They met with the skills minister and the government’s chief construction adviser to discuss ways to boost the industry.
Construction4Growth calls for greater investment in construction to drive growth and create jobs.
The push led in the main by CITB ConstructionSkills is endorsed by the wider Get Britain Building campaign, which is promoting the use of construction to lead the Government’s growth agenda.
The meeting attended by representatives from many of the industry’s major trade bodies, including the Home Builders Federation, and contractors Kier, Bam Nuttall and Seddon set out a 10-point plan to raise investment in construction, create needed skills and drive the low carbon agenda.
At the Downing Street meeting they tabled the following:
Investment:
1. Invest quickly in shovel-ready projects that immediately generate the most skills training and jobs, such as the repairs and maintenance of roads, housing, schools and hospitals.
2. Empower local authorities to drive growth through construction by lifting borrowing caps on their Housing Revenue Accounts.
3. Ensure the mechanisms for growth already in place are delivering – specifically, the £200bn National Infrastructure Plan, the £50bn UK Guarantee Scheme and the £80bn Funding for Lending scheme.
Skills:
4. Maintain construction apprenticeships as the “Gold Standard” by introducing flexible apprenticeship contracts that allow those aged 19 or over to progress to higher qualification levels without losing funding.
5. Develop the right skills for local and national construction growth by retaining the construction levy and the most appropriate training frameworks for the sector.
6. Issue procurement guidance to local authorities to put an end to abortive ‘post-code apprenticeships’.
7. Help teachers to unlock future construction talent by requiring all teacher- training courses to include a one week programme to raise awareness amongst teachers of vocational careers and training opportunities for young people.
Green:
8. Drive public uptake of the Green Deal by increasing cash incentives and launching a high-impact national awareness campaign.
9. Fully commit to tackling action on climate change by helping the Green Construction Board to implement its Low Carbon Action Plan to agreed timescales.
10. Promote green growth abroad by harnessing the 25% increase in UKTI funding to establish a National Construction Industry Exports Forum. This will help firms, particularly SMEs, export their products and services.
