New review to examine skills constraints

A new action plan for addressing skills pressures and other constraints on housebuilding and infrastructure is expected following announcement that government has asked the Construction Leadership Council (CLC) to investigate the labour model in the consrtruction industry. The CLC has commissioned the former head of residential at Arcadis, now of real estate consultant Cast, Mark Farmer, to lead the review of the industry's labour market.

Farmer's appointment by the CLC follows publication of his recent People and Money report, which set out the skills capacity issues that the sector faces due to very high levels of self employment and fragmentation of the supply chain. The report also set out how the construction labour model provides weak long term incentives for subcontractors to invest in training. It found that the current model creates barriers to the greater use of off-site construction.

Farmer said: "The construction industry’s skills shortfall has been growing progressively and its ageing workforce now means affirmative action needs to be taken to avoid more acute issues in the future.

"A healthy and robust construction sector is vital to underpinning the government’s commitment to delivering critical new housing and infrastructure projects. It will also ensure the unrivalled economic multiplier effect related to construction activity continues to play its part within the wider UK economy."

Farmer is understood to be forming a steering group for his skills review. The government is also asking for views and evidence to feed into Farmer's review, including how construction's labour model and recruitment practices impact on incentives for skills development in the sector supply chain and how it impacts on the introduction of more novel techniques such as off-site construction. The consultation, which runs until the end of February, also calls for views on business models that could better support skills, measures that could improve wider incentives for capacity investment and advice on other barriers to greater use of off-site construction.