In National Apprenticeship Week, businessman Will Davies, who attended The Parliamentary inquiry into youth employment in the construction industry, says the government need to be more pro-active and think of a better system to significantly reduce the youth unemployment rate.
“It's crazy that reports like this have to be commissioned, at huge expense, to try to get the Government to accept what should be staring them in the face,” said apprenticeship campaigner, Mr Davies, MD of property maintenance and refurbishment company aspect.co.uk, and one of the professionals consulted by the inquiry. “Any person connected with the industry (or in fact most people who aren't) could tell you we have insufficient UK trades people. A lack of apprenticeships and little understanding of the industry as a whole are creating a huge a skills shortage. Why won't the government be proactive in sorting it out?” he said.The cross-party inquiry – jointly chaired by Lord Richard Best and the Nick Raynsford MP and joined by Peter Aldous MP (Conservative), Annette Brooke MP (Liberal Democrats), and Baroness Angela Smith (Labour) – encouraged submissions from the building and construction industries and was supported by the Chartered Institute of Building, the Construction Industry Training Board and the main charities involved in getting young people into construction work.
The main conclusions in the inquiry’s report where that: there are currently one million aged 16-24 who are not in employment, education or training; there are nearly 200,000 construction jobs that need filling by 2018; there were just 7,280 completed a construction apprenticeship last year; there is a heavy reliance in migrant labour and there is a massive skills shortage looming. “These are all topics that I have been banging on about for months and months,” said Mr Davies whose submission to the enquiry included recommendations for improving the design and funding of apprenticeships so that young British workers can compete with the influx of migrant labour.The inquiry’s recommendations to government are to: improve the understanding of and opportunities presented by the trades in schools to attract people in; to revitalise apprenticeship strategy so as to increase numbers and simplify funding arrangements; to improve career advice so people understand the vast opportunities in the trades and the construction sector.“It is poignant that the inquiry reported on the eve of National Apprenticeship Week (3-7 March). Given the pathetic number that we managed to put through apprenticeships in the UK last year I think we should cancel the event. We'd be better off focusing time and money on coming up with a better system so we have some people who can actually support an Apprenticeship Week,” said Mr Davies.
