Industry Skills Plan for the UK Construction Sector 2021 2025
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Industry Skills Plan
for the UK Construction Sector 2021 – 2025
CLC Industry Skills Plan for the UK Construction Sector 2021 – 2025 1
Foreword We have all experienced exceptional times, and the
COVID-19 pandemic has drastically changed the world
we live in. But we need to keep the focus on what matters
also used CLC’s Future Skills research 1 to understand what
needs to be done to prepare the industry for new ways of
working. At the same time, we have increased the reach
most – retaining talent and building a solid foundation for of the Construction Ambassadors scheme by aligning it
the future of the construction industry. with STEM Learning to help ensure we are nurturing the
future pipeline of talent. The growing awareness of Fairness,
In order to deliver what industry needs now and into the Inclusion and Respect also means we are making the
future, we need skilled individuals. The Built Environment industry a better place to work, for those currently
has a wide reach of sectors, so how can we ensure we have in it and those who will join in the coming years.
a skilled and competent workforce across such a breadth
of occupations? This is the considerable challenge we This plan will be developed into a co-ordinated group of
need to break down into smaller pieces and tackle, activities that will be delivered through CLC workstreams
as it is the key to unlocking improved productivity and and working groups. We will measure and report progress
enabling construction to thrive and to maintain and deliver against this plan for at least the next four years. To
the UK’s build pipeline. provide a short-term focus, we are tackling four priority
challenges in 2021. These priorities centre around the
This Industry Skills Plan is developed by industry, culture and careers within the industry, particularly how
for industry. It complements our existing CLC Industry we can improve routes into the industry, as well as the
Recovery Plan and moves us towards addressing the individual competence and skills required for a modern
ever-growing skills gap. How our industry has adapted construction sector. However, major uncertainty still
to the challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic shows what remains over the period covered by this plan so it will need
we can achieve when working together. to adapt as it is delivered. The pandemic crisis is playing
out in an industry already cast into uncertainty with
The plan also highlights how skills challenges play out Britain’s departure from the European Union.
across our very wide and varied industry. For example,
the net zero agenda challenges us to change the game in Each year we will update on progress through the plan so
how we build new buildings, but also offers a significant that bit by bit we can deliver these challenges. As ever,
opportunity to the smaller firms that power the Repair, continued collaboration from all stakeholders will be required
Maintenance and Improvement (RMI) sector as we gear to achieve the ambitious goals we have set out. We have
up to retrofit millions of homes to meet higher made this easier by outlining clear owners and actions
environmental standards. Similarly, the digital skill needs against each challenge, so everyone understands how
will create totally new ways of doing things, as well as the they can contribute. Positive engagement and sector-wide
potential for collectively massive efficiency gains through adoption of this plan will ensure we are able to reinvent
small improvements. One example of this is equipping and transform the skills base of the construction industry.
hundreds of thousands of small and micro firms in our
industry with the knowledge and skills required to adopt
digitalised processes and management tools. For SMEs,
cloud and mobile-based Enterprise Resource Planning
(ERP) software streamlines the control of workers,
materials, logistics, tools and equipment – in turn driving
efficiency, quality and productivity.
We will build upon some of the great work we’ve achieved Sarah Beale Mark Reynolds
to date. Our Talent Retention Scheme (TRS) is just one Chief Executive, Group Chief Executive,
example of how we’re mitigating the skills loss within CITB and Chair, Mace and CLC, Steering
construction following the COVID-19 pandemic. We have CLC Skills Network Co-ordination Group
1
CLC Future Skills Report 2019 CLC Industry Skills Plan for the UK Construction Sector 2021 – 2025 2
Contents
04 Executive Summary
05 Addressing our Skill Needs
06 Addressing our Skill Needs – Actions
08 Opportunities and Challenges
09 Introduction
10 Industry Overview
11 The Broader Opportunity
12 Future Demand
13 The Need to Address the Skills Challenge Now
14 The Core Skills Challenges
15 Post-16 Routes Into Construction
16 Attracting and Retaining Diverse Talent and Helping People to Join
17 The Skills Plan
18 Addressing Our Skills Needs
19 And Progress is Already in Motion
20 Challenge 1.1: Access for All
21 Case Study: How Ardmore Recruits and Retains a Diverse Workforce
22 Challenge 1.2: Attractiveness of Careers
23 Case Study: Building a Strong Pool of Talent for Construction
24 Challenge 1.3: Direct Employment
25 Case Study: ECA Loan Labour Scheme
26 Challenge 2.1: Routes into Industry – Apprenticeships
27 Challenge 2.2: Routes into Industry – Further Education
28 Challenge 2.3: Routes into Industry – Higher Education
29 Case Study: T Levels
30 Challenge 3: Competence of Individuals
31 Case Study: TESP Experienced Worker Assessment
32 Challenge 4: Skills for a Modernised Industry
34 Case Study: Investment in New Skills Will Ensure UK
Construction Continues to Innovate
35 We Must All Play Our Part
36 What Happens Now?
37 Case Study: Supply Chain Sustainability School
38 Acknowledgements
CLCIndustry
CLC IndustrySkills
SkillsPlan
Planfor
forthe
theUK
UKConstruction
ConstructionSector
Sector2021
2021––2025
2025 3
Executive This plan outlines how we will work together to solve core skills needs by ensuring we have the
necessary high-quality training and development to build an industry that is a great place to work,
Summary with clear routes of entry and progression to attract and retain talented people.
Industry Overview Employment: Planned Investment: Gross Value Added (2018):
and Forecast Demand 2,745,550 1
£850bn+ £200bn
For more information
see page 10.
Standards and Training, Education Culture and Working
Careers
Qualifications and Development Environment
Core Skills Challenges
For more information Together we can create an Together we can create the Together we can enable Together we can create an
industry that is attractive to underpinning foundations for high-quality routes into industry whose culture and
see page 14. talent and bring those skills high-quality, transferable skills industry and development operations make it a great
in through multiple routes and pathways for learning in industry to provide the place to work that retains
skills needed now and talented individuals
in the future
Routes into Construction
For more information
see page 15.
