CPA Bulletin

www.cpa.uk.net CPA Bulletin > February 2023 27 SKILLS There continue to be many developments relating to the skills and education landscape in the UK and this article provides an update on some of the opportunities and challenges relating to skills for our members. The UK continues to put skills and sustainable employment at the heart of its objective to improve productivity. At national and regional level, skills policy continues to be centred around apprenticeships alongside T-Levels, Skills Bootcamps and other technical training funded through the 16-18 study programme and the Adult Education Budget (AEB). The first Plant Operator Skills Bootcamp is still available, through Flannery, in the West Midlands and Buckinghamshire. This Bootcamp training is available for both new entrants and existing operators, and will play a significant role, alongside apprenticeships in addressing the current and future operator shortage. More details are available at https://www.flanneryplanthire.com/company/careers-at- flannery/skills-bootcamp/ . Traineeships are continuing, but from August 2023, will now be routed through core study programmes and the AEB. We will provide further updates regarding any plant specific traineeships. Regional and local skills priorities are currently being developed by local Employer Representative Bodies (ERBs), which in most cases are the local/regional Chambers of Commerce. ERBs are currently developing skills priority plans which will be submitted to the Department for Education (DFE) by the end of March 2023. These plans will determine local and regional skills funding priorities. We will keep you posted on developments and how this will support the construction plant sector. For plant hire companies/employers there are now 4 Construction Plant Apprenticeships including Lifting Technician, Plant Equipment Maintenance Mechanic, Construction Plant Operative and Hire Controller. We are now seeing an increased uptake of apprentices within our sector and with more providers coming into the market, the expectation is that should increase over the next few years. More information can be found on the Institute for Apprenticeship and Technical Education website at https://www.instituteforapprenticeships.org/ . National Apprenticeship Week is taking place from Monday 6th February 2023 and there will be several events, webinars, etc. being hosted across the UK. We will publish relevant events on our website when we have more details. In addition, check out your local college, local authority, Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP’s), or community hubs for any events they’re running. It can be a good way to raise your profile and recruit your next apprentice. There are Careers/Skills Shows/Fairs taking place across the UK all the time. Many are cross sector focused and some sector specific. We will aim to inform members through our website and social media channels of any specific careers shows that are relevant and that provide good links to the future workforce. As mentioned above, it’s a good idea to connect with your local colleges and LEP’s, etc. to find out about local careers fairs. On 2nd February 2023 we hosted a skills webinar for CPA members. The webinar provided more insight on various national and regional skills developments to support employers to attract new talent from across the UK’s employment base, helping address the skills shortages within the construction plant-hire sector. In addition to our skills webinars, we will continue to update our skills toolkit on the CPA website, to ensure members can access the latest skills and employment opportunities and information relevant to the industry. We are also considering a Construction Plant Skills Summit which would take place over the next 12 months. We will provide further information in due course. Skills Developments and Opportunities for Members