CPA Bulletin

www.cpa.uk.net CPA Bulletin > August 2023 21 SKILLS At national and regional Level, skills policy continues to be centred around apprenticeships, T-Levels and Skills Bootcamps. However, in addition to this Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIP’s) have become centre stage of skills policy in the last six months. This is where regional areas, either through a county or recognised metropolitan area e.g. West Midlands or Greater London determine the key skills priorities within their area. LSIP’s have been submitted to the Department for Education (DFE) for approval. If approved, Local Skill Improvement Funds (LSIF’s) will be allocated to support the implementation of the LSIP’s. We know that construction has been identified as a priority sector in many regions, we will update further in the next CPA Bulletin. 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. A new skills hub will open in the South East over the summer. Further information is available at https://www.flanneryplanthire.com/ company/careers-at-flannery/skills- bootcamp/ . For plant-hire companies and employers, there are now four Construction Plant Apprenticeships including Lifting Technician, Construction Equipment Maintenance Mechanic (CEMM), Construction Plant Operative and Hire Controller. In addition to this, the Construction Equipment Maintenance Technician (CEMT) apprenticeship is in development, and we’re hoping for approval later this year or early next year. 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/ . There are careers/skills shows and fairs taking place across the UK all the time. Many are cross sector focused and some are 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. We advise connecting with local colleges, LEPs (Local Enterprise Partnerships), etc. to find out about local careers fairs. The CPA has held two skills webinars this year - in January and June 2023 - to help members better understand the skills and education landscape. The webinars provide 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 and secure the future of the industry. More webinars are planned later this year. Skills and Education Landscape SKILLS There continue to be many further developments relating to the skills and education landscape in the UK. This features provides an update on some of the main developments in our sector and gives our view 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.