Study Work + study/training Employment + study Sustainable employment
1
F
or construction contracting and building professional services as core plan focus.
Component of full built environment statistics outlined in page 10 CLC Industry Skills Plan for the UK Construction Sector 2021 – 2025 4
Executive Summary
Addressing Our 1. Improve access to
opportunities for all and
2. Boosting all routes
into industry, including
3. Competence: Shift
to focus on competence
4. Skills for a
modernised industry:
Skills Needs
attractiveness of careers enhanced work experience through the development Up-skilling and re-skilling
provision for those in of sector-specific in the skills that are
full-time FE and HE competency frameworks. required to transform
Ensuring both “point in the industry. This will
time”, ongoing continuous incorporate focus on
professional development both new technologies
(CPD) and revalidation / methods, (e.g. off-
of competence site), and the requisite
For the first year of this plan’s lifetime behaviours, (e.g.
we want to focus on the four key creativity, sustainability,
and inclusion)
areas outlined here.
Enables Enables Enables Enables
The following pages set out, for
each challenge, the details of key
1.1 Support access for 2.1 Grow the number of Develop higher technical Skills to deliver
actions that need to be achieved to all industry to operate a apprentices and enhance qualifications to support net zero carbon targets
meet them. Case studies have been more inclusive culture to the routes to and through progression through retrofit, new build
included to demonstrate the work that encourage new entrants at apprenticeships, and construction operations
every stage of their career including the role of the Health and Safety:
is already underway and the progress and retain skilled workers Apprenticeships Levy (AL) Improve and embed higher Deliver skills to embed
that industry is already making. standards of safety practices emerging innovations
within the industry and digital technologies
1.2 Make construction an to improve efficiency,
2.2 Improve the links
attractive career sector Modernise standards and productivity, sustainability
between FE and employers,
of choice through better qualifications to deliver the and building safety
and the pathways from FE
development, delivery and skills our industry needs in
into apprenticeships and
showcasing of the career the future (e.g. digital
employment. Support the
development opportunities and behavioural)
T Levels route
our varied industry offers
2.3 Improve the links
1.3 Strengthen support for
between HE and employers,
direct employment as an
and the pathways from HE
enabler of apprenticeships,
into employment
upskilling and attractiveness
of careers
CLC Industry Skills Plan for the UK Construction Sector 2021 – 2025 5
Executive Summary
Addressing Our Skills
Needs – actions
Plan to support well-being Diversity measuring, monitoring
Challenge 1.1 Roll out FIR Programme 1,700 active Ambassadors
and mental health services and target setting
Access for all Deadline: June 2022 Deadline: January 2024
Deadline: June 2021 Deadline: December 2022
Agree standard for work
Clear career paths Support Kickstart and Construction Talent Retention
Challenge 1.2 experience and increase Implement Work Place Promise
info and portal Skills Bootcamps Scheme 1% redeployment
Attractiveness of Careers quantity of placements Deadline: September 2021
Deadline: Ongoing Deadline: September 2021 Deadline: 2025
Deadline: June 2021
Engage with Gov
Support Gov to mandate Embed procurement to
Collate direct employment CLC-hosted evidence base on Employment Status Team
Challenge 1.3 direct employment demand direct employment
good practice benefits of direct employment Deadline: April 2022 with
Direct Employment through procurement in supply chains
Deadline: October 2021 Deadline: April 2022 commitment in place
Deadline: April 2022 Deadline: December 2024
by December 2022
Extend current Gov COVID-19
All apprenticeships Support Gov AL Develop fast track from Develop Kickstart brokerage
Challenge 2.1 incentives for employers for new
on .gov site transfer reform FE to apprenticeship service for SMEs
Routes into Industry – Apprenticeships apprentices to end of year
Deadline: May 2021 Deadline: August 2021 Deadline: August 2021 Deadline: 2021-2024
Deadline: September 2021
Develop construction Industry/FE increase Develop employer Employer incentives, Guidance to increase Increase quality of
Challenge 2.2 traineeships accuracy of skills forecasting engagement with FE resources for colleges, provider and employer technical education,
Routes into Industry – FE Deadline: Bricklaying by location and role work experience brokerage for traineeships engagement streamline L2/3
traineeship launch 2021 Deadline: April 2021 Deadline: Spring 2021 Deadline: 2021 Deadline: Autumn 2021 Deadline: Summer 2023
CLC Industry Skills Plan for the UK Construction Sector 2021 – 2025 6Addressing Our Skills
Needs – actions (continued)
Link employers, providers and Assess accreditation routes into
HE providers to embed FIR Collaborate for curricula design/delivery
Challenge 2.3 schools to improve availability of professions for single discipline
in recruitment criteria for skills needs
Routes into Industry – HE work experience opportunities courses to produce hybrid managers
Deadline: June 2022 Deadline: June 2022
Deadline: June 2021 Deadline: June 2023
As part of these preparations, ensure Support pilot groups in developing first wave
Assist Working Group 2 preparations for effective dialogue with priority sectors of sector-specific competence frameworks, in Roll out competence frameworks
Challenge 3
sector competence framework pilots and support wider industry and line with Working Group 2 recommendations across occupations
Competence Deadline: June 2021 stakeholder engagement and BSI Overarching Framework Deadline: December 2024
Deadline: June 2021 Deadline: December 2021
Use future skills research for Smart Construction Define career pathways to Gov procurement to encourage
and Net Zero to influence standards and training support modernised skills Smart Construction
Deadline: April 2021 Deadline: 2021 Deadline: 2021
Update routes to entry and new entrant Develop Smart Construction training Develop training for skills to enhance Review and update apprenticeship
Challenge 4 standards and qualifications for for existing and new industry roles, and traditional delivery roles with digital, standards and technical
Skills for a Modernised Industry Smart Construction and Net Zero embed into standards and qualifications technical and collaborative practices qualifications to meet Net Zero
Deadline: 2021 Deadline: 2022 Deadline: 2022 Deadline: 2022
Support and fund innovation for flexible Support development of Construction CLC Centres of Excellence to develop
learning (inc. immersive and online) Higher Technical Qualifications L4/5 relationships and integrate tech upskilling
Deadline: 2022 Deadline: 2023 Deadline: April 2024
CLC Industry Skills Plan for the UK Construction Sector 2021 – 2025 7Opportunities
and Challenges
CLCIndustry
CLC IndustrySkills
SkillsPlan
Planfor
forthe
theUK
UKConstruction
ConstructionSector
Sector2021
2021––2025
2025 8Opportunities and Challenges
Introduction
This plan will be developed
into a co-ordinated group of
activities that will achieve
the outcome set out in
both this plan and the CLC
Industry Recovery Plan,
through CLC workstreams
and working groups.
