FMB reaction to government’s apprenticeship commitment

The Federation of Master Builders has welcomed the government’s announcement that public sector contracts bids with a value over £10M must demonstrate a commitment to apprenticeship training, saying it will help to boost the number of apprentices in the industry.

Sarah McMonagle, Head of External Affairs at the Federation of Master Builders, said: “Almost 40% of construction output comes from public sector contracts and therefore the Government has a responsibility to use its buying power to drive positive change in our industry – this is particularly the case with apprenticeship training. Lowering the threshold from £50M to £10M should assist. At present, two thirds of all construction apprentices are trained by micro firms but all businesses – large and small – need to increase the number of apprentices they are training if we have any hope of reaching the Government’s target of three million new apprenticeships by 2020.”

“Large firms employing hundreds of people are working their way towards a 5% target but let’s remember that for micro firms training apprentices, their apprentices constitute upwards of 10% of their workforce. We hope that the measures set out in today’s consultation drive up apprenticeship training among large employers and help ensure these bigger firms play a greater role in training our future workforce. At the same time, it is absolutely critical that support for small firms, which train the majority of construction apprentices, is not lessened as part of the Government’s next round of spending cuts.”

“The construction industry in particular is facing a skills time bomb with 400,000 workers expected to retired over the next five to ten years. This is very concerning given that the skills shortage is already starting to bite – research by the FMB published earlier this week shows that two thirds small construction firms have been forced to turn down new business due to a lack of labour. Almost half have been forced to outsource work to third parties rather than leave work unfinished. The skills shortage looming large in our industry and the only way to address it in the medium to longer term is to train more apprentices.”

The change to government procurement will come into force from 1 September 2015, with employers’ bids being reviewed in line with best practice for the number of apprentices that they expect to support.

The move will seek to widen the scope of businesses offering apprenticeships, providing a significant boost in the number of apprenticeships, given that more than £50Bn a year spent on government procurement contracts.

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