The what?
The CLC People and Skills group developed and published the Construction Skills Plan in March 2021. The report sets out a series of actions and commitments to support tradespeople, the wider construction industry, and the UK government in shrinking the skills gap.
Why has it been updated?
Within just one year of publishing the original document, a lot about the skills crisis – and the construction industry itself – has changed.
With growth comes greater skills challenges. So now is the right time to update the skills plan.
– CLC Industry Skills Plan Update for the UK Construction Sector 2022 – 2023
The updated report cites global events (such as the invasion of Ukraine and the increase in fuel and cost of living prices) as having such an impact on the tradespeople and the construction industry that the Construction Skills Plan should be revised in response.
What’s changing for tradespeople?
The CLC will focus on the same four strategic priorities laid out in the original document…
- Improving access to opportunities for all (especially tradespeople)
- Boosting all routes into the industry
- Ongoing collaboration to develop competence frameworks
- Preparing for the future of construction
With the CITB Construction Skills Network forecasting an annual need to recruit more than 50,000 workers above the current trend, the CLC states it will especially focus on creating the correct culture change and broadening diversity.
This year’s CLC plan includes improving awareness and take-up of existing careers programmes, including supporting 3,000 employers to deliver Fairness, Inclusion and Respect sessions, securing 1,700 active Construction STEM Ambassadors and delivering 28,000 work experience taster sessions.
– CLC’s Construction Skills Plan for 2022 – more growth, new challenges
Why should I care?
The Construction Skills Plan might just look like a bunch of pledges and promises at first glance. But, the update also includes a message of optimism for those concerned about the skills gap in construction… The skills gap is manageable and this is how we can manage it.
The past year has demonstrated that we can achieve a lot more by working together across the industry. Many of the actions that we have committed to are still the right ones to meet the skills challenges that construction and the built environment face.
– CLC’s Construction Skills Plan for 2022 – more growth, new challenges
The update also reminds us that though the “outlook for construction and the built environment is more positive”, there is still definite, immediate action that must be taken if we want to completely eliminate the skills gap in construction.