Despite the upheaval over the last year, the
pandemic has driven an impressive collaborative
approach between our industry and Government,
evidenced by the CLC Industry Task Force and its
regular engagement with the Department for
Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS).
The development of the CLC Industry Recovery Plan
is the result of a stronger level of co-operation and
support with Government. This can really enable
better progress with addressing what seemed
to be entrenched skills challenges in the past,
such as the poor conversion rates from FE, the
insufficient levels of direct employment and
low levels of diversity in the industry.
CLCIndustry
CLC IndustrySkills
SkillsPlan
Planfor
forthe
theUK
UKConstruction
ConstructionSector
Sector2021
2021––2025
2025 9Opportunities and Challenges
Industry
Overview
Quarrying of
construction materials
550 enterprises
19,700 workforce
90 apprenticeship starts
£1,383 GVA (£million)
Broad and Narrow Industry
Structures 509,210 £200,251
enterprises GVA (£million)
This plan is by industry, for industry.
3,540,950 £366bn Manufacture of
The narrow definition of the industry conforms to the
definition used in official statistics, covering those who
Professional services workforce economic output (2018) construction products,
construct, repair and maintain buildings. However, 137,320 enterprises materials and assemblies
the built environment has a significantly wider reach 641,830 workforce 35,390 £850bn+ 22,685 enterprises
1
across other sectors and the supply chain, all requiring 5,250 apprenticeship starts apprenticeship starts planned investment 365,400 workforce
the skills needed now and for the future to deliver and £42,506 GVA (£million) 2,500 apprenticeship starts
maintain the UK’s build pipeline. £23,891 GVA (£million)
A broader sector can be seen to include the supply
chain for construction materials, products and
assemblies, and professional services such as
management, architecture, engineering, and surveying.
We believe the industry should increasingly be viewed
in terms of its wider definition as the current and future On-site assembly Contracting and Building Sale and repair of
fortunes of these activities are critically intertwined. by non-contractors Engineering Services: buildings, construction products,
2,905 enterprises infrastructure and RMI materials, and assemblies
89,000 workforce 355,005 enterprises 22,890 enterprises
2,050 apprenticeship starts 2,291,250 workforce 321,300 workforce
£1,584 GVA (£million) 24,700 apprenticeship starts 800 apprenticeship starts
£108,738 GVA (£million) £21,694 GVA (£million)
1
Number of apprenticeship starts by sector of employer and subject of learning aim for
2018/19. Covers England only.
Source: Workforce, CITB estimate based on Labour Force Survey (2019) and Business Register
and Employment Survey (2019) Enterprises, UK Business Counts - enterprises by industry and
employment band size (2019) GVA, Annual Business Survey 2018 (Release Date 15 May 2020) CLC Industry Skills Plan for the UK Construction Sector 2021 – 2025 10
Apprenticeships, Skills Funding Agency (Academic year 2018/19)Opportunities and Challenges
The Broader
Opportunity
Construction is a core sector of the
economy. If we can improve its
Improving the Social
─ Providing sustainable, satisfying careers that are open to all
─ Delivering a built environment that meets the needs of society through improved
productivity, through improving its
people’s skills and the retention of
effectiveness infrastructure, public services and housing and in this way contribute to social value and
help tackle economic inequality
of 2.7m people
─ Technical education reforms can help to unlock attitudes to and participation in the sector
those skills, there is a massive benefit
to be gained.
There is also the opportunity for
powering Political and Economic
─ Impact of effective infrastructure and construction to support a growing economy
─ Continuing/growing UK construction skills as a significant export industry
construction to make the most
effective contribution to society and
11.2% of GVA ─ Effective delivery of major projects increases public Return on Investment (ROI)
─ Government can help reform employment status for tax and employment rights purposes
the environment through the skills
of its people. Technical
─ Embrace digital tools and processes to drive productivity
─ Improve construction’s ability to drive out the benefits of technology at all stages – stop
the historical ‘lag’ of construction behind other sectors and embrace new ways of working
Environmental
─ More than almost any industry, construction can transform the way the built environment
works with the environment
─ The UK is legally bound to reduce emissions to net zero by 2050, and around half of all UK
emissions can be influenced by construction
─ Drive waste management elimination from design to delivery (whole life considerations)
─ Reform building safety and competence to keep the built environment safe
─ Reduce construction impact on the built environment in terms of increasing biodiversity
and decreasing pollution
CLC Industry Skills Plan for the UK Construction Sector 2021 – 2025 11Opportunities and Challenges
INDUSTRY INSIGHTS UK 2019-2023 • Construction Skills Network • Labour Market Intelligence 7
Future
Demand
C M ANNUAL RECRUITMENT REQUIREMENT (ARR) BY OCCUPATION
Y K
PMS ???
PMS ???
