Industry fails to train

Responding to recent media reports that foreign bricklayers are being hired to work for a £1,000 a week, construction workers’ union UCATT has blamed the industry for its failure to train apprentices.

Training body Construction Skills estimate that the industry needs 35,000 new entrants just to stand still. In 2013, just 7,280 construction apprentices completed their training across all trades.

UCATT general secretary Steve Murphy said: “Skills shortages are a direct result of the industry failing to invest in the future.”

The union believes that a major step forward to increasing apprentice numbers would be the introduction of strict public procurement rules requiring companies to recruit and train apprentices.

Companies that failed to train adequate numbers of apprentices would be barred from bidding for contracts.

www.ucatt.org.uk/construction-skills-shortages-result-30-years-failure