Insulation specialist Actis has welcomed the Skills England Bill announced in the King’s speech, saying it hopes it will help address a severe labour shortage in the construction industry and pave the way towards creating the homes the government plans to deliver over the coming five years
Actis UK and Ireland sales director Mark Cooper says the move, along with the Planning and Infrastructure Bill announced in the King’s Speech, will help ease the housing crisis and boost employment – as long as it includes offering many more training opportunities for young people within the construction industry.
With the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) saying a quarter of a million new workers will be required between now and 2028 to achieve the government’s target, the pressure is on to train enough recruits to achieve the mission, he says.
Actis supports multiple outreach initiatives
Actis is one of the many organisations within the industry championing the need to encourage more people to embrace a career in the sector. And it is playing its own part in this through its school and college outreach initiatives.
Women in Construction ambassador and Actis northern regional sales director Jemma Harris has been involved in a CITB careers event and addressed students at a school in Yorkshire, with the aim of inspiring young women to follow a career in a male-dominated profession.
Northern regional specification manager Amaret Chahal, who has co-written some of Actis’ CPD training material, recently spoke to students at Barnsley College about the joy of construction.
And South-West area sales manager Tom Hendzel has helped out with lectures to construction trainees at Cornwall’s Truro and Penwith College.
The government’s pincer movement – of speeding up new homes delivery through its Planning and Infrastructure Bill and training more people to have the skills to enable this to happen – will also need to involve an increase in Modern Methods of Construction, explained Mark.
Creating more modular, offsite homes, which can be built up to 30% more quickly than traditional brick and block, will not only enable the homes to be delivered more quickly, but will also ensure a consistent quality and more effective thermal efficiency.
