The Construction Skills Fund (CSF) has awarded more than £20m for 26 projects in England to support the development of on-site construction “training hubs”. Tasked with tackling the skills shortage, seven infrastructure and 19 housing hubs will train up to 17,000 people to become site and employment ready by March 2020.
While the progress has been well-received by the company, the National Federation of Builders (NFB) believes The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) can go further.
The 26 projects based across England are reportedly all unique in their scope, and focus on the specific needs of individual project ambitions. For example, a hub next to Luton airport will train staff to deliver the Luton Direct Rail to Air Transit (DART). In Hampshire, on-site and off-site venues in key locations aim to provide a geographical spread of training in housebuilding.
Welcoming this targeted approach to specific skill shortages, the NFB has reported that it hopes the CITB will continue making headway to support other construction roles that are deficient, and are currently outside the scope of the CITB levy.
Richard Beresford, chief executive of the NFB, said:
“We can only tackle the construction skills crisis by ensuring that training supports more people into the industry.
“Training hubs are a good way to do that, but we must also make sure that trades such as electrical, heating and plumbing
are brought into scope of the CITB levy.”
The CSF is funded by the Department for Education, and was launched by the Construction Industry Training Board.