Construction firms urged to offer more apprenticeships

Employers in the construction industry are being encouraged to take on more apprentices.

The head of a non-profit agency that works in the sector has said it is becoming harder to find placements for young people in the building trade.

Charmaine Holland, who runs Co-Train, a flexi-employment agency in Reading, Berkshire, registered with the Department for Education (DfE), said "increasing employer engagement" is key to boosting numbers.

It comes as the government says it wants to "end the snobbery around hands-on learning" investing £287m in colleges offering vocational courses.

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Formal apprenticeships rely on companies to employ someone and pay their wages for two years, but only the training element is paid for by the government.

Holland said she understands why it can be hard for firms to take on the commitment because "construction is in a recession at the moment" and "it involves pastoral care for their apprentice, and a lot of companies are hesitant to take on that responsibility".

Her organisation, Co-Train, is a flexi-agency that works across Hampshire, Isle of Wight, Berkshire, Oxfordshire and Buckinghamshire.

Contractors that might not have enough work to commit to two years of employment can hire apprentices from the agency when they need them, paying a fee.

Co-Train is the full-time employer and Holland's job is to match apprentices with employers throughout their two years of training.

She said: "I really do believe that there's a big lack of vacancies in the sector. We need employers to be more engaged in and around taking on apprentices."

On Thursday, hundreds of thousands of students opened their GCSE, BTec and Cambridge Nationals results in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

In the UK, young people must continue in education or training after their GCSEs until they turn 18 - and apprenticeships are becoming an increasingly popular option.

Last month, Prime Minister Andy Burnham said he wanted to ensure teenagers had technical routes into careers that could rival the path of a traditional university degree.

Holland said for that to happen in construction, apprentices need to be considered from the planning stage with contractors being required to commit to employing them otherwise "you wouldn't get the contract".

She added councils do have those powers, but they are not used frequently enough "to actually make a big enough dent in the skills shortage".

Ten colleges in the South were given a share of £287m government money last month to improve their teaching facilities and enable more students to study vocational courses, including bricklaying, plumbing and decorating.

They were Abingdon & Witney College in Oxfordshire, Newbury College in Berkshire, Bournemouth & Poole College in Dorset, Buckinghamshire College Group, and Brockenhurst College, City of Portsmouth College, Havant & South Downs College, Itchen College, South Hampshire College Group and Sparsholt College in Hampshire.

Abingdon and Witney College will receive nearly £2m, half to spend on construction teaching and half for motor vehicle education.

Principal Jacqui Canton said: "Industry and technology moves on quickly, so this money means we can refresh our equipment and make sure our students have the industry standard skills they need when they go into work."

The application for money to the government had to prove an increasing demand from 16-18 year old students for these courses.

The college has a team working with employers to make sure the curriculum was providing what they need and arranging work placements.

And Canton said there were some areas where demand for apprentices was outstripping demand from students: "IT is a growth area, lots of companies are needing people who can understand artificial intelligence and it's a really well paying career.

"Here in Oxfordshire, we also have a lot of employers who really struggle to find business admin apprentices, so there is something out there for everyone."

She added: "It's so pleasing to see vocational skills being recognised on a national scale in a way it perhaps hasn't been before, people get successful careers out of this kind of training and we need them for our economy."