Construction: Industry training boards need ‘fundamental reset’

An independent review commissioned by the Department for Education has called for a ‘fundamental reset’ of the current Industry Training Board model to safeguard growth.

The review, Transforming the Construction Workforce, led by industry expert Mark Farmer and published by the government last week, said the current system is not effectively addressing the construction sector’s needs and that a more strategic, unified approach is necessary to build a more resilient, productive and skilled workforce.

Mark Farmer’s report calls for a “complete rethink” of skills and training priorities to address the construction industry’s “hollowing out” of the workforce.

The review makes 63 recommendations to transform how the industry approaches workforce development. The Department for Education’s response accepted 34 recommendations without amendment, and partially accepted or accepted in principle 26 recommendations.

The review calls for a pivot from focusing solely on new entrants and apprentices, to a “whole workforce” approach that includes upskilling and reskilling existing workers.

Industry Training Boards (ITBs) need to deliver more innovative and impactful programmes to drive at-scale improvements in industry competency, productivity, and retention. The review emphasises a need to focus on both the employed and self-employed workforce.

Farmer said: “There is a sense that many are persevering to make a difference whilst feeling that they are fighting the tide. Collectively we need to think and act differently if we are going to make all this hard work and effort really count going forward.”

He added: “If we are serious about cementing growth and future-proofing the industry, then we cannot ignore the capacity gap that is widening across our construction sector.”

The report highlights that construction has the lowest employment levels since 1998. Since the previous employment peak in 2008, construction employment has fallen by 20%, while the UK’s population has grown by 10%.

“Importantly, we cannot just assume we are going to recruit our way out of this crisis by setting ever more unattainable new entrant targets,” said Farmer. “This review confirms that the industry has a basic attraction and absorption problem that needs to be urgently addressed, but in the meantime, we need to be able to do more with the resources we already have.

“The industry struggles for many different reasons to modernise and improve its productivity but there remains a significant training-led opportunity to raise the capacity and capability of the existing and future workforce.

“I am convinced that with the right leadership from ministers and with a reformed ITB intervention, key parts of the engineering, construction and homebuilding industries will get behind the review’s call to arms and endorse the need to think differently.

“Doing nothing is not an option and there is now a clear and present danger to Britain’s growth plans, which are underpinned by building new housing, infrastructure and green energy sources.”

Recommendations made in the Farmer review include:

• The ITB model should be retained in terms of its basic statutory mandate but its strategic priorities, core capabilities and activity require wholesale transformation. This all needs to be ruthlessly focused on addressing the fundamental workforce resilience challenges facing the construction and engineering construction industries.
• The statutory levy-grant system should also be retained but modernised and refocused to ruthlessly drive measurable outcomes linked to the new priority industry challenges. SMART KPIs should be developed aimed at maximising outcomes from levy spending with more balanced accountability between industry and government.
• A fundamental reset is required across both ITBs (Construction and Engineering Construction) to change both direction and effectiveness. There is a common fundamental challenge which both industries face in terms of declining workforce resiliency resulting in growing workforce gaps and skills gaps and a more strategic and unified approach spanning both industry sectors should be adopted including operational convergence/merger after a suitable transition, minimising disruption to ongoing activities.

Tim Balcon, chief executive of the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) said: “Importantly, the report recognises the significant skills challenges facing the construction and engineering industries and the vital role that the ITBs play in helping address these. Further, it asserts that the best way of doing so is to retain the ITB model and industry-specific levies.

“Grant funding for apprenticeships and new entrants is vital, with more than two-thirds of apprenticeship starts in the construction industry being employed by companies of fewer than 50 employees.

“We are already well advanced in improving our engagement with employers and learners, such as the nationwide rollout of our Employer Networks and the significant improvements at our National Construction Colleges.”

Andrew Hockey, CEO of the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB), said: “We welcome closer collaboration with the CITB, particularly in the area of infrastructure skills where there is the most commonality between the ITBs’ respective footprints.

“As the review acknowledges, there is significant benefit in both ITBs collaborating more closely on infrastructure; nuclear new build being a clear example where workers in both civil construction and the engineering construction industry (ECI) work alongside each other.

Brian Berry, chief executive of the Federation of Master Builders, said: “For too long the construction industry has been plagued by an ongoing skills crisis which is holding back economic growth. The urgent need to build new infrastructure projects and deliver much-needed housing won’t happen unless there is radical review of the training landscape – the Mark Farmer report shows the way forward.”

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