NON-MANUAL OCCUPATIONS TOTAL 2019 ARR
PMS ??? EMPLOYMENT 2023
CITB RESEARCH PMS ??? Non-construction professional, technical, IT, and
Non-printing other office-based staff
388,320
410,890
4,860
CONSTRUCTION
Colours
COLOUR Other construction process managers 208,050 3,420
222,150
COLOUR
Senior, executive, and business process 184,750 1,400
JOB LOCATION:
PRINERGY 3 managers
191,620
Construction trades supervisors 49,840 850
Our industry is wide and varied; the 54,250
SKILLS NETWORK
Construction project managers 49,330 580
52,670
skills and occupations we need to MANUAL OCCUPATIONS
support reflect this. The Construction Wood trades and interior fit-out 263,530
259,450
2,380
Skills Network (CSN)1 is a core source Electrical trades and installation 188,760
178,840
1,570
166,720 1,900
of data that drives our understanding Plumbing and HVAC Trades 162,670
130,010 1,770
Labourers nec*
of the demand for skills and we use
134,010
Painters and decorators 112,800 960
110,920
this to focus our efforts on both the Building envelope specialists 108,290
105,480
560
skills needed in the short-term, and Bricklayers 72,240
71,540
810
the skills we believe we need to start Specialist building operatives nec* 58,440
55,950
820
52,100 250
developing now for the future.
Plasterers 49,230
Roofers 46,930 750
45,600
Plant mechanics/fitters 42,740 580
41,310
Plant operatives 41,600 980
43,680
INDUSTRY INSIGHTS: Glaziers 30,840
29,850
280
LABOUR MARKET INTELLIGENCE Floorers 26,150
24,960
290
Steel erectors/structural fabrication 24,430 430
24,150
UK Logistics 24,240
25,710
620
2019-2023 720
Scaffolders 23,040
24,730
Civil engineering operatives nec* 22,000 180
23,000
Non–construction operatives 36,930 –
39,290
PROFESSIONAL OCCUPATIONS
Other construction professionals and 208,050 3,260
technical staff 224,480
Surveyors 71,920 1,420
77,900
Civil engineers 56,480 1,190
60,980
Architects 43,630 870
48,530
SOURCE: ONS, CSN, EXPERIAN. REF: CSN EXPLAINED
CSK-CSN-National-2019.indd 1 21/02/2019 12:17
CSK-CSN-National-2019.indd 7 21/02/2019 12:17
1
CSN covers contracting and professional services CLC Industry Skills Plan for the UK Construction Sector 2021 – 2025 12Opportunities and Challenges
The Need to Address
the Skills Challenge Now
Technology and modern methods of construction are –C
onsequently industry continues to modernise very
rapidly evolving the skill sets we require to keep pace, slowly and does not make the efficiency, productivity
and the Government’s renewed commitment to evolving or quality improvements that the Government (through
the nation’s infrastructure will require focus and energy the sector deal) is looking for
from the sector to deliver. Regulation, particularly
in response to the Grenfell tragedy, is placing greater This plan recognises that the skills system going forwards
focus on businesses delivering to the highest will be employer-led. To have impact we need to influence
possible standards. employer behaviours to balance individual employer
‘wants’ and broader industry-wide ‘needs’.
All of us are keenly aware of the responsibility we have to Co-ordinated action with employers, government, other
ensure the built environment vastly reduces its impact on key clients and the education sector through this Skills
the natural environment – the UK Government has been Plan is therefore required.
unequivocal on the contribution of construction in moving
towards a zero-carbon society with the establishment of This plan is a plan for industry, by industry. It is the
the Green Jobs Task Force. The net zero agenda presents product of collaboration between the CLC, CITB, ECITB,
both a major challenge in terms of updating skills across FE, HE, BEIS and voices from across the industry to
the sector, but also a massive opportunity for smaller develop an approach to tackling the skills gap head on,
firms in the retrofit work that will be created. once and for all. It provides an actionable, measurable
blueprint for recruiting the right talent, training them to
However, there are some ongoing, entrenched skills have the right skills, and ensuring that the sector as a
challenges in modernising the skill set of construction whole is supported to develop and maintain the highest
that need to be tackled: levels of competence.
–E
mployers are largely not recruiting and training the It is a plan that attempts to balance what businesses
workforce with the skills they will need in the future in the sector want with what the industry needs as a
as the industry modernises. This is due to inadequate whole, now and in the future. And it is a plan we need
levels of direct employment and short-termism related individuals, employers and representative organisations,
to lack of visibility of the pipeline of work, small and groups in Construction and the Built Environment
margins and clients buying on cost not value sector to rally round.
–M
ost clients (perhaps due to lack of awareness) do
not demand modernised techniques such as offsite
manufacture, digitisation etc., or they assume it is
part of embedded business innovation within the
supply chain
CLC Industry Skills Plan for the UK Construction Sector 2021 – 2025 13Opportunities and Challenges
The
Core Skills
Challenges
Standards and Training, Education Culture and Working
Careers
Qualifications and Development Environment
Together we can create an Together we can create the Together we can enable Together we can create an
industry that is attractive to underpinning foundations high-quality training and industry whose culture and
talent and bring those skills for high-quality, transferable development when and operations make it a great
In order to improve the productivity in through multiple routes skills and pathways for where needed that equips place to work that retains
of the construction industry and learning the workforce in current talented individuals
and emerging skills
seize the opportunity for its wider
contribution to the UK, it needs In the next four years we need In the next four years we need to: In the next four years we need to: In the next four years we need to:
to improve the productivity of its to tackle the causes of hard-to-fill ─ Standardise the approach to ─ Grow the number of apprentices ─ Drive a culture of innovation
vacancies, where applicants lack
main asset – its people. This means the skills required and not enough
developing sector-wide skills and enhance the routes to and including the use of
and knowledge to increase through apprenticeships technology to drive
attracting talent by offering careers people are being trained. mobility across the industry productivity improvement
─ Improve the progression
of choice and being a positive and ─ Shift to focus on competence. of FE learners into workers ─ Increase the levels of direct
We need to:
fulfilling place to work and effectively Consider both “point in in the industry employment to improve the
─ Change to take a long-term time” and ongoing need for attractiveness of the sector
upskilling, re-skilling and cross-skilling view of workforce skills,
─ Demand training and education
development in all roles in the skills that are needed to and as a fundamental enabler
the workforce to work effectively and planning and embracing of apprenticeships, career
─ Tackle variation in training deliver differently in the future,
safely. In order to overcome these multiple skills supply routes
standards and qualifications – for example new technologies progression, upskilling,
(i.e. adults, job changers,
skills challenges, action across the industry changers)
ensure training and education and methods (e.g. offsite). reskilling, competence
is to an agreed standard and Create new jobs and the need and innovation
sector, Government, education and ─ Make construction a sector of available where needed to re-skill existing workers ─ Reform structural and
others is required. choice for young people through
─ Ensure that work-ready skills ─ Demand innovation in the ways contractual arrangements that
better career path information lead to detrimental culture,
such as team working and in which learning is delivered
and more direct employment which impacts on health
time management are flexibly (time, place, pace and
─ Enable access to the industry embedded into training platform) including immersive, and wellbeing
for all groups to improve online and location
diversity, this includes access to
work experience opportunities
CLC Industry Skills Plan for the UK Construction Sector 2021 – 2025 14Post-16
KEY
Study Work + study/training Employment + study
Routes Into No qualifications Exam retakes – resit A levels, BTECs, GCSEs. HE qualifications – courses taught in universities, colleges, specialist institutions. Quals. include diplomas, bachelor degrees, foundation
degrees, post-graduate degrees,
Construction
A Levels – academic
classroom learning.
