by Clair Mooney | May 15, 2018 | Main News Feed
The draft Interior Systems Apprenticeship being proposed for the new Trailblazer Standard approach is now available for consultation. This has been developed with a wide group of employers over the past year and now requires further input from across industry before being submitted to the Institute for Apprenticeships on 23 May 2018.
Please respond with any questions or comments initially to skills@thefis.org
The deadline for response is Tuesday 22 May 2018.
by Clair Mooney | May 14, 2018 | Main News Feed
A new £2.1m partnership has been agreed between the Finishes and Interiors Sector (FIS) and the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB).
The Fit-out Futures programme will address key challenges faced in the finishes and interior sector, including skills shortages, lack of new entrants and difficulty in accessing quality training.
The programme has received £1.5 million in funding from CITB. The flagship project is designed to bring in 1,500 new entrants into the sector by 2020. The Fit-out Futures programme will consist of:
- BuildBack
BuildBack has a target to get 980 unemployed people trained in drylining and into employment by 2020. BuildBack provides an opportunity for unemployed people to be retrained on a SUP (Specialist Upskilling Programme) for drylining at a local college over a two-week period, followed by two weeks of on-site work experience with an employer.
- Further Education to Employment
This programme will focus on engaging with students to be the next generation of construction employees. The aim is to attract 352 candidates to undertake four weeks of work experience with an employer over a two-year period.
- Sector Engagement
The third strand focuses on getting a fully carded workforce by 2020 by liaising with industry and students. The target is for 31,000 candidates to have been registered for any CSCS card that is relevant to the fit-out sector.
Andrew Smith, president at FIS, said: “Two years ago the FIS Board recognised the crisis in attracting skilled operatives to the fit-out sector and made ‘Skills Development’ one of the three key strategic objectives of the organisation. Our commitment included funding a new team for a limited period to demonstrate to CITB the capability of FIS to deliver the needs of the sector.
“This investment has paid off and FIS has now received funding to the value of £2.1m over the next three years to enable the delivery of large numbers of skilled tradespeople to our sector. Our Skills Delivery director, Helen Yeulet, ably supported by our CEO David Frise, can rightly be very proud of their achievements to date.
“FIS looks forward to the delivery of the project and to further expansion of the scope of activity in this area to support our industry.”
Mark Noonan, industry relations director for CITB, said: “As part of our reform programme we are committed to focusing on areas where industry needs us most, particularly through targeted funding.
“Fit-out Futures is a great example of these principles in action. Working in partnership with FIS we are pleased to be supporting this project to ensure industry is equipped with the skills and training it needs. This is an exciting programme of work and we look forward to seeing the outcomes of this landmark project.”
Steve Coley, chairman of the FIS Skills board, said: “The FIS team has made a formidable coalition with the CITB to bring a new and exciting phase in training and up skilling. We look forward to delivering what we at FIS believe will be the start of a new beginning in how training is managed and provided.”
by Clair Mooney | May 9, 2018 | Main News Feed
The way the government funds apprenticeships in England changed in April 2017 when the Apprenticeship Levy was introduced. All employers with a wage bill of over £3 million a year have to contribute 0.5% of their total pay bill towards apprenticeship training (minus a £15,000 annual levy allowance).
FIS is seeking to understand the level of uptake, awareness and understanding of the Apprenticeship Levy specific to the construction industry one year after its launch. With this in mind we have completed a very short survey, which we would appreciate your response to. It should take no longer than 2 minutes to complete.
Apprenticeship Levy – have your say
We are collating responses from FIS members and all wider construction industry CITB levy payers registered in England. Your response will provide evidence of the current undertakings of the Apprenticeship Levy. The results will be published on our website at the end of June 2018 and feature in number of publications and online news platforms.
All responses will be held in confidence and under all FIS data protection policies. This survey will close on Friday 15 June 2018 at 5pm.
For further information on the apprenticeship levy or advice and guidance please contact FIS project manager Amanda Scott amandascott@thefis.org
by Clair Mooney | May 3, 2018 | Main News Feed
We have received the following email from the Construction Products Association regarding false claims on some products that they meet the CPR and have false CE marks on their products.
If you have any evidence of products on the market where you believe this is happening please contact Duncan King duncan.king@constructionproducts.org.uk
The Devon, Somerset and Torbay Trading Standards Service have elected to run a project through 2018 around enforcement of the CPR. They have contacted CPA asking for a steer on construction products that appear in the market with which there are issues with CPR compliance. These may be specific products or sectors within the scope of the CPR. As this is a specific request from a Trading Standard office and is the first indication CPA has received of a TS office wanting to be proactive in this field, we feel that we must respond with some definite information. Therefore, members are asked to email Duncan King (duncan.king@constructionproducts.org.uk) of current issues they have with enforcement of the CPR and products appearing in the market place that you consider are breaking CPR legislation.
In addition, TS would like to contact member’s companies in the Devon and Somerset area with a view to supplying them with tailored advice they can use to when explaining why other products are not meeting the legislation.
by Nicky Smith | Apr 25, 2018 | Main News Feed
During April, we welcomed three new companies to the FIS membership; two contractor companies and one service provider. Pirin Projects Ltd and S&R London are contractors based in the south-east. MMC Engineer is a structural and civil engineering practice based in Harrogate, North Yorkshire.
We look forward to a long and successful relationship with our new and existing members in 2018. A range of membership benefits, Special Interest Forums, events and publications are available in the FIS Membership Hub.
by Nicky Smith | Apr 25, 2018 | Main News Feed
A petition on fair payment and retentions, representing over 355,000 businesses, was delivered to Theresa May on Monday by Peter Aldous MP and industry leaders including FIS CEO David Frise. Supporters of the Aldous Bill and the petition on fair payments also gathered outside the gates of Number 10, including business owners directly affected by the collapse of Carillion in January.
The second reading of the Construction (Retention Deposit Schemes) Bill which was scheduled for 27 April, has been pushed back to Friday 15 June. The Bill proposes cash retentions be held in trust accounts to protect the supply chain.
FIS members have been writing to their MPs to gather support and other prominent MPs backing the reform include John McDonnell, Rebecca Long-Bailey, Kenneth Clarke, Ed Vaizey, Sir Vince Cable and Green Party Leader Caroline Lucas. Follow the link on the right to download the template letter asking your MP to support the Bill.
Peter Aldous tabled a private member’s bill to protect the millions of pounds of cash retentions withheld from construction SMEs. The Ten Minute Rule Bill will seek to amend the 1996 Construction Act and ensure that retentions within construction are held in a third party trust scheme.
David Frise commented: “The urgent need for reform is clear from the cross-party support the Aldous Bill has. The impact of lost Carillion retention money on apprentices, jobs and investment in the sector is already evident. Holding cash retentions in trust will make sure that the money is safe and does what it is intended to do.”
“The government will surely want to be seen to protect SMEs and to ensure the construction industry is sustainable so it can deliver its ambitious plans for housing and social welfare. SMEs are crucial to the government’s built environment and infrastructure programme.”
“Retentions and delayed payment put thousands of firms at risk of insolvency and undermine their efforts to invest in skills, training and improved productivity.”
