The Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) has advanced its review of the Temporary Shortage List (TSL), a targeted migration route designed to help address short-term labour shortages in critical sectors. The committee’s Stage 1 report, published on 9 October (Temporary Shortage List: Stage 1 report), set out the occupations facing the most acute pressures and has now triggered a second phase of work. 

FIS responded to this initial call for evidence and has submitted the below high level response as part of the Temporary Shortage Occupation List consultation.

This response outlines the current workforce challenges, recruitment needs, and skills gaps within the sector, with a particular focus on plastering, dry-lining, and ceiling trades.

———————————————————-

FIS response to the Temporary Shortage Occupation List consultation

The Finishes and Interiors sector is experiencing persistent shortages of skilled tradespeople, particularly dryliners, plasterers, and ceiling fixers. These shortages are exacerbated by multiple factors:

• Insufficient apprenticeships: Current apprenticeship starts and completions in plastering and interior systems are well below the levels required to replace retiring workers and meet growing demand.
• An ageing workforce: A significant proportion of experienced tradespeople are approaching retirement, leading to a rapid reduction in available skilled labour.
• Reduced availability of skilled migrant workers: Post-Brexit immigration changes have limited the traditional source of experienced tradespeople, intensifying pressure on the domestic labour supply.

Our (FIS) recent House Building Trade Contractors Survey demonstrates the severity of labour pressures in the sector, with 94% of companies expressing concern about labour shortages over the next 12 months. Only 6% of respondents reported no concern, highlighting that almost all members anticipate challenges in recruiting and retaining skilled tradespeople. The survey findings reflect widespread anxiety across the industry, particularly for key finishing trades such as plasterers, dryliners, and ceiling fixers, and underscore the urgent need for both short-term and long-term interventions, including expanded training, upskilling, and targeted recruitment initiatives.

Ceiling fixers were previously excluded from government shortage lists, largely due to classification issues under older Standard Occupational Classification (SOC) codes, which grouped ceiling installation under broader interior systems categories. As a result, earlier assessments underestimated the true demand for specialist ceiling installation skills.

Qualifications in the sector:

• Plasterers: NVQ/RQF Level 3 Diplomas covering advanced internal and external plastering, rendering, dry-lining, and heritage/fibrous work, providing recognised craft-level competence and progression pathways.
• Ceiling fixers: Level 3 NVQ Diploma in Interior Systems (Construction), covering advanced suspended ceilings, partitions, and complex interior systems. While this provides a pathway to higher-level skills, availability remains limited compared to plastering.
• Level 4–5 NVQs: These focus on supervisory and management roles, such as site supervision or project management, but do not provide hands-on technical skill development for operative roles.

Some headline data to support this is as follows:

• The finishes and interiors sector employs approx. 266,000 people UK-wide, but needs 6,000 new recruits each year to maintain current capacity.
• More broadly, UK construction must recruit around 48,000–50,000 extra workers annually across all trades to meet forecast demand, highlighting the critical recruitment challenge in finishing trades.

Slow apprenticeship uptake, driven by fluctuations in employer investment, where recruitment slows during downturns, has created a bottleneck in the workforce pipeline. As a result, the number of trainees entering finishing trades such as plastering, dry-lining, and ceiling installation is insufficient to meet current and projected demand. With workloads expected to rise sharply in Q3–Q4 next year, the sector faces a critical gap, apprentices starting now will not be fully trained in time to address the upcoming surge in work, exacerbating existing skills shortages and putting project delivery at risk.

Ongoing engagement with industry will take place between now and 2 February 2026 to complete the evidence required for the MAC review.

If members have views or feedback, please do get in touch with beenanana@thefis.org

As we conclude our 10th anniversary year, we are reflecting on the past 12 months, celebrating our key achievements and the collective strength we demonstrate when we work together. Despite the significant challenges our sector has faced in 2025, your membership has empowered us to champion the interests of our community.

Representing over 600 members with a combined turnover of over £12.7 billion, 2025 has seen us expand our member services, provide extensive guidance, enhance our legal and contractual support, and support over 1,100 individuals through our e-learning courses. We also developed new competency frameworks across core interior systems, helping raise workforce standards and create clear career pathways – these will be available to all members in the New Year.

We understand the crippling effect of late payments and retentions has on businesses. And our submission to the Government’s consultation on this asked for bold reform;  mandatory 60-day payment terms, statutory interest on late payments, and the abolition or protection of retention funds.  Our message was clear. Enough is enough. Reform is not optional – it is essential – to protect livelihoods, restore trust, and unlock the full potential of UK construction.

Sustainability has also been a key focus over the last 12 months. The FIS Project Reuse initiative now has a physical hub for storing and redistributing materials between projects, earning the Build Back Better Green Award this year.

