Minister signals need for joint approach to plug skills gap in plumbing

Citation

(2003), "Minister signals need for joint approach to plug skills gap in plumbing", Education + Training, Vol. 45 No. 6. https://doi.org/10.1108/et.2003.00445fab.007

Minister signals need for joint approach to plug skills gap in plumbing

Minister signals need for joint approach to plug skills gap in plumbing

Unless work is co-ordinated and real gains made quickly to boost training, the plumbing industry might not meet its challenge of recruiting 30,000 plumbers by 2005, Construction Minister Brian Wilson told an industry and education conference.

A third of these were needed for London and the south-east alone and, without this, the industry would be "storing more problems for us all in the future," Mr Wilson told the conference of key business organizations, with an emphasis on the plumbing sector, along with leading skill-training providers.

Many young people are not attracted to the industry because of its poor reputation. There are also issues relating to access to suitable courses, and age and diversity. The Minister pointed out that education and training courses in construction and the built environment have been facing teaching and instructor staff shortages, to the point where colleges are closing. There are therefore some worrying trends that need reversing, if we are not to be denied a whole new generation of people entering the industry and the prospect of stagnation that this threatens. "There are very low proportions of women and people from the ethnic minorities within the construction and built-environment sectors. If the recruitment challenges are to be addressed, this needs to be tackled. It simply does not make sense to ignore around half the potential workforce – and that is women alone."

The minister said he welcomed the industry's move towards a fully competent workforce. The importance given to registration under the Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS), and affiliated schemes, played a key part. While some favoured a statutory licensing or registration regime, the government favoured a voluntary approach led by industry, focusing on improved skills, competence, training and health and safety.

Mr Wilson paid tribute to the level of co-operation and joint working between the various industry associations and groups in rolling out CSCS, and said Summitskills, the Learning and Skills Council and the Construction Industry Training Board, among others, had important roles to play. A vital part of this would be to embrace industry-boosting schemes such as CSCS, Quality Mark and Constructionline, because of the way they can help in enhancing the industry's reputation at the same time as helping to attract new recruits.