Appendix of Agenda Item 16 Workforce for the Future - Academy Model Development Progress update - NLC Construction Skills Academy Option Appraisal
North Lanarkshire Council · 16 March 2023
Back to Policy and Strategy Committee — 16 March 2023 and its agenda
Text extracted from the council's PDF. Layout and reading order may differ from the original.
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Construction Skills Academy Option Appraisal North Lanarkshire Council Final Report version V1.3 | December\\\\\ 2022
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Please consider the environment before printing this document Direct enquiries regarding this report should be submitted to: John Kelly EKOS Director Emeritus Email: john.kelly@ekos.co.uk EKOS Limited, St. George’s Studios, 93-97 St. George’s Road, Glasgow, G3 6JA Reg 145099 www.ekos-consultants.co.uk
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Contents 1 FOREWORD ........................................................................................................................................... 1 1.1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................. 1 1.2 BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES ........................................................................................................ 1 1.3 REPORT FORMAT ............................................................................................................................... 3 1.4 A CHALLENGING (AND CHANGING) EXTERNAL ENVIRONMENT ............................................................. 4 1.5 SOME DATA ISSUES ........................................................................................................................... 5 2 SECTOR OVERVIEW .............................................................................................................................. 6 2.1 INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................. 6 2.2 NATIONAL PERSPECTIVE ..................................................................................................................... 6 2.3 KEY INDUSTRY DRIVERS ...................................................................................................................... 8 2.4 A NORTH LANARKSHIRE PERSPECTIVE ................................................................................................. 8 2.5 FURTHER SECTOR HIGHLIGHTS ......................................................................................................... 10 2.6 SUPPORTING ORGANISATIONAL ACTIVITY ......................................................................................... 11 3 SKILLS AND TRAINING ....................................................................................................................... 12 3.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 12 3.2 PATHWAYS INTO CONSTRUCTION ..................................................................................................... 12 3.3 OCCUPATIONS AND QUALIFICATIONS .............................................................................................. 13 3.4 APPRENTICESHIPS ............................................................................................................................ 14 3.5 FE COLLEGES .................................................................................................................................. 16 3.6 NORTH LANARKSHIRE SCHOOLS ....................................................................................................... 18 3.7 CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................................................ 19 4 OTHER RESEARCH EVIDENCE .......................................................................................................... 20 4.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 20 4.2 SCOTLAND SME SURVEY ................................................................................................................. 20 4.3 NLC CONSTRUCTION SURVEY REPORT KEY ISSUES............................................................................ 20 4.4 CONSTRUCTION SKILLS ACADEMIES ................................................................................................. 22 4.5 ............................................................................................................................................................. 23 4.6 CONCLUSIONS ................................................................................................................................ 24 5 FORECAST CONSTRUCTION ACTIVITY ........................................................................................... 25 5.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 25 5.2 CONSTRUCTION PIPELINE ................................................................................................................. 25 5.3 NLC AND HOUSING INVESTMENT ..................................................................................................... 27 5.4 ONGOING MAINTENANCE................................................................................................................ 27
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5.5 FORECAST SKILLS DEMAND .............................................................................................................. 28 5.6 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................................. 30 6 COMMUNITY BENEFITS ..................................................................................................................... 31 6.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 31 6.2 NLC................................................................................................................................................ 31 6.3 LOCAL SME SPEND ......................................................................................................................... 33 6.4 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................................. 33 7 SUPPLY SIDE ANALYSIS...................................................................................................................... 34 7.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 34 7.2 SCHOOL LEAVERS ............................................................................................................................ 34 7.3 RE AND UP SKILLING ........................................................................................................................ 35 7.4 VALUE FOR MONEY .......................................................................................................................... 35 8 PRIMARY RESEARCH........................................................................................................................... 36 8.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 36 8.2 STAKEHOLDER KEY MESSAGES ......................................................................................................... 36 8.3 SCHOOLS WORKSHOPS.................................................................................................................... 38 8.4 APPRENTICES ONLINE SURVEY .......................................................................................................... 40 8.5 EMPLOYERS ONLINE SURVEY ............................................................................................................ 40 9 FUNDING THE PROJECT .................................................................................................................... 42 9.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 42 9.2 POTENTIAL FUNDING SOURCES ........................................................................................................ 42 9.3 CONCLUSION .................................................................................................................................. 