The government has named 26 innovative construction projects that will share £22m to train thousands of workers.
The 26 projects will be able to use the funds to set up new ‘hubs’ that will train more than 17,000 people to be job- and site-ready by March 2020.
The winning projects, including Southwark Construction Skills Centre in South London and Liverpool Waters Construction Hub in the North West, have collectively committed to training up over 7,000 people into permanent jobs by the end of the programme. The full list of all 26 projects can be found here.
The government said the programme would help provide some of the estimated 158,000 new construction workers needed in the UK over the next five years.
The Construction Skills Fund is funded by the Department for Education and is being delivered by the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB). It will help inform the design of the National Retraining Scheme, which the Chancellor recently announced will be backed by £100m.
Education secretary Damian Hinds said: “It is vital that we have a strong workforce post-Brexit. The Construction Skills Fund will ensure more people gain the skills they need to forge a successful career and help create the skilled workers we need to deliver on our housing ambitions.
“Today I’m pleased to announce the 26 winning projects that will train up thousands of workers and help tackle the skills shortages in the construction industry. To support this drive further we are transforming technical education including introducing a brand-new T Level in construction, a high-quality technical qualification which will be rolled out from 2020.”
Minister of state for housing Kit Malthouse said: “We can’t build the homes our communities need without a dedicated and skilled construction workforce. Our Construction Skills Fund will play a crucial role in training the future labourers required to build more, better and faster homes.”
Sarah Beale, chief executive of CITB, said: “The Construction Skills Fund can be a genuine game-changer for both the construction industry and the individuals being trained. We have a massive need for homegrown talent and these projects will bring thousands of new people into our sector, giving them the crucial onsite experience they need to start a career in construction. These 26 hubs will be based at some of the most innovative sites in the UK, and CITB will be working hard to make sure they deliver the skills our industry critically needs.”
