The time is now

In the adult skills white paper published just before the election, the government set itself the hugely challenging task of ensuring employers have the right skills to support their businesses. It is promoting Action for Business Colleges, partnerships of state education and private trainers that, we are told, will be “open all hours”. Alas there is still one thing missing – funding for adult retraining.

The government offers generous funding for retraining the unemployed through the Learning and Skills Council but it should also do a lot more to help adult career changers. Career changers represent a large untapped reservoir of talent; they have valuable skills and experience to bring to the building services industry but at the moment they are round pegs in square holes. The government’s white paper promises free training up to level 2 but what about workers from another industry who already have the level 2? Who will pay for their retraining?

We see no shortage of work for young people wanting to join as apprentices. There’s always going to be a big demand for plumbers, electricians and gas fitters and high salaries to be earned once you have the experience and the training.

We welcome Sir Mike Tomlinson’s recent report on education for 14-19-year-olds but are disappointed the government is not implementing it in full. Bringing academic and vocational studies closer together would drive an improvement in basic life skills such as communication, literacy and numeracy. It is no longer enough just to know your trade inside out, you must also be able to relate to the customer. A company may have very articulate managers but it’s the tradesperson with their tools going into someone’s house who leaves the impression about what sort of company it is – and if they can’t communicate it puts us at a disadvantage.

David Bradbury, head of training, M&E contractor Powerminster