by Oscar Venus | 9 Apr, 2021 | Skills
Build UK, supported by CITB, joined forces with STEM Ambassadors last year to showcase careers in construction and help to attract talent. Build UK are delighted to see the commitment to recruit 7,000 Construction STEM Ambassadors included in the CLC’s Industry Skills Plan, and they encourage all Build UK members to sign up and volunteer their time and experience to inspire young people to join the industry. FIS are members of Build UK.
The CLC skills plan emphasises collaboration between industry and Government and prioritises action in four areas:
- Careers ‐ creating an industry that is attractive and inclusive, whilst supporting direct employment
- Standards and Qualifications ‐ modernising qualifications to boost transferrable skills and embed digital technologies
- Training, Education and Development ‐ developing high‐quality routes into the industry and strengthening links between further and higher education and employers
- Culture and Working Environment ‐ retaining talent in the industry through upskilling and improved career development.
Skills and Training Lead, George Swann says “Construction Stem Ambassadors are a great way of promoting the careers on offer in the finishes and interiors sector. These individuals often provide the first introduction to the construction industry for young people who are considering their future career.”
by Oscar Venus | 9 Apr, 2021 | Skills
This Summer 2021 Qualification Explainer Tool (ofqual.gov.uk) shows what’s happening with vocational, technical, and other general qualifications this year. Ofqual have identified it is not viable for some exams and assessments to take place this year due to the ongoing impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ofqual has been working with awarding organisations to ensure that as many learners as possible are able to receive a result this summer and progress with their plans to continue their education, go into the workplace, or further their career.
The explainer tool shows how qualifications will be assessed and awarded in the period up to 31 August 2021. It covers qualifications regulated by Ofqual, Qualifications Wales and CCEA Regulation (in England, Wales and Northern Ireland respectively). The information about how each qualification will be assessed and awarded, included in this ‘qualification explainer tool’, has been provided by awarding organisations. If you believe the information to be incorrect, please contact the relevant awarding organisation.
In addition to the information provided in this explainer tool, further details about the approaches awarding organisations are taking to the assessment and awarding of qualifications in 2021 can be found on their websites. If you are a learner outside England, Northern Ireland or Wales, you will need to check with your awarding organisation, or your college, training provider or school about the approach being taken for your qualification. More information is provided in the questions and answers.
by Oscar Venus | 9 Apr, 2021 | Skills
On 1 April nearly 400 Level 3 qualifications became free to access for over-24s without A-levels, an advanced technical diploma or equivalent. This is part of the Government’s Lifetime Skills Guarantee, and includes qualifications in construction trades like Occupational Work Supervision, Site Carpenter, painting and decorating and several others.
You can find out more about free courses here.
by Oscar Venus | 9 Apr, 2021 | Skills
This is another reminder to you that CITB’s consultation on the Levy Proposals 2022-25 closes on Sunday 11 April. CITB registered employers can have their say on the way they raise the Construction Industry Levy for the next three years, and give feedback on their plans for supporting construction recovery here.
FIS Skills and Training Lead, George Swann says “this is an opportunity to influence what is to come and you know what they say about not voting…if you didn’t vote you cannot complain. Let’s all vote so we all have grounds to complain”.
by Oscar Venus | 9 Apr, 2021 | Labour, Skills
In March FIS ran a snap survey to look at workforce trends in the wake of the new points based immigration system. The survey reports that 38% of companies are currently experiencing a labour shortage, with over 60% of contractors predicting shortages as work picks up over the summer. This number increases significantly when we look at the larger companies (those with greater than £5million turnover), here 59% are already experiencing shortages and 74% are predicting worse to come. Dryliners head the list of concerns followed by ceiling fixers, partitions installers, plasterers and carpenters and joiners.
The report shows that the UK finishes an interiors sector remains heavily reliant on EU workers with around half of all companies relying on EU workers for more than 20% of their workforce and 17% of firms reporting that EU workers account for more than 60% of their workforce.
The report also gives insight into employment and use of gangs and agencies in the sector. Across all contractors, 44% of the workforce is employed, 42% work as labour only sub contractors with gangs providing 11% of the contingent workforce and agency workers making up the final 3%. Again this shifts as we look to the larger (>£5m turnover) sector with employment accounting for 26% of the workforce, labour only sub-contractors 39%, gangs 30% and agency workers providing the final 5%.
Commenting on the numbers FIS CEO, Iain McIlwee stated:
“These numbers are cause for concern and we will keep our focus on supporting the rapid scale up in training infrastructure that is required to meet this seismic shift in the way we are going to need to recruit and manage our workforce going forward. We will also continue the dialogue with the Home Office to try and get some common sense applied to the process to ensure we can evolve effectively to the new world order dealing with real world problems rather than political concerns and waiting to see what the official data will tell us when the facts are staring us in the face.”
Read the full FIS Statement on Skills Shortages here
by Iain McIlwee | 8 Apr, 2021 | Main News Feed
A new government-backed loan scheme was launched on Tuesday 6 April by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, to provide additional finance to those businesses that need it.
- Loans will include 80% government guarantee and interest rate cap.
- The Recovery Loan Scheme will ensure businesses continue to benefit from Government-guaranteed finance throughout 2021-opened until 31 December 2021.
- The Recovery Loan Scheme can be used as an additional loan on top of support received from the emergency schemes – such as the Bounce Back Loan Scheme and Coronavirus Business Interruption Loan Scheme – put into place last year.
- From 6 April, businesses – ranging from coffee shops, and restaurants, to hairdressers and gyms – can access loans varying in size from £25,000, up to a maximum of £10 million. Invoice and asset finance is available from £1,000.
You can read the Chancellor of the Exchequer’s statement in full here.
- For more information on what other financial support you can get for your business, click here
- For the latest COVID updates visit the FIS COVID-19 Hub here
by Oscar Venus | 8 Apr, 2021 | Main News Feed
Following the news that two more construction directors have been disqualified for forming an illegal cartel, the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) has issued an open reminder to the construction sector about its guidance on competition law and the significant risks of non‐compliance.
The case involved FP McCann Ltd, along with 2 other suppliers of pre-cast concrete drainage products – Stanton Bonna Concrete Ltd and CPM Group Ltd. This brings the total number of disqualified directors to 25 and follows rapidly from the announcement of three Directors being disqualified for links to a cartel in the rolled lead sector and similar issues identified in 2019 in the Fit-out sector.
The FIS Business/Taxation Toolkit includes additional advice and support for members on managing competition law requirements.
by Oscar Venus | 8 Apr, 2021 | Market data
The latest information from Builders’ Conference shows that both the number and value of contracts have increased month‐on‐month since the start of this year. One year on from the start of the coronavirus pandemic, there were 621 contracts worth a total of £9.2 billion awarded in March. It is the fourth month in a row where the value has exceeded the monthly average of £6.0 billion in the year prior to coronavirus between April 2019 and March 2020. 42% of all the contracts awarded by value were housing (£3.9 billion), with road projects making up 13% (£1.2 billion) and entertainment and leisure projects 6% (£751 million).
The number of tender opportunities increased compared to the previous month but remains 25% below the monthly average pre‐coronavirus.
by Oscar Venus | 8 Apr, 2021 | Main News Feed, Market data
The latest CLC People Survey is now live! Build UK is responsible for collating the results and we would be extremely grateful if all members could find 10 minutes to complete the online survey to help us measure the impact of coronavirus on the construction workforce one year on.
The deadline for responses is Friday 16 April and the results will help us to prioritise support for the sector.
