised in the Labour manifesto and during the election campaign. Now, in government, the party is aiming to demonstrate action and decisiveness. Keir Starmer and his team want to show that they are prioritising growth and removing uncertainty.
The speech conveyed confidence: the government wants to signal that it is a case of “how” not “if” its agenda will be delivered. Whether it is housebuilding, rail reform, wind farms or nuclear power, the message is clear: these initiatives are underway.
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The most obvious challenge – and risk – to the government’s plans is construction capacity. Despite new policies on skills and apprenticeships, more radical answers will be needed to deal with the challenge ahead.
The missing link
In the speech, the government promised sweeping changes to the planning system, a recommitment to solar, wind and nuclear, and headline pledges on housebuilding. We also heard about local growth plans that aim to bring both homes and jobs together in unison.
This was accompanied by a new approach to marshalling resources to guide this growth agenda. A rebooted industrial strategy council will coordinate growth sectors. A new national wealth fund will align institutions such as the UK Infrastructure Bank and British Business Bank.
Surprising by its omission was the proposal to introduce the National Infrastructure and Service Transformation Authority (Nista), merging the IPA and NIC.
It was surprising that the word “construction” did not feature in the speech. Labour wants to focus on “how” growth is delivered. Construction is a central part of the answer
The objective of all this is to better direct and enable investment, particularly for sectors where with the right support the UK can capitalise on its global leading position, such as life sciences and green manufacturing.
Given this – it was surprising that the word “construction” did not feature in the speech. Labour wants to focus on “how” growth is delivered. Construction is a central part of the answer.
This policy agenda will require a thriving and productive construction sector to deliver it. Removing barriers to planning, for example, will only be as effective as how quickly new schemes can be built.
Following this logic, the biggest risk to the government’s agenda is that construction may lack the necessary capacity. What we are seeing as a business is that not only do we need more people in the sector, we need them to have a broader range of skills than ever before.
New ways of building capacity
For this reason, we should be just as focused on Labour’s education and training agenda as we are on headline development policy. Their key announcements in the speech are to reorganise the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education, and to create Skills England, with a mandate to assess national and local skills needs.
We welcome this assessment, as it will be important to achieving a holistic and programmatic approach to UK development.It should help to identify gaps and potential bottlenecks and suggest methods to incentivise new trainees or opportunities for people to reskill.
However, solving the skills shortage is about more than training. It is about attracting different kinds of talent into the sector – both in terms of demographics and the kind of technical skills that we need in the industry.
The reform to the apprenticeship levy under Skills England’s guidance looks set to touch on these changing skills demands – expanding the list of levy-eligible training. We know that levy reform is something the sector has been clamouring for – allowing for more reskilling from different disciplines within the industry, not just bringing in new entrants. This will be welcomed by our clients. Yet the solution must go wider than just the levy.
Firstly, as an industry we need to go further to amplify the impressive digital, technical and environmental dimensions within construction work, and we must do more to implement digital solutions and the latest technologies into our programmes and projects. This will help to change the face of the industry and attract the best and brightest minds from different sectors and backgrounds. I call on all of our professional institutions to drive this agenda.
Ours is not just an industry to be counted among others, but the enabler that underpins the rest of the economy
Secondly, the government should recognise how critical this is, as it did recently with the development of the nuclear skills taskforce. Much formative thinking has been done by the Construction Leadership Council on this agenda.
The government getting behind that thinking could extend the reach of the industry by getting better access to schools, and create a new career pathway hub that will accelerate capability building for critical new skillsets.
Ours is not just an industry to be counted among others, but the enabler that underpins the rest of the economy.
The King’s Speech and the new policy landscape represent a huge opportunity for construction. We as an industry must play our full part. We must work to transform the image of the industry, attract new talent, and be better equipped to deliver on the tasks ahead.
But the government could also go further. It must recognise the crucial role of construction and skills in the creation of economic growth.
Patricia Moore is managing director, UK, at Turner & Townsend
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