47 10 OPTION APPRAISAL ........................................................................................................................... 49 10.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 49 10.2 APPRAISAL APPROACH ..................................................................................................................... 49 10.3 OVERARCHING OBJECTIVE ............................................................................................................... 51 10.4 DRAFT SPECIFICATION ..................................................................................................................... 52 10.5 OVERARCHING ASSESSMENT ............................................................................................................ 53 10.6 APPRAISAL CRITERIA ........................................................................................................................ 57 10.7 SCORING THE OPTIONS .................................................................................................................... 58 10.8 ASSESSMENT OF SCORES ................................................................................................................. 59 11 CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS .................................................................................. 61 11.1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................ 61 11.2 OVERVIEW ....................................................................................................................................... 61
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11.3 RECOMMENDATIONS ....................................................................................................................... 62 APPENDIX1: CONSTRUCTION FORECASTS ........................................................................................... 64 APPENDIX 2: ADDITIONAL CONSTRUCTION DATA ............................................................................. 76 APPENDIX 3: OTHER RESEARCH EVIDENCE .......................................................................................... 80 APPENDIX 4: LOCAL FE COURSES .......................................................................................................... 85 APPENDIX 5: COMMUNITY BENEFIT SUMMARY ................................................................................... 90 APPENDIX 6: OCCUPATIONAL DATA ..................................................................................................... 93 APPENDIX 7: SCHOOLS IN NORTH LANARKSHIRE ............................................................................... 96 APPENDIX 8: NORTH LANARKSHIRE CONSTRUCTION SKILLS RELATED ORGANISATIONS .......... 99 APPENDIX 9: HUB SOUTH WEST ACTIVITY.......................................................................................... 100 APPENDIX 10: SCHOOL WORKSHOPS.................................................................................................. 102
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1 1 Foreword 1.1 Introduction This report is in response to a brief issued by North Lanarkshire Council (NLC) and a subsequent proposal by EKOS to review options to establish a construction skills academy in North Lanarkshire. 1.2 Background and Objectives The construction sector is a key component of the North Lanarkshire economy and currently employs over 1,300 individuals in almost 1,400 companies1. However, a recent survey undertaken of Lanarkshire construction businesses2s indicated that there are recognised skills shortages and there is a lack of new entrants across a range of trades and job roles within the sector. NLC currently has a major infrastructure and capital build programme including: • a council programme to build 5000 new council homes; • The Pan Lanarkshire Orbital roads project; • Town Centre Visions including development of Town and Community Hubs. • The continued development of major business locations including Ravenscraig In addition to new construction projects, there is a continued requirement for repairs and maintenance of existing housing stock, roads, infrastructure and the rapidly evolving opportunities around retrofit, green jobs, off-site construction, innovation and digitisation/automation within the construction sector. In addition to the council’s capital spend, there are substantial other Partner construction projects in North Lanarkshire including the construction of the New Monklands Hospital, private sector and housing association programmes and business and industrial developments. These investments will generate substantial economic demand and activity and NLC consider it crucial to maximise these benefits in the local area for the benefit of residents and businesses. 1 Source: NLC Project Brief 2 Source: Need reference
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2 The key objective of a North Lanarkshire Construction Skills Academy is to deliver an innovative, step-change approach and delivery model for construction skills which maximises the opportunities available from the council’s procurement activity in the first instance and wider public sector contracts and the wider growth of the sector and achieves significant social and economic outcomes and impact across North Lanarkshire. In achieving this it is expected that the Academy will work with key stakeholders across the public and private sectors to: • create opportunities and pathways into employment, training and apprenticeships (foundation, modern and graduate) for residents and priority groups at scale within current and future construction projects in North Lanarkshire • enable innovative models for work-based training and apprenticeships to be delivered (e.g. shared apprenticeships) • support and create significant and meaningful education initiatives, industry challenges and curriculum which to maximise opportunities for children and young people (particularly those at risk of leaving school with no positive destination) to realise their full potential and understand the opportunities available within the construction sector • address skills shortages within the construction sector • support individuals to re-skill or improve their skills for in-demand roles within the construction sector • deliver initiatives to improve the skills of the existing construction workforce and ensure that there are upskilling opportunities with a particular focus on digital, retrofit, green jobs and net zero skills • raise awareness and understanding about careers and pathways into construction • support the development of a diverse and inclusive construction workforce within North Lanarkshire The research objectives were to complete an Options Appraisal which includes a review of options for a preferred delivery model to include: • Assessment of appropriate delivery vehicle • Organisational and governance structures and resource requirements • Costings and funding models • Review of existing training capacity (e.g. FE/HE/private training) • Prioritisation of skills to be delivered in initial phases • How training and support would be delivered • Deliverables and outcomes • Physical space requirements
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3 The recommended model should focus on how the Construction Skills Academy will tap into the council’s purchasing power in the first instance and be scaleable to incorporate future and wider public and private sector spend. 1.3 Report Format The report is formatted as follows: • Chapter 2: Sector overview and economic baseline; • Chapter 3: Skills and Training; • Chapter 4: Future construction opportunities; • Chapter 5: Current labour market and skills/ training; • Chapter 6: Stakeholder insights; • Chapter 7: Supply side analysis • Chapter 8: Other practice; • Chapter 9: Option Appraisal; and • Chapter 10: Conclusions and recommendations. In addition there are a number of technical appendices which provide additional data and evidence.