Sector based
work academies Technical and vocational qualifications – qualifications related specifically to the industry and role
in which the learner wants to find employment, e.g. BTECs.
– 6-week
intensive courses,
classroom based,
route to CSCS / Applied
T Level Transition
CCNSG card. qualifications –
Programme – study
classroom learning w.
programme for 16-19
practical skills
ear olds to prepare
element.
students for
progression to T
CITB onsite
Levels. Expected to
training hubs – T Levels – 80%
last up to 1 year.
physical facilities provider setting theory
which enables with practical skills,
potential entrants 20% industry
Traineeships – courses between 6 weeks and a year in
to become site placements (average
duration for 16-24 yo (25 with EHCP), not in employment,
and employment of 350 hours
and with no higher than L3 qualification. 70 hours minimum
ready. workplace
work experience – intention to prepare young people for an
experience).
apprenticeship or a job.
L3 Adult Offer – for
adults without full
ECITB pre-
qualification at L3.
employment
programme – 2-
week programme
covering CCNSG Advanced
Safety Passport apprenticeship –
Supported
and basic skills Intermediate for school leavers
internships – for
areas. apprenticeship – with some
young people with Higher apprenticeships – employment-based path to Degree apprenticeships apprenticeship – give learners a
typically for younger academic
learning difficulties or progression. 80% in the workplace, 20% off-the-job training. higher education degree while employed. Typically longer in
school leavers in background.
learning disabilities, Training delivered in universities, colleges, specialist duration than other apprenticeships but maintain the balance
practical or vocational Qualification
who need extra institutions. Can span to L6/7 if no degree qual. included. of 80% in the workplace, 20% off-the-job training.
trades. 80% in the equivalent to 2 A
support to get a job.
workplace, 20% off- levels. 80% in the
Minimum 6 months
the-job training. workplace, 20% off-
duration.
the-job training.
ECITB scholarship – 2-years craft or technician training
(potential 1 year jump-off point from craft stream).
Construction bootcamps – up to 16-week courses to build sector-specific skills, supporting individuals to re-skill/up-skill,
formalise existing skills.
Kickstart – job placements for 16- to 24-year-olds on Universal Credit and at risk of long-term unemployment.
Higher technical skills, degree qualifications, professional titles – employees entering the labour market with L3 qualifications are eligible for
Entry level employment à skilled employment – L1-2 qualifications are typically used as introductory
jobs at technician level and have the option to train for higher or degree level apprenticeships, at their employer’s discretion. Degree level
routes into jobs in the construction sector; these qualifications make people eligible for the CSCS card.
apprenticeships provide a route into the sector for HE graduates in specific subjects. Courses at L3+ also provide a route to professional titles.
Diagram developed in collaboration with HMG through the Construction Skills Delivery Group. Used with the permission and with thanks to DfE and BEIS. CLC Industry Skills Plan for the UK Construction Sector 2021 – 2025 15Opportunities and Challenges
STEM Ambassadors Go Construct
Attracting
and Retaining
Diverse Talent
and Helping
People to Join For entrants – A single, focussed programme to build understanding of
construction careers.
For entrants – A single place for accurate and timely careers advice and guidance.
For employers – Increasing awareness amongst new entrants. If we all
For employers – Increasing awareness amongst new entrants and their collaborate and use it, it can become the place for construction careers
influencers to attract the next generation to the sector as a career of information and signposting.
choice. The more we join, the greater our reach to the next generation.
A lot of the key programmes are
in place. If we all get behind these Fairness, Inclusion and Respect (FIR) Programme Talent Retention Scheme
and do our part, we can make great
progress towards attracting and
retaining the skills and talent the
industry needs. Please support these
key construction initiatives as we
develop them further through this
Skills Plan.
For entrants and workers – Helping to create an industry you want to join For workers – A place to find new opportunities or find support in your current role.
and remain a part of.
For employers – If we all support it, this can become the clear and easily
For employers – This provides a common toolset for increasing understanding of accessible place to find opportunities and promote talent. It provides a central
the business benefits of Fairness, Inclusion and Respect, as well as how to embed site for opportunities of redeployment for workers already in construction, as well
effective working practices within organisations and their supply chains. If we all as to upskill and reskill people from other sectors.
support it, this in turn leads to an industry better equipped to attract and retain
a diverse workforce at all levels.
CLC Industry Skills Plan for the UK Construction Sector 2021 – 2025 16The Skills Plan
CLCIndustry
CLC IndustrySkills
SkillsPlan
Planfor
forthe
theUK
UKConstruction
ConstructionSector
Sector2021
2021––2025
2025 17The Skills Plan
Addressing Our 1. Improve access to
opportunities for all and
2. Boosting all routes
into industry, including
3. Competence: Shift
to focus on competence
4. Skills for a
modernised industry:
Skills Needs
attractiveness of careers enhanced work experience through the development Up-skilling and re-skilling
provision for those in of sector-specific in the skills that are
full-time FE and HE competency frameworks. required to transform
Ensuring both “point in the industry. This will
time”, ongoing continuous incorporate focus on
professional development both new technologies
(CPD) and revalidation / methods, (e.g. off-
of competence site), and the requisite
For the first year of this plan’s lifetime behaviours, (e.g.
we want to focus on the four key creativity, sustainability,
and inclusion)
areas outlined here.
