Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what plans she has to address skills shortages in the construction industry.

The department’s skills reforms in England provide a ladder of opportunity that enables young people and adults to get good jobs and progress in their careers.

The department is building a skills system that is employer focused, high-quality and fit for the future, and is flexible enough to lead to more people completing high-quality courses that meet employers’ needs in all sectors. This ambitious skills agenda is backed by £3.8 billion of investment over this Parliament. We are using this to expand and strengthen higher and further education, ensuring skills training is aligned to the needs of employers to enable communities to thrive.

With this investment, we are putting employers at the heart of our skills system. This is why the department is working with industry to shape our training offers, creating more routes into skilled employment in key economic sectors, including construction.

Our high-quality apprenticeships are supporting people of all ages with the opportunity to earn and learn the skills needed to start, or progress in, an exciting career in the construction sector. Employers in the construction sector can access a range of high-quality apprenticeship standards to meet their skills needs. There are currently 81 standards approved for delivery, including standards in Modern Methods of Construction to support greener approaches and deliver our commitment to a net-zero economy. In 2021/22, there were 7,490 starts at Level 3 in the construction, planning and built environment sector, a 29.7% increase when compared to 2020/21 (COVID-affected).

T Levels are strengthening vocational options for young people finishing their GCSEs. These two-year, technical qualifications are designed with relevant employers, and are equivalent in size to three A levels. Three T Levels in Construction are now available, leading to a variety of careers in the sector such as bricklaying, plumbing, and civil engineering.

We are delivering reforms to increase the profile, prestige, and uptake of higher technical education. Central to our reforms is the introduction of Higher Technical Qualifications (HTQs). HTQs are current, and new, Level 4 and 5 qualifications, approved and quality-marked by the Institute for Apprenticeships & Technical Education as providing the skills demanded in the workplace by employers.

HTQ rollout is on track with 172 approved qualifications being delivered between September 2022 and September 2024. From September 2023, there will be 18 approved HTQs in Construction and the Built Environment, followed by a further three that have been approved for first teach in September 2024.

The Free Courses for Jobs offer, which was launched in April 2021, allows eligible adults to access over 400 Level 3 qualifications for free, which are equivalent to A levels. Qualifications are available that support workers in all sectors. There are 418 Free Courses for Jobs offers approved for delivery available in construction.

Skills Bootcamps are free, flexible courses of up to 16 weeks, giving people the opportunity to build up sector-specific skills, with an offer of a job interview with an employer on completion. Skills Bootcamps are available in a variety of skill areas. Skills Bootcamps in the construction sector are open for applications in all regions.

High-quality careers information, advice, and guidance are key to helping people to make informed decisions about their future, including being able to find out about and consider the different options, including those in construction, available to them.

The Careers & Enterprise Company is supporting schools and colleges to embed best practice in the delivery of careers information, advice and guidance, so young people are aware of the full range of training and careers available to them and have access to a broad range of employers and workplaces, including those in the construction sectors. This will be delivered through the national roll-out of Career Hubs, Career Leader training, and the Enterprise Adviser Network.

The National Careers Service website gives customers access to a range of useful digital tools and resources to support them including ‘Explore Careers’ which includes more than 130 industry areas and more than 800 job profiles including a range of key sector careers available, descriptions of what those roles entail, qualifications and entry routes. The content team regularly researches and updates content and welcomes updates from industry to ensure content is accurate and up to date.