FIS CEO, Iain McIlwee participated in a roundtable this week with Skills England looking at the New Government’s approach to skills, training and education as it applies to construction. Skills England is a new arms-length body established by Government with the intent to bring together key partners to meet the skills needs of the next decade.
Iain joined a select group of representatives from the Department for Education, Skill England and across construction.
The three key topics covered were:
- Current and future skills gaps – building on the current understanding of skills needs
- Training routes and talent pipeline
- Policy solutions (i.e. What can the government/ employers/ training providers do to address the current and future skills needs?)
Iain highlighted the fundamental challenges employers, particularly SMEs, face when required to invest in skills and the shortcomings of funding in line with the expectation of the level of investment required to make an individual work ready and productive. The failure of the education system to ensure that people leave school with an appreciation of the opportunities available in construction and the demonstrable failure on the current apprenticeship system that means the average UK apprentice is now over 25 and effectively studying for a degree.
All of the points Iain made were drawn from a Policy Position paper that has been agreed with the FIS Skills Board. This has not been published widely as FIS is seeking to collaborate with other specialist organisations to turn it into a cross sector manifesto. If you are interested in seeing a copy and commenting on this working draft, please email Beena Nana: beenanana@thefis.org.
For more information about the FIS kills Board, click here. We are always looking to grow the Skills Board and support for our work in this arena. If you are interested in finding out more, you are welcome to attend the next online meeting scheduled for the 10th December 2024. To receive your invite, please email Beena Nana: beenanana@thefis.org.