Training goes mobile and on-site to put construction employers right at the heart of training
17 October 2008: An innovative site-based approach to construction training has begun on the Balfour Beatty construction site at Salford Royal Hospital, with the launch a new National Skills Academy for Construction project, attended by Hazel Blears MP.
The building work on site has already helped to created new jobs for people and leaving the traditional ‘bricks and mortar’ model of an educational establishment behind, the launch of a National Skills Academy for Construction site at Salford Royal Hospital is the start of an innovative ‘employer-led’ approach to construction training. By 2010 more than 30 National Skills Academy for Construction Projects will be established on-site at major construction projects throughout the UK.
Developed with support from ConstructionSkills, the Sector Skills Council for the construction industry, together with leading industry employers and education and training providers, this National Skills Academy for Construction site is part of the National Skills Academy programme, a Government initiative designed to drive up the standard of industry training and to improve productivity and tackle skills shortages across the UK.
The launch of the National Skills Academy for Construction was attended by Mike Bialyj, Advisory Services Director for ConstructionSkills, Finlay Inglis, Operations Director for Balfour Beatty, Tony Craven, Principal of Salford College and Mike Hall, Facilities Director at Salford Royal NHS Foundation Trust. The Salford site is a £136m project to redevelop Salford Royal Hospital and involves Balfour Beatty, Haden Building Management, Haden Young and Consort Healthcare.
The National Skills Academy for Construction will play a key role in putting employers in the driving seat when it comes to deciding where the skills gaps are in their sector and in the North West and how best to close them.
Hazel Blears MP, said:
“I am delighted to be here for the launch of the National Skills Academy for Construction project at the Salford Royal.
“As the Labour MP for Salford, I take enormous pride in this project as it will equip our workers with the right experience and skills to fill the gaps in the labour market and help construction workers learn new trades and disciplines, and get on in life.
“This really is a shining example of partnership and thanks to all of the partners in the scheme who I am sure will make it the success it deserves to be.”
Mike Bialyj, Advisory Services Director from ConstructionSkills, said:
“The National Skills Academy for Construction is giving industry the training and support that it needs, where it needs it. The new mobile network will enable training on-site to cover the entire supply chain for each project. We see it as a ‘win-win’ situation, not only is it an opportunity to enhance the skills base of the construction industry, it is also a way of developing sustainable communities by engaging local people in training.”
Finlay Inglis, Operations Director from Balfour Beatty, said:
”By its very nature construction tends to be a hugely fragmented industry. The only place that everyone comes together is on a live construction site, so the fact that training will be focused on-site is very significant. Employer-led training is the only way to get it right and I believe that the National Skills Academy for Construction truly recognises this.”
As the National Skills Academy for Construction programme expands, regional partnerships are established in all nine English regions, expanding in 2009 to Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The programme works across a range of construction projects such as major regeneration and development projects, refurbishment and maintenance projects, civil engineering and house building.
For further information about the National Skills Academy for Construction go to www.cskills.org.