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4 1.4 A Challenging (and changing) External Environment In addition to the accelerating changes experienced within the finance market resulting from the introduction of new technology and innovative products and the restructuring of many traditional sources of funding, the global and UK economy have been subjected to a series of often overlapping exceptional events, triggering what are often referred to as ‘crises’. This Chapter considers the extent of, and impact of these factors on the construction sector. These serve to underscore the volatility and uncertainty within which local businesses and individuals must now operate and plan their future. These include: • COVID-19 pandemic; • Brexit; • Ongoing climate emergency; • Ukraine conflict; • Supply chain problems; • Rising supplier inputs costs; • Labour and skill supply problems; • Rising inflation and interest rates; • The ‘cost of living crisis’. We are in a period of exceptional volatility and uncertainty due to the wide range of external factors as highlighted above. These additional factors, such as Brexit and COVID-19, are exacerbating long-term underlying structural challenges, such as the need for differing and improving skills. While some businesses will face significant problems, and many may fail as a result, others will be able to grow on the back of new opportunities and the adoption of new technologies. The implication of continuing uncertainty and volatility combined with the need to adapt to structural changes in the labour and logistics markets (to name just two), is that business risk will be higher. These factors will increase stress on the human resources (people) and business performance of the sector and its underling financial performance. Volatility is however, nothing new for the construction sector as highlighted below. It is after all a cyclical sector.
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5 Table 1.1: New Orders for construction GB Time period New housing public New housing private All new housing Other new work infra Other new work excluding infra Private industrial Private comm’l All other work Period on period growths (%) 1980 3,165 11,745 14,910 3,826 6,224 5,666 10,314 26,030 -20.7% 1990 1,698 11,840 13,538 5,839 7,939 6,818 23,835 44,431 -16.4% 2000 1,717 10,378 12,095 7,608 8,442 5,427 23,368 44,845 1.5% 2010 3,093 8,600 11,694 8,720 12,485 2,150 13,441 36,796 0.3% 2020 981 11,140 12,121 9,123 4,250 3,667 10,698 27,738 -12.9% 2021 1,351 14,475 15,825 7,768 5,484 7,046 14,198 34,496 26.2% Source: ONS New Orders in the construction industry, Quarter 2 (April to June) 2022 Table 3 1.5 Some Data Issues The data sources used in this report are all highlighted and referenced. However, in some occasions the data are not consistent. This can be due to a range of factors including: • Rounding up numbers; • Data exclusions; • Geographies; • Definitions being used (e.g. is it VAT /NIC only); • Inclusions (e.g. are self employed included in employment); or • Year of data collection; In this report we are mainly interested in the “big picture” and direction of travel of construction rather than the fine grained analysis.
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6 2 Sector Overview 2.1 Introduction This Chapter sets out a brief overview of the construction sector and includes: • A short national overview; • A detailed local economic review; • A review of sector forecast data; and • Strategic conclusions as it relates to the objectives of the brief. 2.2 National Perspective3 Figure 2.1: The Scottish Construction Industry in Numbers Source: Scottish Construction Industry Leadership Forum 3 See also Construction statistics, Great Britain: 2020 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk)
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7 The construction industry is a vital, and sometimes overlooked part of Scotland’s economy4. It is important at a number of levels: • As a major output sector and as employer in its own right; • Through providing infrastructure which supports other key sectors; • In its contribution to other Government agendas – notably climate change; • Its potential to impact upon inclusive growth, fair work and other social policies; “The Construction Industry, as defined in official economic statistics, represents approximately 6% of Scotland’s GVA (2017) and employs in the region of 150,000 workers. The Forum denotes a wider definition of construction, including all aspects and scales of building and civil engineering construction; the repair and maintenance of the built environment; and the associated design, professional services, manufacturing, materials, and machinery sectors. Some industry estimates put this wider construction industry at closer to 10% of Scottish GVA and 177,000 jobs”5. The Forum also note that: it has been clear from the industry that its most immediate need is for its clients across the public, private and domestic sectors to continue to buy its products and services. – post COVID. While the industry Leadership Forum and others have sought to forecast future demand we know that we are in a period of flux due to • Post-COVID recovery and impact of support loans on balance sheets; • Supply chain constraints; • Fast increasing prices of supply inputs – rampant inflation? • An ongoing European conflict; • Brexit and post Brexit support – the Levelling Up agenda • A fast developing climate emergency; • UK political changes. The above makes it more difficult than usual to robustly forecast the future. However, NLC are perhaps in the fortunate position with a number of major build projects already “in the bag” that can at least provide some certainty for the future and as a source of opportunity. 4 Source: Scottish Futures Trust 5 Scottish Construction Leadership Forum Transforming the Construction sector in Scotland - Construction Forum Scotland
