Feature Apprenticeships

Pathway to construction

“ There’s a pot of money, and it’s how we can get more full-time qualified persons for that money.” Nicola Hodkinson, Seddon

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against future skills gaps. Part of the problem is a cohort of SME

employers who are not taking on apprentices, often arguing that the costs of subsidising an under-productive employee for two or three years is prohibitive. There is some justification for shying away from the cost: according to statistics on the BIS website, a three-year construction apprenticeship will cost the employer £26,000 (calculated as total costs minus productivity gains while the equivalent cost in retail is only £3,000. At the same time, there are calls for

major contractors to take on more apprentices — according to Geoff Lister, only 12 out of the 32 largest UK contractors employ apprentices directly, accounting for just 1,500 apprentices last year. Additional major contractors will be indirectly involved in apprentice training, but will expect their supply chain members to actually employ the young people. As the economy continues to flatline, it’s

probably unrealistic to ask the industry to invest more in creating apprenticeships. But the prospect of redistributing the available funds could offer a new way forward. “There’s a pot of money, and it’s how we can get more full-time qualified persons for that money. I want to see more getting round the table, or the people that are being let down will be the youngsters,” says Nicola Hodkinson at Seddon. That “table” is in the office of further

education and training minister John Hayes, who held a summit on construction apprenticeships with organsiations including CITB ConstructionSkills, the UKCG, the CBI Construction Council and the CCATF earlier this summer. The agenda included procurement-driven apprentice training, where it’s difficult for contractors that are often on site for less than the duration of an apprenticeship to deliver local authorities’ ambitions on training (see box). UKCG head of policy Simon Nathan comments: “We hope this will be the start of a continuing discussion on how we can deal with the specific issues.”

18 | SEPTEMBER 2012 | CONSTRUCTION MANAGER

Now it’s hoped that Hayes will get to grips with integrating training provision from FE colleges and employer-led schemes. If he’s serious about tackling the problem, he could look at a number of proposals already tabled. The CCATF and the FMB have piloted a scheme called Pathway to Construction (see box) which offers FE students a work placement after their first year. If the employer then offers an apprenticeship, the first year’s college study then counts towards their apprenticeship qualification. In effect, the employer gets the

advantages of an emotionally more mature apprentice who arrives with basic technical skills, but only employs them for the second of two years (which is CITB levy- funded). It’s a solution that could appeal to smaller contractors worried about the risk and expense of taking on untried 16-year- old school leavers. Seddon’s training manager Roy Cavanagh agrees: “If you started again [with the system], you could start them in college then move them on to sites. That would also help members who can’t afford to get an apprentice.”

A new model Lister also proposes a pre-apprenticeship FE course for school leavers, a new model to sit alongside apprenticeships, where institutions would offer a one-year Pathway to Construction programmes for school-leavers, including a six-week workplace induction. “Students would work on different sites, get a feel for the industry, then make a decision about what trade they’d like to do,” explains Lister. Construction workload is still in decline, and talk of a recovery seems like wishful thinking. But even at reduced volumes, the work needs to be done by a well-trained workforce. And as Seddon’s Nicola Hodkinson points out, the risk of being overtaken by skills shortages and inflation on the upturn is only too clear. “We’ll keep training our apprentices, but our supply chain contractors will find it difficult to get people, end up paying more, and then the costs go up to the government. Where’s the sense in that?” It’s a compelling argument for change.

But just as compelling is the disappointment of the thousands of young diploma-holders, and SME employers who need more support to bear the costs of training. Let’s hope that Hayes and Whitehall really are listening. CM

The Pathway to Construction Scheme is designed to strengthen the weak links between FE colleges and construction companies, as well as helping SME employers that might be struggling with the costs of an apprentice. A pilot scheme in Plymouth,

set up in 2011 with support and £10,000 in funding from the FMB, has now been joined by three other schemes brokered by the FMB, CITB-ConstructionSkills and the Cross Industry Construction Apprenticeship Taskforce. The FMB is also involved in a Bristol scheme, while the NHBC is funding Milton Keynes and pension and insurance company B&CE is backing a scheme in Crawley. Geoff Lister, chair of the

CCATF, says: “If we’re asking ConstructionSkills and government for funding, we thought the industry should also do a bit themselves.” At the end of the first year of

a college diploma course, students are placed with local construction employers for 10 weeks. If the relationship works, the student is taken on as an apprentice with their first year at college counting towards the knowledge component of their apprentice training. “It’s a try before you buy

solution,” says Lister. “With good hand skills and basic health and safety training, the students are a better bet than a 16-year-old.” As well as the normal college diploma curriculum, FE colleges in the scheme have to work with students on their employability — presenting themselves well, turning up on site punctually and having a good attitude. The placement is viewed as

work experience, with no legal requirement to pay the students beyond expenses. But funding from the sponsoring partner,

split 50:50 between employer and student, means employers can offer around £60 a week. One of the Plymouth

employers is Mike Smith, who runs joinery and fit-out business Mainly Kitchens and has taken on four previous apprentices. “In normal years, the apprentice system works well, but in the middle of a recession, companies just don’t have the workload and resources to take apprentices on,” he comments. Last summer, Smith took on

17-year-old Plymouth City College student Kieran Wheeler, and it’s proving a successful match. “He’s my fifth apprentice, and other than my son, Kieran’s definitely been the best, from having previous experience when he started — the others took longer to settle in. We’ve already seen our productivity increasing. It worked really well for us, and that little bit of funding softened the blow for a few weeks.” Employers taking on students

are eligible for CITB grant funding for the second year. However, Smith says the apprentices are not considered part of the normal CITB training group, so the colleges retain their funding for them. Smith feels the scheme is a much-needed corrective to the inefficiencies of construction skills training. “The current system basically puts the colleges in competition with CITB, but this scheme joins everything up. It also opens up the idea of a traditional apprenticeship — you’re not going straight from school to site. They have that maturing time [in the first year at college] and learn to make decisions for themselves. With the right employer and the basics at the college, they can be productive quite quickly.”