Skills

Industry bodies are calling for more clarity after Skills England announced it will be pausing its apprenticeship reforms. It comes after a coalition of trade bodies warned in a letter that the changes would be a “disaster” for construction and raised concerns it could lead to another Grenfell Tower disaster. The…

Industry bodies have voiced concerns that proposed changes to the funding and structure of apprenticeships could see standards lowered. On Wednesday, chancellor Rachel Reeves announced plans to pay for all the training and assessment costs for apprentices under 25 employed by SMEs. Presently, SME employers who do not pay into…

The Construction Industry Council (CIC) has joined the Royal Institute of British Architects (RIBA) in publishing a joint letter signed by more than 70 industry organisations calling on the government to restore Level 7 apprenticeship funding for over-21s. The letter – which has been sent to the work and pensions…

Children aged 16 or even younger should have access to work experience on building sites, while trainee construction teachers should be paid tens of thousands of pounds to focus on construction. Those are two of 26 recommendations made in a report published this month by thinktank the Centre for Social…

A majority of construction sector workers are confident in identifying qualification fraud but do not know how to report it, according to a survey published during International Fraud Awareness Week. The survey, conducted by the Office of Qualifications and Examinations Regulation (Ofqual) in partnership with the Construction Industry Training Board…

Cumberland Council has appointed 24 contractors across three lots of a £630m construction framework running until the end of 2029. The Capital Works (Construction) Framework will cover general building works, civil engineering, and combined packages across the local authority's estate. It allows for projects up to £6m in value, although…

More than half of colleges in England have waiting lists for construction courses amid growing demand and continued capacity constraints, a new survey has found. Fifty-six per cent of colleges reported having waiting lists for construction-related programmes in 2025/26, according to an enrolment survey by the Association of Colleges (AoC)…

The winners of the annual CN Workforce Awards were announced tonight in a gala ceremony at the JW Marriott Grosvenor House Hotel on London’s Park Lane. Categories showcased individual and organisational initiatives to improve employment practices and make construction a great industry to work in. The night brought together the…

The government is being warned that its infrastructure plans will be held back by “chronic labour shortages” as at least 250,000 workers a year will be needed for major projects. A new 56-page report, commissioned by the Construction Plant-hire Association, estimates that the 47 per cent of projects that have…

Sector leaders have warned that a 20 per cent drop in the number of self-employed contractors over the past six years will have an impact on the industry’s flexibility. It comes as data published by the Office for National Statistics (ONS) on Tuesday (11 November) showed there were 756,000 self-employed…