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8 2.3 Key Industry Drivers Some of the main headline sector drivers are detailed below: • Susceptible to wider economic factors – derived demand • Difficult to predict the future • Cyclical nature of sector but always need construction • Sub contracting nature of sector • Fast increasing input costs and delivery • Public sector investment levels • Finance costs and mortgage rates • Recruitment issues – (image?) • Gender/ethnicity issues • Innovation (e.g. offshore manufacturing) • Low carbon agenda • New technologies and processes (e.g. BIM/Digital/OM) • Aging population – impact on both supply and demand Additional details can be provided if required. 2.4 A North Lanarkshire Perspective ONS/BRES data from 20206 show that the mainstream employment in the construction sector was around 12,000 as follows: Table 2.1: Headline Construction Employment in North Lanarkshire Construction Sub Sector No % 41 : Construction of buildings 2,750 23% 42 : Civil engineering 3,500 30% 43 : Specialised construction activities 5,500 47% Column Total 12,000 Source: ONS/BRES 2020 Rounded up 6 These exclude self employment and non VAT companies
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9 However the NLC brief highlights that the latest Businesses in Scotland: 2021 statistics released on 17 November 2021, demonstrate that construction is in top 3 for both the number of businesses and employment levels in North Lanarkshire7. • 1,395 construction businesses in 6.6% of the Scotland total) • 13,370 jobs (10.3% of the Scotland total)8. Over the last 10 years there has been a 30.4% growth in construction businesses in North Lanarkshire compared to Scottish growth of 15.7%, and 33.2% growth in jobs in North Lanarkshire compared to Scottish growth of 1.2%.9 Using the NLC data construction (at a basic level only) accounts for around 14% of jobs and 17% of the local business base. This in turn contributes to over £300 million in local earnings (and spending) and a £700 million of Gross Value Added (GVA)10 contribution. In looking to the future, data provided by Skills Development Scotland11 forecasts a requirement for 3,800 construction jobs in North Lanarkshire of which 800 relate to expansion demand. Of these over 1,000 are forecast for skilled trades with the main skills gap forecast to be at middle skill level12.In more detail a five digit assessment of employment and businesses is highlighted below and reproduced in full in Appendix 1. Table 2.2: Top 10 Employment Sub Sectors Industry North Lanarkshire Employment 41202 : Construction of domestic buildings 2,125 43210 : Electrical installation 1,875 42110 : Construction of roads and motorways 1,750 42990 : Construction of other civil engineering projects 1,625 71129 : Other engineering activities 1,375 71111 : Architectural activities 1,250 43220 : Plumbing, heat and air-conditioning installation 1,125 43320 : Joinery installation 750 25110 : Manufacture of metal structures 700 46730 : Wholesale of wood, etc 650 Source: ONS/BRES 2020 7 Businesses in Scotland: 2021 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot). 8 SDS Data Matrix suggest 18,500 construction jobs in North Lanarkshire 9 NLC Research Brief 10 Source: statistics.gov.scot : Annual Business Survey 11 Microsoft Power BI 12 See also Chapter 3
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10 Table 2.3: Top 10 Business Sub Sectors Industry North Lanarkshire Companies 43210 : Electrical installation 200 43320 : Joinery installation 185 43220 : Plumbing, heat and air-conditioning installation 175 71129 : Other engineering activities 175 41202 : Construction of domestic buildings 150 43999 : Specialised construction activities 90 41100 : Development of building projects 80 42990 : Construction of other civil engineering projects 70 43341 : Painting 70 43910 : Roofing activities 65 Source: ONS/BRES 2020 The key sub sectors appear to relate to a mix of housing and infrastructure projects which sits well with the stated ambition of NLC to support their own projects top benefit local opportunities. 2.5 Further Sector Highlights The Scottish Annual; Business Statistics13 (SABS published August 2022) shows that since 2008: overall construction units increase by 27% with employment increasing by 10%. However the specialist division which includes construction trades saw units increase by 29% and jobs by 30%. This however, pales when civil engineering is considered with a 162% increase in jobs, albeit form a smaller base. Over the same period, wages increase by 13% although GVA per head declined from £52K to £44K – see link for more information. This compares to an overall increase across all sectors. Since 2012, self employment in construction in North Lanarkshire has declined by 43% compared to 28% across Scotland14, largely driven by changes in taxation policy. For more details see Self-employment in the construction industry (parliament.uk) 13 Scottish Annual Business Statistics 2020 - gov.scot (www.gov.scot) 14 Annual Population Survey Workplace Analysis ONS
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11 2.6 Supporting Organisational Activity It is important to recognise that there already a number of organisations operating in the construction skills space and all delivering different activities. These include: • Industry Leadership Group • DYW Lanarkshire • Construction Innovation Centre • Skills Development Scotland • NLC Employability service • NLC Education service • Individual Schools • FE/HE • Private trainers • Apprenticeship Scotland • Scot Gov • Sector and Trade bodies There is therefore a crowded landscape with a belief that there are few real gaps in service provision although our sense is that the architecture is not complete or well joined up and has no single or common strategy and has the potential for duplication of effort.
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12 3 Skills and Training 3.1 Introduction This Chapter sets out the available data on skills and training activities. In relation to the construction sector. 3.2 Pathways into Construction The various routes intro the sector are highlighted below. CONSTRUCTION PATHWAYS MAP Individual Possible Routes Comments Support Activities School Pupil FA; Careers advice; Taster programme Primary and secondary Developing School Leaver Job: Job + Apprenticeship; FE HE Various options Good College Graduate Job: Job + Apprenticeship; HE Workforce Development Limited HE Graduate Job: Training Plan; Company training Also through GA Limited In employment (general Job; FE; HE; company training Age limits on apprentices Poor; limited support In employment (construction) Upskilling; New skilling; company training Formal and informal routes Poor; limited support Unemployed Job; Job + Apprenticeship; FE; HE Some age limits Employability Underemployed Job; Job + Apprenticeship; FE;HE Some age limits Employability The data show that there does appear to be some “gaps” in supporting those older workers already in employment or in unemployment.
