West Midlands to spend £75m addressing construction skills gap

It will be led by Dudley College’s Technical Excellence Hub, which is one of the 10 specialist colleges taking part in a recently announced £100m government scheme to train 40,000 workers in construction skills by 2029.

In July, a report by skills provider City & Guilds suggested that a critical shortage of skilled workers will seriously impact the government’s ability to deliver 1.5 million new homes by 2029, with major immigration reforms worsening the sector’s recruitment crisis.

The West Midlands mayor announced this month that he will use a £40m fund to deliver 1,000 new social homes after “cutting red tape” over how the combined authority is able to spend its budget.

Mr Parker has also set a target for the region to be building 2,000 social homes a year by 2028.

There are currently 7,450 households, including 14,976 children, living in temporary accommodation across the West Midlands, and 65,335 households on the region’s social housing waiting lists, according to the combined authority.

Mr Parker said the region is “heading into a construction boom” that will provide new jobs and new homes, but “will only last if local people have the skills to deliver it”.

“That’s why I’m backing investment in training and apprenticeships – so people here get the first shot at the good jobs being created and businesses can draw on local talent with the latest skills and knowhow,” he continued.

The package has been developed in partnership with the Department for Education, and will mean investment in construction skills rises to £20m a year.

Tim Balcon, chief executive of the Construction Industry Training Board, said it is “vital” that regional mayoralties are working with the government to get Britain building again.

He continued: “It’s fantastic to see the WMCA’s skills package to address the region’s shortage of construction workers.

“The WMCA’s skills package builds on the government’s £600m construction skills package announced earlier this year, which CITB contributed to, as well as the technical excellence colleges that will train tens of thousands of future construction workers.”