Established by the Construction Leadership Council, the Board will support the government’s £625m investment to recruit an additional 100,000 workers by the end of this Parliament
Senior leaders from across construction and Government ministers such as deputy prime minister Angela Rayner and work and pensions secretary Liz Kendall signed the agreement earlier this week at the inaugural Construction Skills Mission Board meeting, committing millions of pounds of funding to boosting the UK’s workforce.
The actions will focus on five key areas to drive increased recruitment:
- confidence to employ and invest;
- clear new entrant pathways;
- access to provision & support to train;
- funding that works; and
- reliable and rewarding careers.
Any organisation that would like to support the Construction Skills Mission Board is encouraged to do so through engagement with their relevant trade body.
“It is vital that we now step up as a sector”
Mark Reynolds, co-chair of the Construction Leadership Council and co-chair of the Construction Skills Mission Board, said: “We have seen real ambition from the Government through its commitment to 1.5 million new homes, clean power by 2030, and a renewal of our public infrastructure; and that ambition has been backed by significant funding commitments around skills. Construction will be essential to delivering growth and investment across the UK; and so it is vital that we now step up as a sector.
“The Construction Skills Mission Board represents a new partnership between industry and government, working together to find industry-led, collaborative solutions to delivering the
workforce of the future. I am delighted that we have seen such strong support from Ministers and some of the most important leaders in our sector – and I hope everyone will play their part in the delivery of this essential mission.”
Industry minister and CLC co-chair Sarah Jones said: “We’re determined to get Britain building again, which is why we backed the construction sector with over £625m earlier this year to train the next generation of workers and have followed this up with £275m for skills in our modern Industrial Strategy.
“The agreement signed today is another vital step towards our target of 1.5 million homes, as part of our Plan for Change. I’m pleased to see government and industry coming together at the first meeting of the Construction Skills Mission Board as we work to deliver the infrastructure Britain needs”.
The Skills Mission Board members are:
| Housing | Jennie Daly | Taylor Wimpey |
| Infrastructure | Leo Quinn | Balfour Beatty |
| Commercial | Katy Dowding | Skanska |
| RMI (Domestic) | Lucas Critchley | Mears |
| Engineering | Nigel Cann | EDF |
| Manufacturing | John Sinfield | Etex |
| BSE / Specialist | Mark Lawrence | T Clarke |
| SMEs / Specialists | Julie White | D Drill |
| Consultants | Jerome Frost | Arup |
| Consultants | Steve Rotheram | Mayor of the Liverpool City Region |
| Construction | Tim Balcon | CITB |
| Engineering Construction | Andrew Hockey | ECITB |
| Further Education | Nikki Davis | Leeds College of Building |
| Further Education | Janet Smith | Nottingham College |
| Independent TP | Chris Claydon | JTL |
| Higher Education | Ashley Wheaton | University of the Built Environment |
| Worker Voice | Jason Poulter | Unite |
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