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13 3.3 Occupations and Qualifications Occupational data is difficult to access at a local level. Appendix 5 sets out national occupational data at four digit and Table 3.1 presents the data at one digit level. Table 3.1: Construction Sector Occupational Data North Lanarkshire Occupations 2012 2022 T10b:4 (All people - 1 Managers, Directors and Senior Officials (SOC2010) : F Construction (SIC 2007) ) 1,200 800 T10b:14 (All people - 2 Professional Occupations (SOC2010) : F Construction (SIC 2007) ) 1,300 600 T10b:24 (All people - 3 Associate Prof & Tech Occupations (SOC2010) : F Construction (SIC 2007) ) 700 ! T10b:34 (All people - 4 Administrative and Secretarial Occupations (SOC2010) : F Construction (SIC 2007) ) 900 ! T10b:44 (All people - 5 Skilled Trades Occupations (SOC2010) : F Construction (SIC 2007) ) 6,800 3,500 T10b:54 (All people - 6 Caring, Leisure and Other Service Occupations (SOC2010) : F Construction (SIC 2007) ) ! ! T10b:64 (All people - 7 Sales and Customer Service Occupations (SOC2010) : F Construction (SIC 2007) ) ! ! T10b:74 (All people - 8 Process, Plant and Machine Operatives (SOC2010) : F Construction (SIC 2007) ) ! ! T10b:84 (All people - 9 Elementary occupations (SOC2010) : F Construction (SIC 2007) ) ! ! NOTES ! Estimate and confidence interval not available since the group sample size is zero or disclosive (0-2). * Estimate and confidence interval unreliable since the group sample size is small (3-9). Source ONS/LFS
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14 3.4 Apprenticeships15 Table 3.1 highlights that construction has by far, the most number of individual apprentices in both Scotland and North Lanarkshire. Table 3.1: MA Data Occupational Group N Lanrks Scotland % Administration and Related 94 1,109 8% Animal Care, Land and Water Based 9 274 3% Automotive 90 978 9% Chemicals and Biotechnology Related - 47 0% Construction and Related 670 6,540 10% Creative and Cultural Skills 14 111 13% Engineering and Energy Related 98 1,448 7% Financial Services 22 357 6% Food and Drink 93 901 10% Hospitality and Tourism 50 1,416 4% Management 41 680 6% Other Manufacture 15 114 13% Other Services 206 2,798 7% Personal Services 61 589 10% Retail and Customer Service 56 843 7% Sport, Health and Social care 427 5,751 7% Transport and Logistics 175 1,445 12% Grand Total 2,121 25,401 8% Source: SDS Published Apprenticeship data The data show that North Lanarkshire has 8% of MA starts across Scotland, the main frameworks being Other Manufacture; Creative and Cultural Skills; Transport and Logistics; Personal Services; and Food and Drink. Data show that number are fairly evenly split between building; civil engineering; and technical apprenticeships as highlighted in Table 3.2. 15
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15 Table 3.2: Construction Frameworks North Lanarkshire Framework No Construction: Building 136 Construction: Civil Engineering 135 Construction: Professional Apprenticeship 36 Construction: Specialist 29 Construction: Technical 141 Construction: Technical Apprenticeship 75 Grand Total 523 Source: SDS Apprenticeship data Table 3.3: Full MA Data Sets No of Starts No of Leavers In Training as at 31/03/22 Achievements Achievements as % of All Leavers Frameworks Fem ale M ale Fem ale M ale Fem ale M ale Fem ale M ale Fem ale M ale Construction: Building * 6,052 76 1,151 * 5,356 * 549 45% 48% Construction: Civil Engineering * 1,153 * 1,036 * 1,039 * 855 33% 83% Construction: Professional Apprenticeship 13 235 8 303 13 210 9 251 113% 83% Construction: Specialist 0 * 0 152 0 * 0 84 0% 55% Construction: Technical 50 1,113 39 1,222 61 867 30 1,046 77% 86% Construction: Technical Apprenticeship 27 661 23 672 23 498 20 613 87% 91% Domestic Plumbing and Heating 0 14 * * 6 750 * * 100% 76% Electrical Installation 17 770 6 814 43 2,625 * * * * Extractive and Mineral Processing 0 0 0 37 0 * 0 28 0% 76% Heating, Ventilation, Air Conditioning Refrigeration * * 0 95 11 275 0 80 0% 84% Plumbing and Heating * 421 * * * 491 0 0 0% 0% Wood and Timber Industries 0 12 0 7 * * 0 0 0% 0% Total 107 6,052 76 5,489 157 12,111 59 3,506 41% 62% Source: SDS MA Data sets 2021
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16 3.5 FE Colleges A range of data on construction courses in Glasgow and Lanarkshire provided by Scottish Funding Council s provided below. Table 3.4 Construction Courses Glasgow/Lanarkshire Academic Year Enrolments 2015-16 415 2016-17 505 2017-18 585 2018-19 670 2019-20 615 2020-21 660 Source SFC Special Request Table 3.5: Student Gender Academic Year 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 Female 110 140 160 195 165 180 Male 305 365 420 470 440 470 Other 0 0 0 0 5 5 Prefer not to say 0 0 0 5 5 5 Total 415 505 585 670 615 660 Source SFC Special Request Table 3.6: Level of Study SCQF level 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 0 5 0 5 0 0 3 0 0 0 0 5 4 5 15 5 15 10 5 15 10 30 30 0 6 35 115 130 165 170 7 220 220 265 305 300 8 135 145 140 140 120 9 0 0 10 15 10 Total 415 505 585 670 615 Source SFC Special Request
