Background to Bridging the Gap

Introduction

The industry is currently going through a period of fundamental and far-reaching change. Demands from clients for the industry to provide better value for money, deliver projects on time and to budget and improve quality require an increasingly skilled and motivated workforce. At the same time, Government policy is pushing for increased levels of skills in the workforce to improve productivity and promote competitiveness. Together these drivers are setting a challenging new agenda for training and skills provision within the industry.

This section briefly outlines the educational policy context and the industry change agenda, which together underpin the issues which need to be taken into account by the Bridging the Gap East Midlands Report. This section includes brief details of two similar studies carried out in the West Midlands and Eastern regions which have sought to address similar issues.