Your excellent article (Certificate of Disapproval, CM, October) touches on most of the issues relating to construction apprenticeship training today.

(Interestingly, it did not mention that the government has reduced funding 2.5% for young level 2 apprentices and 9% for mature level 2 apprentices this year – but that’s for another debate.)

Not training our new entrants is certainly not an option. However the article was a bit short on suggestions for how we take this forward. May I chip in a few?

The Major Contractors Group should require a far greater commitment to training from their subcontractors. Not just lip service and not just OSAT.

Our industry should endeavour to reduce the number of self-employed workers and tip the balance towards a directly employed labour force. (Maybe we should look upon the new Construction Industry Scheme from the Inland Revenue as an opportunity rather than a threat.)

We should require CITB City & Guilds to cut back on the bureaucracy of the qualification, assessment and verification processes.

Finally, we need to find a high-profile champion to reform training across the industry. Could this be a job for Constructing Excellence?

Source

Construction Manager

Postscript

Mike Shute, Head of construction, Central Sussex College