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17 Table 3.7 Students Registering on Construction Courses in Scotland LA 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 Aberdeen City 0 0 0 5 5 5 Aberdeenshire 0 0 0 0 5 0 Angus 0 0 0 0 0 0 Argyll & Bute 10 10 15 15 15 15 City of Edinburgh 5 10 5 10 5 15 Clackmannanshire 0 5 10 10 5 5 Dumfries & Galloway 15 15 10 15 15 15 Dundee City 0 0 0 5 0 0 East Ayrshire 15 20 25 30 20 25 East Dunbartonshire 30 40 40 45 40 40 East Lothian 0 0 0 5 0 0 East Renfrewshire 25 25 35 30 30 45 Falkirk 15 15 20 30 20 20 Fife 5 10 5 10 10 10 Glasgow City 60 70 85 100 95 100 Highland 5 5 5 5 10 5 Inverclyde 10 15 20 20 20 15 Midlothian 0 5 5 5 5 5 Moray 0 0 0 0 0 0 Na h-Eileanan Siar 0 0 0 0 0 0 North Ayrshire 20 20 25 30 25 25 North Lanarkshire 45 60 75 80 80 85 Orkney Islands 0 0 0 0 0 0 Perth & Kinross 5 5 5 5 5 5 Renfrewshire 35 35 45 45 45 55 Scottish Borders 0 0 5 0 0 0 South Ayrshire 15 10 15 20 10 10 South Lanarkshire 45 65 70 75 70 85 Stirling 15 15 15 15 10 15 West Dunbartonshire 20 30 30 35 30 35 West Lothian 10 10 10 20 15 15 Unknown 5 5 5 5 10 10 Source SFC Special Request
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18 Table 3.8 Mode of Study Mode of study 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 Short full-time 0 10 15 15 5 25 Block release 5 15 15 15 35 35 Part-time (day release) 195 205 210 260 225 175 Other part-time day programme 10 20 35 35 35 70 Evenings only and weekends 50 50 55 65 65 55 Flexible learning 0 0 0 0 0 0 Full-time 150 210 260 275 255 295 Total 415 505 585 670 615 660 Source SFC Special Request Table 3.9 Registrations by College College 2015-16 2016-17 2017-18 2018-19 2019-20 2020-21 City of Glasgow College 165 185 245 275 270 320 Glasgow Clyde College 35 40 50 95 65 55 Glasgow Kelvin College 145 140 170 175 175 155 New College Lanarkshire 20 45 35 40 45 40 South Lanarkshire College 50 90 85 85 70 85 Total 415 505 585 670 615 660 Source SFC Special Request 3.6 North Lanarkshire Schools For detailed information on schools see: https://public.tableau.com/app/profile/sg.eas.learninganalysis/viz/SchoolInformationDashboard- Secondary/Introduction School leaver destination for North Lanarkshire provided by SDS Data Matrix is highlighted below:
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19 The data show that after 6 months, unemployment among school leavers was 9% of which 2% were not seeking a positive destination. 3.7 Conclusions The data and analysis show that: • North Lanarkshire has lower positive destinations from school than Scotland as a whole • The most prolific occupation is skilled trades followed by Managerial and professional occupations; • MAs are evenly split across a number of Frameworks with construction having the most • The main (most popular) frameworks are: o Construction: Building o Construction: Civil Engineering o Construction: Technical • The number of student registering on construction related course in Lanarkshire/Glasgow has been around 600 over the past few years; • Around 125 students have registered in Lanarkshire – the majority with South Lanarkshire College; and • The overall level of study has been steadily increasing in recent years.
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20 4 Other Research Evidence 4.1 Introduction This Chapter hights some evidence form other similar research studies. 4.2 Scotland SME Survey G2. Which of the following would you say are major obstacles to the success of your business in general? Scotland Construction Obtaining finance 13% - Taxation, VAT, PAYE, National Insurance, business rates 31% 4% Staff recruitment and skills 22% 32% Regulations/red tape 32% 7% Availability/cost of suitable premises 11% - Competition in the market 30% 10% Workplace pensions 10% - Late payment 16% 10% UK exit from the EU 26% 4% National Living Wage 12% 19% Any other major issues or obstacles 5% - None of these 13% 13% Don't know/No opinion 1% - Refused 0% 0% Scotland 100% 100% Source: Small Business Survey Scotland 2020 - SME Employers Data Tables 4.3 NLC Construction Survey Report Key Issues Note: Analysis throughout contains a small sample of businesses with around 70 businesses answering each question. Caution should be applied when interpreting any results. • Negative impacts of COVID/BREXIT • Longer leads times • Price increases • Despite this 76% positive about future • Widen and change product base • Green tech issue for half • Addressing net zero
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21 • Most unaware of retrofit stuff • Need information and advice • 63% report staff/skills shortages • Digital/mandatory/management • High levels of future demand • Main barriers to training • knowing right course The survey of Lanarkshire construction companies was completed in 2021 (64 were in North Lanarkshire) and some other highlights are set out below: • 82% expect that demand for workers with related construction skills within their organisation will increase over the next 5 years; • The most common training provided was Emergency First Aid at Work and Health and Safety training including COSHH followed by construction management; • Cost was seen as the major inhibitor; • 41% have employed apprentices; • 40% reported that one of the main reasons attributed to skills shortages was due to a lack of apprentices being recruited and trained; and • 63% of respondents reported difficulties with recruiting staff with the right skills. The majority also believe that there is a need to use community benefit clauses to ensure large Tier 1 contractors are maximising the amount of local SME’s they are sub contracting.
