According to the prime minister, Skills England will fix a system that is broken.
However, the Federation of Master Builders says that the future of the Construction Industry Training Board remains unanswered.
Prime minister Keir Starmer said: “Our skills system is in a mess, which is why we are transforming our approach to meet skills needs over the coming decades.
“They will help to deliver our number one mission as a government, to kickstart economic growth, by opening up new opportunities for young people and enabling British businesses to recruit more home-grown talent.
“From construction to IT, healthcare to engineering, our success as a country depends on delivering highly skilled workforces for the long-term. Skills England will put in place the framework needed to achieve that goal while reducing our reliance on workers from overseas.”
The government expects Skills England to bring together central and local government, businesses, training providers and unions to meet the skills needs of the next decade and provide strategic oversight of the post-16 skills training regime.
Construction is cited as a particular priority. Skills England will work with the Migration Advisory Committee to help reduce reliance on overseas workers, the government said.
The Skills England Bill will transfer functions from the Institute for Apprenticeships & Technical Education (IfATE) to Skills England.
Skills England will hold responsibility for maintaining a list of levy-eligible training to ensure value for money, and that the mix of government-funded training available to learners and employers aligns with the identified skills needs.
Former Co-operative Group chief executive Richard Pennycook, the lead non-executive director at the Department for Education, has been named as interim chair of Skills England. A permanent board, chair and chief executive will be appointed in due course.
Federation of Master Builders chief executive Brian Berry said that it sounded like good news but it remained unclear how the Construction Industry Training Board would fit into the new regime
“Over recent weeks the new government has set out ambitious plans to get Britain building again, but this can only be achieved if the skills crisis is tackled,” Berry said. “There is a serious shortage of all trades in the construction industry, with the result that we need additional 240,000+ workers over the next four years. The prime minister’s announcement to set up Skill England recognises the seriousness of the problem, but details about how Skills England will operate remain light. It will be vital that future delivery focuses on a long-term skills plan being put in place, and that plans to allow up to 50% of the apprenticeship levy to be redirected into other forms of training don’t result in a fall in the number of construction apprenticeships available.”
Berry continued: “As part of the prime minister’s announcement that the Institute for Apprenticeships & Technical Education will be amalgamated into the new Skills England, maintaining current skill levels, and increasing numbers further, must remain a key focus. It raises a question about what role the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) will play in this new system. We’re still awaiting publication of the Mark Framer performance review of CITB, which may help provide some clarity. The secretary of state for education should publish the report as soon as possible to ensure the industry has stability about its future training needs.”
Last year, the CITB’s National Construction College (NCC) was labelled as "requiring improvement" following an inspection from Ofsted, highlighting six areas for improvement across four themes:
- Subcontracting and apprenticeship development coaches
- Marked work and feedback
- English and mathematics
- Careers information, advice and guidance (CIAG).
A recent monitoring visit last month found that the first three of these themes had seen "significant progress", with the final theme seeing "reasonable progress".
Education secretary Bridget Phillipson said: “Our first mission in government is to grow the economy, and for that we need to harness the talents of all our people to unlock growth and break down the barriers to opportunity.
“The skills system we inherited is fragmented and broken. Employers want to invest in their workers but for too long have been held back from accessing the training they need.
“Skills England will jumpstart young people’s careers and galvanise local economies. It will bring businesses together with trade unions, mayors, universities, colleges and training providers to give us a complete picture of skills gaps nationwide, boost growth in all corners of the country and give people the opportunity to get on in life.”
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