Enables Enables Enables Enables
The following pages set out, for
each challenge, the details of key
1.1 Support access for 2.1 Grow the number of Develop higher technical Skills to deliver net zero
actions that need to be achieved to all industry to operate a apprentices and enhance qualifications to support carbon targets through
meet them. Case studies have been more inclusive culture to the routes to and through progression retrofit, new build and
included to demonstrate the work that encourage new entrants at apprenticeships, construction operations
every stage of their career including the role of the Health and Safety:
is already underway and the progress and retain skilled workers Apprenticeships Levy (AL) Improve and embed higher Deliver skills to embed
that industry is already making. standards of safety practices emerging innovations
within the industry and digital technologies
1.2 Make construction an to improve efficiency,
2.2 Improve the links
attractive career sector Modernise standards and productivity, sustainability
between FE and employers,
of choice through better qualifications to deliver the and building safety
and the pathways from FE
development, delivery and skills our industry needs in
into apprenticeships and
showcasing of the career the future (e.g. digital
employment. Support the
development opportunities and behavioural)
T Levels route
our varied industry offers
2.3 Improve the links
1.3 Strengthen support for
between HE and employers,
direct employment as an
and the pathways from HE
enabler of apprenticeships,
into employment
upskilling and attractiveness
of careers
CLC Industry Skills Plan for the UK Construction Sector 2021 – 2025 18The Skills Plan
And Progress is
Already in Motion
– Improved careers information about how
to join and progress through construction
on the industry portal, Go Construct
– Started to align construction with the
STEM Ambassador programme to broaden
reach of influence in schools
– Updated apprenticeship standards
to reflect the needs of employers
– Collaborated to influence the roll out
of T Levels in Construction and Building
Services Engineering
– Used key migration research to influence
Government on post-Brexit migration
rules to better meet the needs of the
construction industry
– Published Future Skills research to spread
understanding about what skills construction
will need in the coming years
However, there is much more that now
needs to be done to build on this progress.
CLCIndustry
CLC IndustrySkills
SkillsPlan
Planfor
forthe
theUK
UKConstruction
ConstructionSector
Sector2021
2021––2025
2025 19The Skills Plan
Challenge 1.1: Path to Solving This Challenge Outcomes and Benefits
Access for All
In order to make industry inclusive and attractive a number of steps ─ Improved diversity enables both attraction and retention through
are needed: a more inclusive culture and a more attractive sector to work in
─ Improved retention saves unnecessary recruitment costs. With the
─ Improve perceptions of potential new entrants and those average recruitment cost of £4,000* and a general average UK
who influence them in their career choices, e.g. friends, parents, cost of replacing an employee and the resulting loss of productivity
Support the whole industry to peers and teachers calculated at £30,000** we need to retain talent rather than letting
operate a more inclusive culture ─ Provide clear information about the career opportunities
it flow out of construction
─ Innovation: when people feel included they feel more comfortable
to encourage new entrants at in construction and how to access, participate and progress to share their ideas. Deloitte research identifies an 83% uplift in
innovation when people feel included and that their employer is
every stage of their career ─ Make the reality of working in construction inclusive committed to diversity.
and retain skilled workers and a sector of choice, to both attract and retain talent
* Talent Retention Scheme work CLC
** ACAS, 2014
Before the pandemic, CITB forecast the need for an extra
40,000 workers per year in construction to address the
known pipeline of work up to 2025. Actions and Owners
This need is partly generated by the rising age profile
of the construction workforce. In addition, reduced access Improve perceptions of potential new entrants and those
who influence them 3. Commit to a common Owner
to EU migrant labour from January 2021 is expected to further
diversity measuring and CLC
increase industry’s domestic recruitment requirement. 1. Join STEM Ambassadors to provide Owner monitoring system and set
practical input in schools, colleges CLC aspirational targets at all levels Deadline
The impact of the pandemic and resulting recession has and workplaces about the reality of for recruitment, retention and December 2022
construction and how to join, as well as Deadline progression of under-represented
significantly reduced skills demand across industry. However,
showcasing the variety of construction Target: Access to 7,000 STEM groups that reflects the
there will still be a 210,000+ recruitment requirement between roles. Ensure they are equipped with Ambassadors (targets for number
2021–2025. demographic of the UK
inspiring messaging, new careers of engagements to be set) by working population
materials and activities to help bring September 2021. Convert 1,700 into
Women, ethnic minorities and people with disabilities are still construction careers to life supported, active Ambassadors by 2024
underrepresented in nearly all occupations in the Construction 4. Support wellbeing and Owner
and Built Environment sector. There are challenges around mental health services CLC to promote and
Make the reality of working in construction inclusive and through the creation and support coordinate action
equality of pay and progression, diversity in leadership as well a sector of choice, to both attract and retain talent of industry services, such as the
as a lack of diverse role models for new entrants to aspire to. Lighthouse Charity Deadline
This is at least in part due to the recruitment practices of the 2. Implement the Fairness, Inclusion Owner Engagement
industry, which repeat the process of direct recruitment from and Respect programme through CLC, supported by CITB plan operating by
the supply chain to help construction June 2021
known sources, compounding the issue. This, together with operate within a more inclusive culture Deadline
a fragmented company-by-company approach to recruitment, to encourage new entrants and retain Roll out FIR programme by June 2022.
makes it exceptionally difficult to reach a more diverse set skilled staff An additional 3,000 construction companies
of applicants. to engage with the FIR programme, 1,500
active FIR Ambassadors and 5,000 new
learners by 2025
Key sources:
https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/au/Documents/human-capital/
deloitte-au-hc-diversity-inclusion-soup-0513.pdf CLC Industry Skills Plan for the UK Construction Sector 2021 – 2025 20The Skills Plan
Case Study:
How Ardmore Recruits and
Retains a Diverse Workforce
Ardmore, a privately owned building contractor, believe Ardmore believe that the business benefits too, as
that it is essential to recruit from the communities they their inclusive and collaborative culture refreshes the
are working in, especially when that is in the middle of knowledge and skills of their mentors and retains
a housing estate – giving back by employing the people valuable talent.
most affected by their work.