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22 4.4 Construction Skills Academies A brief search has found that construction skills academies are fairly ubiquitous – see below. National Skills Academy for Construction status is conferred by CITB and Construction Skills (the English/Welsh sector skills council and industry training board). National Skills Academy for Construction (NSAfC) - CITB Our Training Centres in Sheffield, Nottingham & Bristol | Skills Academy (constructionskillspeople.com) Construction skills academy opens in North Lanarkshire | Scottish Construction Now About Us (theconstructionhubacademy.co.uk) BAM Achieves National Skills Academy For Construction | UK Construction News List of Skills Bootcamps - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) Skills Bootcamp - Croydon College Construction Skills Village - Schools (skills-village.co.uk) Edinburgh launches construction skills academy (theconstructionindex.co.uk) Achieving community benefits through contracts: law, policy and practice | JRF Comms_Proof_6_Layout 1 (scottishfuturestrust.org.uk) Green Construction Skills Centre | Robothams community-benefits-helping\\\\\\\\-suppliers-deliver-maximum-value-for-the-welsh-pound.pdf (gov.wales) About Us | City Building (citybuildingglasgow.co.uk) Modern apprenticeships | Wheatley Group (wheatley-group.com) However, there is no single scope for an “academy” – they are all different and include a mix of: • Marketing only; • Pre-employment taster programmes; • Short Operator/ machinery courses; • Skills bootcamps; • Industry and career promotion; • Work placements; • Employment and apprenticeships; and • Skills demonstrators There was one example held up to us as the “gold standard – City Building Glasgow.
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23 CITY BUILDING GLASGOW City Building comprehensive training programme includes: • SVQ Level 3 training programmes for mainstream trades including Joinery, Plumbing, Electrical, Painting and Decorating, Roof Slating & Tiling at our in-house Scottish Qualifications Authority (SQA) approved training centre at Queenslie Training Centre, Queenslie, Glasgow, G33 4ND. • Modern Apprenticeship Training at Queenslie Training Centre They also provide the associated process management of all aspects of our apprenticeship programmes including grant funding administration and support frameworks to develop apprentices towards an average successful completion rate of 95%. Specific Training Programmes • IOSH certificated Health & Safety site management courses including Supervising Safely and Managing Safely • CITB certificated courses including Site Management Safety Training Scheme (SMSTS); Construction Skills new Health, Safety and Environmental test (formally CSCS) including employee competency card • Certificated First Aid Training (initial 3 day course) and First Aid Refresher Training (2 days) including employee competency card • PASMA certificated Working at Height Course including employee competency card • Additional City Building certificated independent Health & Safety based courses including Manual Handling, Fire Safety, Asbestos Awareness, Driver Awareness, Ladder Fix, Mobile Roof Anchoring Systems carried out by our fully trained and competent staff • Fully interactive I.T. Introductory, Intermediate, and Advanced training packages for Microsoft Office including Word, Excel, Powerpoint, and Outlook software • Wide ranging training packages on Power Tool training including CAT & Genny; Hand Held Power Tools; Abrasive Wheels, Circular Flip Saw, Core Cutting, Wood Machine Safety Awareness The fully-equipped SQA-approved training centres combine practical workshops and classrooms, using the latest IT equipment for example Smartboards and Internet connectivity, to provide an excellent education experience for learners to gain on-the-job experience. See also: John Wheatley Modern Apprenticeship programme: Modern apprenticeships | Wheatley Group (wheatley-group.com)
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24 4.5 Conclusions It is difficult to read in too much to other research which was seeking answers to different questions but it has underscored the recruitment challenges faced by SMEs across the sector. The other identified centres offer a mix of service with no single one covering all aspects and in many cases being “smoke and mirrors” with no real substance. To some extent “it was always thus” with skills issues being reported for many years. While this adds to the volatility of the sector the general trends are of growth and employment opportunities.
