NATIONAL SKILLS ACADEMY PROJECT SET TO IMPROVE TRAINING AND SKILLS FOR LOCAL CONSTRUCTION WORKERS

Amanda Sergeant, East Midlands Regional Strategy Advisor, ConstructionSkills said: “We recognised the huge potential of the East Midlands Property Alliance bid to train local people into jobs and at the same time raise skill levels as the companies involved help transform their construction sites into learning environments.

 

One in six construction workers have no formal qualifications and two thirds of employers report problems finding sufficiently skilled and experienced staff, so innovative on-site opportunities such as this are a welcome opportunity for people to gain much needed qualifications.”

 

This particular NSAfC is unique, as the first of its kind in England to be set up for the benefit of local authorities, that are procuring capital projects through Framework arrangements.

So far, 31 of the 46 local authorities in the East Midlands have come together in the ‘East Midlands Property Alliance’ (EMPA), to collaborate cost-effectively in delivering ‘best value’ through the Framework arrangements.

Scape SystemBuild Ltd , a local authority controlled company based in Nottingham, is the managing agent for EMPA, which forms part of its portfolio of initiatives designed to bring economy and efficiency, with shared knowledge and respect for the environment, to the whole building process.

Alan Coole, Framework Development Manager, Scape System Build said:

“This is another success for EMPA and its supporting Local Authorities in the East Midlands. We are extremely pleased to receive funding for this unique skills academy which supports our commitment to work with local agencies to provide jobs, working with the education sector and training providers to enhance skills and competencies in local communities. Working with the EMCBE we have already delivered significant programmes of training for small business and local authority officers, and the appointment of the skills academy will bring greater value and more skills partners to deliver a wider range of services.”

The East Midlands Centre for constructing the Built Environment (EMCBE) – a project funded by the East Midlands Development Agency (emda) – has been working with Construction Skills, Scape and the EMPA for the past two years to develop a workable solution to this unique challenge.

Chris Ward-Brown, Construction Sector Policy Advisor, East Midlands Development Agency said:

“This is a clear demonstration of how emda in partnership with others have successfully secured investment to provide specific construction sector training and job opportunities for people living and working in the East Midlands. We see the EMPA skills academy as a catalyst to secure further funding and anticipate that over £1m of public sector support will be invested through the skills academy over the next three years”

The EMCBE will now work with at least 15 selected framework contractors to deliver challenging targets for achievements set out in the academy’s Employment and Skills Plan (ESP).– The contractors will be delivering many and varied capital projects, ranging from £10k to £30m in value, across the region over the next 4 years for the 31 collaborating local authorities as part of their annual investment of around £200m.

Simon Bradbury, Contracts & Framework Manager, Kier Regional said:

“Kier Regional are delighted to have played our part in assisting EMPA to achieve a National Skills Academy Project. Working closely with all the Framework Contractors selected thus far, and with: Scape, EMCBE and Construction Skills, we have developed a detailed, comprehensive and sustainable model for a successful Skills Academy. The diversity of the works within the EMPA region, and the geographical placement of the contractors within the region will ensure that all areas of the East Midlands will benefit from the work carried out by the EMPA Skills Academy.”

The ESP describes a lifelong learning and skills improvement ‘journey’ for the regional construction sector supply chain over a 3 year period from engagement with secondary schools through to industry interactions with the Region’s universities.

The EMCBE will work with the Region’s Further Education Colleges and other training providers to deliver the various programmes and activities in the area of each project procured through the EMPA Frameworks, and so enhance the construction sector resource and capability in that area.

David J Walker, Chief Executive, EMCBE said:

“This is an innovative solution to an opportunity to take advantage of an annual critical mass of projects for an important group of public sector clients in the East Midlands, as the basis for a unique platform to deliver programmes for improved skills and competencies. We look forward now to working with the team to make that happen.”