For more information visit the Supply Chain
Eilish Kwai, Employment Skills Manager, visits colleges Sustainability School website.
and careers fairs to talk to people about construction
and the opportunities for apprentices and graduates with
Ardmore Group. If people are interested, she tells them
“if you are serious, email me” and if they do, she finds
them a work experience placement. If they work hard
and have the right attitude she finds them a role and
supports them.
This approach has brought fresh new talent into Ardmore
and – as a result – its diversity profile is significantly Ardmore believe that it is
more diverse than industry averages. Its profile is
younger, more female and more BAME. essential to recruit from
the communities they are
These impressive diversity statistics are achieved by:
working in – as a result
─ Accessible recruitment processes
─ Local recruitment
– its diversity profile is
─ Outreach to colleges and job fairs significantly more diverse
─ Four-week work placements than industry averages.
─ A culture of mentoring
CLC Industry Skills Plan for the UK Construction Sector 2021 – 2025 21The Skills Plan
Challenge 1.2: Path to Solving This Challenge Outcomes and Benefits
Attractiveness We need to recognise the diverse routes into our industry and
the variety of career options available to people within our industry.
This means we need to:
─ Improved career visibility attracts talent
─ Improved careers opportunity retains talent
of Careers ─ Provide clear information on the routes to join and to progress
(for example, see p.15)
─ Provide mechanisms for people to use their skills in one area
─ Improved retention of talent saves unnecessary
recruitment costs and productivity dips
to build upon and move through or across to other areas through
Make construction a sector a modular approach
─ Ensure that the vast array of opportunities are made clear to
of choice through better potential new entrants but also to those in other sectors to attract
development, delivery and talent of all ages
showcasing of the career
development opportunities Actions and Owners
our varied industry offers
Provide clear information about the career opportunities in 3. Clear information about Owner
The breadth of career opportunities in our industry construction and how to join and progress career paths and how to DfE/CLC
is massive and we need all of our roles filled from join and move through careers
1. Implement the national Owner in construction provided on Deadline
groundworkers to architects to ground source engineers Talent Retention Scheme CLC industry portal. To help new Ongoing
to deliver the built environment. to retain talent within the entrants, career changers and
industry through shared Deadline returners into jobs in the industry,
Latest data from ONS shows construction vacancies vacancy approach The Construction TRS target with the support to upskill or
at 29,000 1 and this is on top of an Annual Recruitment to redeploy 6,900 workers retrain if necessary
over a five year period (1%
Requirement (ARR) of over 40,000 per year 2.
redeployment rate). 2,500
supported jobs in 2024/25 4. Supporting Kickstart and Owner
There are opportunities for people to join our sector Skills Bootcamps to provide work CITB/DfE
placements for entrants to gain
as new entrants, to re-join or to join from other
2. Implement the Work Place Owner skills and opportunities to Deadline
industries. We need to make the opportunities clear enter industry September 2021
Promise of ongoing career ACE
and visible and provide the necessary bridges in development and support through
some cases through work experience or placement Consultancy and then into other Deadline
5. Agree a standard for work Owner
opportunities to give people the opportunity to start areas too ACE to develop and roll out
experience for industry to CITB
their career in construction. by September 2021
operate to. Increase the quantity
and accessibility of high-quality Deadline
work experience placements June 2021
1
Reference: ONS January 2021
2
Reference: CSN CLC Industry Skills Plan for the UK Construction Sector 2021 – 2025 22The Skills Plan
Case Study:
Building a Strong Pool of
Talent for Construction
Recognising the critical importance of retaining a Paul Thornton, Head of Talent Acquisition,
buoyant pool of talent across the construction industry, Kier Group:
Kier Group was one of the first companies to join the
Construction Talent Retention Scheme (CTRS) shortly Kier have been involved with advertising vacancies
after its launch in July 2020. since the inception of the Construction Talent Retention
Scheme and have found it to be a vital platform in
Supported by powerful technology, the CTRS enhances attracting new talent. Availability of skills will be
the range of recruitment tools that Kier uses to fill a increasingly important to the sector as we continue to
large number of vacancies every year. Since joining the adapt to challenges including COVID-19 and Brexit over
scheme, Kier has advertised vacancies via the portal and the coming months. Ensuring we keep talent within the
received almost 100 applications for roles as diverse as industry will be critical to delivery, particularly in light of
quantity surveyors to site managers and planners. the increased investment by UK Government through the
With the portal’s direct interface to Kier’s own National Infrastructure Strategy and the CTRS should be
recruitment software, it is easy to both upload jobs at the heart of our planning for the industry as a whole.
and to process applications.
The CTRS supports the whole construction industry and
plays an important role in attracting new talent into the The Construction Talent
sector. In addition, as a collaborative platform that is
free for all businesses and candidates to use, it serves Retention Scheme supports
to unite the construction sector in its collective aim to the whole construction
recruit and retain the best talent.
industry and plays an
important role in attracting
new talent into the sector.
CLC Industry Skills Plan for the UK Construction Sector 2021 – 2025 23The Skills Plan
Challenge 1.3: Path to Solving This Challenge Outcomes and Benefits
Direct Employment There is no simple or quick solution given the wide range of
factors influencing the entrenched industry structure. A long-term,
multifaceted approach is required:
─
─
─
Increased proportion of directly employed construction workforce
Increased investment in apprenticeships
Improved safety, wellbeing, quality, productivity and innovation
─ Supportive Government regulation concerning procurement, ─ Improved perception of construction careers
Strengthen support for direct taxation and employment status
employment to improve ─ Widespread use of value procurement models
─ Raising industry awareness of the benefits of direct employment
opportunity, culture and and helping employers and individuals overcome challenges
skills investment
CLC’s Industry Recovery Plan recognises direct employment as
Actions and Owners
‘an enabler of apprenticeships, digital upskilling and competence’.
