Skills Partnership awarded £1.9m to attract more people into homebuilding careers
The Home Building Skills Partnership (HBSP) has been awarded £1.9m, as part of CITB’s Pathways into Construction initiative.
The Home Building Skills Partnership (HBSP) has been awarded £1.9m, as part of CITB’s Pathways into Construction initiative. The funding will be used over the next three years to attract people into homebuilding from currently underrepresented groups, allowing employers to draw on a more diverse range of talent in meeting their workforce and skills needs.
The Skills Partnership worked with a number of developers to ensure the project bid addressed the technical roles shortages faced by the homebuilding sector and provided the experience and skills needed to support new entrants. The successful bid will see the Skills Partnership focus on attracting women, ex-military personnel, FE students and young people not in employment, education or training (NEETS) into homebuilding roles.
Jenny Herdman, Director of the Skills Partnership, said, “The Pathways into Construction initiative addresses a key issue the sector as a whole is facing. We need to attract more new entrants to meet the skills gap and that means targeting groups who would not normally consider us. There are so many roles available in homebuilding that can provide skills for life, a pathway to progression and flexibility that many of us need. This funding will help us to open up these opportunities to a wider audience and ultimately change the sector for the better”.
Stephen Cole, CITB Head of Careers Strategy, said, “With thousands of jobs being created in the coming years, Pathways into Construction will demonstrate that we need to stop fishing in only half the pond and diversify the talent pool to meet future skills needs.
“We’ll explore the best routes, which employers can adopt in future, to bring under-represented groups into the industry, not only filling the skills gap but also supporting employers by recruiting domestic talent with Brexit on the horizon.”
Pathways into Construction will see CITB and partners target 11,800 people into construction careers with a total investment of £10m. For more information, visit the Pathways Into Construction webpage.