Reflecting on the last decade, FIS President Ian Strangward said:

“This milestone not only represents a decade of growth, but the evolution of a unified and influential voice for our industry.

“This year’s achievements reinforce why that unity matters, and why our role is more important than ever.”

Iain McIlwee, FIS Chief Executive added:

“Our members have told us repeatedly that the support, technical guidance, and collective strength FIS provides is invaluable – especially in challenging times. Our efforts this year reaffirm the power of collaboration to drive positive change across the sector.”

2025 demonstrated the power of a united sector voice and as we move into 2026, our core values remain clear:

• Members first: always putting the best interests of members at the heart of decisions, engaging, listening and learning to target our activities.
• Be relevant and authoritative:  listen, engage and understand the problems of our community today and take all reasonable steps to provide comprehensive, professional support.
• Be generous in sharing knowledge: for the benefit of all involved in the design, specification and construction process.
• Raising standards and improving quality: champion best practice and the principles of our code of conduct and vetting procedure for the benefit of our members and our clients.
• Taking the extra step: always focus on distilling, refining and improving what we do for the benefit of everyone in the sector

Because, together we are stronger.

The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) has today announced a series of changes it is making to the funding and grant system, which will come into effect from 8 January 2026.  In making the changes changes have sought to reassure the sector that they are designed to ensure CITB can deliver the greatest value for the greatest number of employers and maximise the value of the Levy for industry.

They claim that due to the success of initiatives like Employer Networks and the New Entrant Support Team (NEST), CITB has seen a 36% increase in demand for its services over the last four years. Over this same period, CITB has not raised the Levy rate, meaning that it is needing to support more employers with the same amount of Levy.

Consequently, at current levels, demand for CITB support will exceed its Levy income. Without action, CITB risks being unable to support any of these programmes.

Some of the funding and grant changes will come into effect from Thursday 8 January 2026.

These include:

• Removal of short course training grant, with Employer Networks as the main replacement funding route and a small number of courses to still be grant funded.
• The scope of what is funded by Employer Networks is changing, as well as a reduction of the rate to 50% match funding
• Funding for level 7 qualifications and attendance grant from long qualifications will be stopped (note long qualifications have a specific definition available here and this change should not impact trade apprenticeships)
• All non-apprentice achievement grants will be £600.

The remaining changes will come into effect from Wednesday 1 April 2026. These are:

• Large employers* will be moved to a single large employer funding offer
• Large employers* will no longer be able to access Employer Networks.

Tim Balcon, Chief Executive, CITB, said:

“First and foremost, we want to apologise for the short notice for some of these changes. This was done to avoid surge claiming that will put our ability to support employers at risk. We had planned to transition our funding model gradually, giving employers time to adjust. The pace of demand growth means we need to act faster than we intended – and faster than we would have liked.

“While it is good news that there has been an increase in demand for our services, we have maintained the same Levy rate. This balanced against the increased demand means it’s necessary to bring forward changes to ensure we’re delivering the greatest value for the greatest number of employers.

“We appreciate this is a change for employers at a challenging time. We want to assure you we are here to support you – to find out how, please visit the CITB website or contact your local CITB engagement advisor.”

Upon hearing about the changes, Beena Nana, Head of Skills and Training at FIS said:

“We had no foresight of these changes and are now working to understand the full impact on our community and how they will support the need for systemic change that CITB have highlighted.

There is, however, no doubt that the timing and depth of cuts will be a real kick in the teeth to many who have set Budgets and committed to training plans.  We recognise CITB’s need to manage rising demand, but the brutal reality for employers in the finishes and interiors sector is that these changes will make it even harder for employers to see tangible return on their levy investment.

Our members voted against consensus as recently as this summer and the initial reaction seems to be that the offer from CITB is even worse than they thought.  We wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment that fundamental changes are needed to the training landscape for construction, but you can understand why increasingly companies are questioning whether a swathing levy that is unpredictable and remote from the needs of individual companies and sub sectors is helping to drive that change”.

To find out more about these changes and how CITB can support you, please visit: www.citb.co.uk/funding-changes

There are four Zoom webinars available, tailored for small and medium employers, large employers, and training providers.

You will have the opportunity to discuss your point of view, as well as ask questions.

All Employers webinar – for small, medium, and large employers
Tuesday 16^th December 2025
6.30pm – 7.30pm

Large Employers webinar – for large employers (over 250 employees) only
Wednesday 17^th December 2025
8.30am – 9.30am

All Employers webinar – for small, medium, and large employers
Wednesday 17^th December 2025
10am – 11am

Training Providers webinar – for training providers only
Wednesday 17^th December 2025
12.30pm – 1.30pm

*A CITB Large Employer is a business that:

1. Has 250 or more workers
   (PAYE employees + net-paid CIS subcontractors), and

1. Is wholly or mainly engaged in construction
   (over 50% of total workforce time spent on construction activities)