Speech By Sir Michael Latham Dl, Chairman,
CITB-ConstructionSkills
At Acton & West London College
29 November 2004

I am delighted to be with you today at the official opening of this prestigious new facility. Very properly, I am not the first to sing the praises of what Acton & West London College now has to offer. My sources tell me that at the Acton Carnival this summer a certain Bob, well-known in the building trade for his “can do” attitude, promoted the newly-refurbished site. Well, looking around us, someone has certainly fixed it – and very impressive it is too.

CITB-ConstructionSkills greatly values its strong links with the College, both at a practical, day-to-day level but also in terms of working together to build a strong construction industry in London. The College has been delivering Modern Apprenticeships through work-based learning for some years now. We are pleased to see that the numbers of trainees have increased, as have the numbers of those going on to complete their training. Indeed, your confidence in the future is borne out by the investment we are celebrating today. I am sure it will enable the College to go from strength to strength.

We also greatly welcome the support we receive from Pamela Rathbone, particularly in her role as a member of the London ConstructionSkills Forum.

This development addresses so many of the issues which really matter in construction today. It is meeting the demand for high quality courses, in modern facilities, which the industry needs if it is to hit its recruitment targets. It is also very much part of the community. I am sure that will make the College even more appealing to local students, as well as being a magnet for students from further afield, as a regional centre of excellence. Thirdly, it is itself contributing to the regeneration of Acton and to the wider borough of Ealing.

These three themes are linked together by a central issue: the need to revive pride in skilled trades. For some reason, modern Britain has not been very good at recognising the worth of practical skills. Our education system has tended to focus strongly on academic attainment and to regard this as something almost necessarily separate from vocational skills. Of course, this is rubbish. I welcome the fact that Mike Tomlinson, in his recent report on 14-19 education, has striven hard to eradicate outdated distinctions between academic and vocational programmes of study. There is more to do, but excellent facilities like this, in successful colleges such as Acton & West London, are doing a great deal to broaden the appeal of construction-related courses among young people of all backgrounds. That is very much to be welcomed, and celebrated.

Going back to those three themes I mentioned a moment ago, the first was recruitment to the industry. The reason construction needs successful colleges running innovative courses is because the industry has a huge demand for skilled people. It needs to make up for those skills which are currently in short supply and to replace those who will leave the industry, including through retirement, as we have a relatively high age profile in the industry because of recruitment difficulties some years ago. To cater for the expected growth in demand, we need to recruit around half a million skilled workers into the industry over the next half a dozen years.

That represents a huge challenge to the industry, but is also a great opportunity for young people entering it. In the past one of the things which the industry could have done better is encouraging career progression. But now that is changing, in a number of ways. Firms are realising that it pays to train their workforce, and many more are applying to become Investors in People. Training keeps the skills in the company up to date and ensures that key personnel have the right qualifications for the job. It also motivates employees; and as we now work closely with our colleagues in the professional institutions, we are also looking at ways to encourage progression from craft to professional occupations. The idea that there is some kind of necessary divide between the two is completely outdated.

Embedding a culture of lifelong learning really starts in colleges such as this. Industry must also deliver by providing training and opportunities to move up the career ladder. Students should also realise that coming to college and obtaining an initial qualification is not the end of the story. It is only the first chapter. And the more chapters in the book, the more rewarding their career will be, in every sense.

The themes of community and regeneration are closely linked. Although a great deal of attention is focused on the area to the east of the capital, the so-called Thames Gateway, in fact there is also a huge amount going on in this quadrant of Greater London, which includes a rather more modern gateway to London, at Heathrow. The major project at Terminal 5, looked at purely from a construction point of view, is proving both exciting and innovative. They have already qualified 500 employees there through the On-Site Assessment and Training programme. Much closer to home you have the regeneration of White City, and not that far away the new Wembley stadium. And I have already touched on the benefits to the local community of the development here at the College.

From the industry point of view, I am particularly keen to encourage a growing trend for employers to look to the local communities they serve to source the skills they require. Although “sustainability” has become a bit of a buzz-word which can sometimes be applied a little indiscriminately, this surely is sustainable regeneration. Not only does the community – whether it is at the level of a town, suburb, borough or region – receive the benefits of physical rebuilding, but there is also an investment in the skills of local people, too. Instead of regeneration being seen as something imposed from outside, or top down, it becomes much more a genuine rebuilding of communities. From the employer’s point of view, the investment in training is very worthwhile. Not only does it furnish skills which might not otherwise have been available locally, it also involves local people in the project in a way which can only be beneficial. And for potential employees – whether students or those contemplating a career change – construction suddenly becomes not an abstract job but an occupation which is going to make a direct impact on their own lives.

There is another advantage for industry in recruiting local people to local schemes. One of the big challenges facing the sector is its frankly dismal record in attracting a workforce which reflects the communities we serve. At present, you’d think from looking at the composition of the industry that we are building communities made up largely of white males. The proportion of minority communities is too low. It is less than half of what it should be, if the industry is to reflect the general population, but in many areas this disparity is even more marked. Moreover, fewer than one in ten of the workforce is female. Very few of them are in craft occupations.

It’s not simply political correctness for its own sake to say that this situation is not good enough. It’s also economically damaging. How can the industry find those half a million recruits if it presents an image which puts off women and minority communities? I’m glad to say that the industry is changing, and a flow of high calibre, committed young people coming from colleges like this will help to accelerate this process. Success will breed success. The more diverse the industry, the more readily non-traditional applicants will want to join it. But there is a way to go yet.

Given the demand for skills which exists in the industry, students emerging from Acton & W London College can be confident that their skills will be wanted when they enter the job market. In fact, there will be even more reassurance on that score in the future, as the work of the Sector Skills Council moves forward. In a nutshell, our role is to ensure that the voice of employers is heard in articulating the skills strategy for the industry. This means that we are brokering agreements between the industry on the one hand and the education and training providers on the other, to make sure that there is a genuine match of expectations.

I’ve spoken quite a bit today about what the future holds for the industry, and I’ve spelt out some of the challenges facing us all – whether in education, as employers or employees, in the Sector Skills Council, or as students.

I’d like to conclude by looking at how the industry stands today, and why I’m confident that we will overcome these challenges.

First, construction is making great strides towards becoming a safer, fully qualified industry. This year so far:

• The number of operatives holding a CSCS (Construction Skills Certification Scheme) or affiliated card has passed the 600,000 mark
• More than 500,000 have now passed the health and safety test
• The OSAT (On-Site Skills and Assessment) programme continues to go from strength to strength.

Secondly, the omens for continuing, sustainable growth in the sector are excellent. It’s not just the high profile private sector projects. There’s also an unprecedented public sector investment programme – which, after all, is why we’re here today. Everywhere you look, there are new or refurbished hospitals and schools, transport schemes, housing renewal, public buildings. It makes it an exciting time to be in construction. And I hope that it makes the prospect of a career in construction appealing to young people.

Of course, construction is a business – and a very big one at that. It employs almost two million people, after all. Some young people will be attracted by the entrepreneurial opportunities in construction and building services. Others will have had a practical leaning from their earliest years. But others may also be attracted by the thought that building things is one way of making of a significant contribution to their community.

The opening of any new educational facility always brings with it a keen sense of anticipation. The young people who emerge from this College in the years ahead are assured of a warm welcome in the industry. In CITB-ConstructionSkills we look forward greatly to working with George Pittaway, Pamela Rathbone and their colleagues to nurture the skills of the next generation.

(1759 words)