Use of value procurement models that Supporting businesses to transform their
Self-employment has rapidly increased since 2008 and is over 35% reward direct employment employment models
of the whole construction workforce, heavily concentrated on site.
Research correlates the decline in trade apprenticeships with the 1. Work with Government to Owner 3. Liaise with Government’s Owner
growth in labour-only subcontracting and agency work. CLC/Government employment status team to obtain CLC
amend procurement policies
to incorporate a mandate for greater visibility of future policy
Self-employed workers have more accidents and poorer occupational and Deadline intention. Build industry awareness Deadline
direct employment, supporting April 2022 with commitment
mental health outcomes. Secure employment is vital to attracting diverse April 2022 and develop resources to support
the implementation of the in place by December 2022
talent, creating an inclusive culture and supporting social mobility. Construction Playbook businesses of all sizes
Direct employment delivers a highly-engaged, competent workforce,
4. Collate direct employment Owner
increased productivity and higher value. It is reported to overcome skills 2. Change procurement Owner
good practice including related CLC
shortages, spiralling labour costs, poor productivity and quality, avoiding practices to demand direct CLC
procurement policies, contractual
low uptake of new work processes and technology. It is mandated on employment within supply Deadline
Deadline requirements and monitoring
major infrastructure projects, reducing risks around delivery certainty, chains through pre-qualification October 2021
December 2024 and enforcement mechanisms
reputation and quality. questionnaires and tender
criteria. Develop model wording
Raising industry awareness of the benefits
of direct employment
5. Engage widely with industry Owner
to build an evidence base CLC
focused on realising the benefits
of direct employment and Deadline
April 2022
overcoming challenges
CLC Industry Skills Plan for the UK Construction Sector 2021 – 2025 24The Skills Plan
Case Study:
ECA Loan Labour Scheme
The suspension of almost all electrical work at Gatwick Delron’s Technical Manager Ben Scofield was also very
Airport during lockdown presented a major challenge for happy with Sandra’s electricians: ‘‘They all got on with
Leading Electrical Services Ltd., most of whose work is the job straight away. Everything went in quickly and
Gatwick related. well”. After some bad experiences with employment
agencies, he sees real advantages in using direct
Company director Sandra Rumbold-Koch feared for employees on a loan arrangement: “The fact that their
the future, but then spotted an email from her trade employer wants to keep hold of them – you know you
association, Electrical Contractors’ Association (ECA), are getting decent guys.”
explaining that another member firm in the region was
looking for short-term ‘top-up’ workers under ECA’s Further information about the ECA Loan Labour Scheme
long-established Loan Labour Scheme. ECA put her can be found on the ECA website.
in touch with Delron Services Ltd. and the two firms
agreed to the loan of four electricians for a ten-day
period over the October half-term break – enabling
Delron to complete an accelerated installation contract
at a school in Croydon.
For Sandra, this and four other loan arrangements
organised through ECA have helped the firm
After some bad experiences
‘battle our way through’ – with work prospects with employment agencies,
now, at last, looking up.
Delron’s Technical Manager
sees real advantages in
using direct employees on
a loan arrangement
CLC Industry Skills Plan for the UK Construction Sector 2021 – 2025 25The Skills Plan
Challenge 2.1: Path to Solving This Challenge Outcomes and Benefits
Routes into ─ Promote accelerated routes into apprenticeships through FE
─ Increase construction apprenticeship retention, attainment and completion
─ Recovery of apprenticeship starts in 2021
─ Increasing numbers of annual apprenticeship starts in future
Industry – ─ Reform the Apprenticeship Levy (AL) to support the post-pandemic
recovery of construction apprenticeships as a critical pipeline to meet the
─ Reformed Apprenticeship Levy transfer system, enabling
construction employers to pool Levy funds to strategically
Apprenticeships
skills needs of industry address industry skills needs
Actions and Owners
Boosting all routes into
industry, including enhanced
Reform the Apprenticeship Levy Increase construction apprenticeship retention,
work experience provision attainment and completion
for those in full-time FE 1. Recommend that Government
extends the existing incentive
Owner
Government
scheme to end of 2021 4. Support provision of pre- Owner
Deadline apprenticeship experiences to CITB
Grow the number of apprentices and enhance the develop a brokerage service, as
routes to and through construction apprenticeships. September 2021
well as best practice to support Deadline
The sector employs 2.7m people (about 9% of the construction SMEs to offer job 2021-2024
UK workforce) and has a number of challenges, one experience placements through
being that 32% of the workforce are over 50, only 10% 2. Support Government Owner the Kickstart scheme’s
are under 25. We need to continue to deliver 25,000 proposals to create pledge Government/CITB/AoC/BACH Gateway Providers
new apprenticeships every year, whilst also improving function and matching service
for Apprenticeship Levy Deadline
diversity in the sector. August 2021 (to be implemented 5. Make all apprenticeship Owner
as part of Project Speed work) opportunities available on Industry
In order to continue to strengthen and support this apprenticeships.gov (which
key route of entry, CLC will work on behalf of industry will be supported by the TRS) Deadline
to create a sustained partnership between the DfE Promote accelerated routes May 2021
and the construction sector to set annual and multi-
year targets for increasing apprenticeship numbers, 3. Develop an accelerated route Owner
from FE into construction Government/CITB/AoC/BACH
increasing the number of higher level apprenticeships,
apprenticeships through
to overcome barriers to take-up and to increase quality recognition of prior learning Deadline
and completion rates. By continued work together we August 2021
can build the future skills base.
Key sources:
1. CLC Apprenticeships sprint group asks paper (2020)
CLC Industry Skills Plan for the UK Construction Sector 2021 – 2025 26You can also read
