Minister for housing and planning, Matthew Pennycook, confirmed that the government is drafting a plan to address the workforce shortage in the industry
A construction jobs plan is likely to be announced later this year, with Pennycook highlighting a ‘comprehensive package of support.’
The plan comes after Brexit-related issues and a resulting reduction in EU workforce numbers.
A depleted workforce and a gap-filled pipeline
Pennycook stated that the unpredictable pipeline of work presented a unique challenge to the industry and its workforce, especially for modern methods of construction firms, and that the New Towns Programme will be essential to supporting the pipeline, but the workforce must be there to meet it.
Few details were given on specifics that may be within any construction jobs plan.
Richard Beresford, chief executive of the National Federation of Builders (NFB), said: “The government has put several strategies in place to better align a pipeline of work with the ambition to grow the construction workforce, and they have been communicative across industry to understand our perspectives.
“The recognition of the MMC pipeline that secures employment and investment must be carried into the broader jobs strategy, particularly in planning reforms and procurement. Underpinning any plan must be the understanding that because SMEs train 8 in 10 construction apprentices, they are key to capacity growth. The mantra must be ‘ensuring the trainers and retainers win work’.”
Organisations doing what they can
Rico Wojtulewicz, director of policy at NFB, said: “Any measures to grow and sustain worker capacity require an understanding of how industry operates. For example, the Conservative government spent billions of pounds on MMC but because they focused on volumetric, ignoring 99% the of MMC that 100% of industry can utilise, their approach failed.
“Labour are right to use new towns to enable MMC, but if it is just those built in factories, rather than enabling the definitions already established by the broader MMC Framework, they will embed failure and do little to nothing to ensure we increase the skills and workforce required to retrofit 28 million UK homes.
“History teaches us that the mantra of ‘ensuring trainers and retainers win work’ is the one to follow and the Government is right to link demand with workforce growth. In the 1980’s, SMEs built around 40% of homes and we trained more than 20,000 bricklayers and carpenters. In 2026, SMEs build 9% of homes and in total, fewer than 20.000 construction apprentices get trained.”
In June, the CITB launched Accelerated Apprenticeships as part of the industry’s wider efforts to increase numbers of construction workers, particularly to tackle the government’s 1.5m new homes target, increasing homebuilding and tackle skill shortages on a regional basis.
Read more about the apprenticeships here.
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