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25 5 Forecast Construction Activity 5.1 Introduction This Chapter sets out an overview of future construction and related spend in North Lanarkshire and surrounds. It cover all major projects; NLC investment; and ongoing maintenance expenditure. Construction activity will be generated from a number of sources: • Public sector investment in infrastructure/ housing/ community/education/ health etc; • Private sector investment; and • Ongoing maintenance, repair and upgrade activity. It is crucial to recognise that construction activity is tradeable and will also operate outside a given local area. 5.2 Construction Pipeline16 The Construction Pipeline Forecast Tool is updated by every 6 months by Scottish Future Trust17 and provides an indicative assessment of likely public sector spend. A summary of the current data within the July 2022 publication can be summarised as follows:- • 48 Contracting Authorities • 19 Sectors and over 1600 developments • £11bn worth of projects They note that the inclusion of projects or their associated parameters maybe subject to change. It is based on providing the construction sector with greater transparency to enable enhanced certainty and investment by businesses within the construction sector. The data (see over) show that: within North Lanarkshire and adjacent authorities the Construction Pipeline Forecast Tool identifies over 300 projects with spend of almost £2B. 16 Data Summary – July 2022 Publication 17 https://pipeline.scottishfuturestrust.org.uk/
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26
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27 5.3 NLC and Housing Investment While there is no single source of NLC (and partners) construction spend the following provides some flavour of activity. • Strategic housing investment Plan18 = 3229 units - £238 million • From NLC Annual Procurement Report 2020/21 o Total procurement spend with Providers in North Lanarkshire 28% o Total third party external spend was £450 million; o NLC do relatively well in local procurement19 30% • 2019 housing land audit capacity20 22,827 – all housing and based on average build price of £200,00 = £4.5 billion • New build completion in NLC 96-21 - 1,200 per annum @ average cost of £200,00021 = £240 million (excluding land costs) • NLC dwellings 37,000 homes – 40% houses 5.4 Ongoing Maintenance Data from ONS show annual spend on house maintenance, alterations and repairs at £1,773 as detailed below. Table 5.1: Financial year ending 2018 to financial year ending 2021 – UK level Item Spend Maintenance and repair of dwelling 10.00 Central heating repairs 1.20 House maintenance etc. 5.60 Paint, wallpaper, timber 1.90 Equipment hire, small materials 1.40 Alterations and improvements to dwelling 24.10 Central heating installation 1.10 DIY improvements: double glazing, kitchen units, sheds etc. 1.30 Home improvements - contracted out 19.80 Bathroom fittings 1.00 Purchase of materials for Capital Improvements 0.80 Source: ONS housing statistics 18 Source NLC 2023/24 – 2027/28 19 Economic Outcomes Programme Overview Report Improvement Service 20 Housing land supply | North Lanarkshire Council 21 EKOS estimate based on web search
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28 Based on a housing stock of 157,00022, this would result in an annual total spend of almost £300 million, although this figure will fluctuate year by year as well as change over time as the stock changes or major works like retrofit develop. 5.5 Forecast Skills Demand Two main sources of data supplemented through the findings of this research are: • SDS • CITB Skills Development Scotland Data The Data Skills Matrix23 show that construction employment in North Lanarkshire is forecast to rise form 18,500 in 2021 to 19,900 in 2031 (+1,400). The main SIC areas are highlighted below although it should be noted that there is not a robust match of data: • Civils + 200 • Building +300 • Specialist +500 • Architecture/ design + 700 • Land services + 300 The main growth in occupations is forecast to be for machine drivers and skilled construction. Around half (50% ) of jobs are also forecast to be at SCFQ level 7+. Of forecasts growth around 75% is generated from replacement demand (replacing workers who have retired or left the sector. 22 See Appendix 1 : Scottish Housing Statistics 23 https://www.skillsdevelopmentscotland.co.uk/what-we-do/skills-planning/regional-skills-assessments/
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29 CITB Data The CITB data24 is only available at Scotland level although we understand it is being analysed at LA level and due to be published early 2023. The annual recruitment requirement in Scotland is set to average 2.3% per year, based on 2020 workforce levels, which is higher than the UK figure of 1.6%. This means the construction industry would have to increase current recruitment by 5,250 new workers each year to deliver the expected work between the end periods of 2020 and 2025 Annual recruitment by occupations is highlighted below. 24 https://www.citb.co.uk/media/nwrltcsm/scotland.pdf
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30 The data show the main increase for: project managers; electrical trades; labourers; and construction professionals. North Lanarkshire has approximately 13% of construction jobs25 in Scotland (Source: ONS/BRES 2021) and it would be possible to use the CITB data to assesses local occupational demand using a shift share approach. . If we take the annual increase and apply it to North Lanarkshire this suggests an increase of around 4,000 compared to SDS at around 2,000. We do not know how these data are calculated but suggest we focus on the “big picture”. There will be an increase in construction jobs across most occupations but with a focus on professional and skilled trades. Demand for elementary jobs will remain although anecdotally we are advised it is more about labour than skills that is the biggest issue for the sector. 5.6 Conclusion While it is outside the scope of this study to provide detailed estimates of total construction spend, if we take account of all of the above we have a potential construction spend of around £7 billion of spend over the next 10 years. Based on construction employment co- efficient of £175,000 this order of spend could support around 4,000 construction jobs annually during this period of construction activity. It is also important to recognise that within this there will also be demand for a range of managerial, professional, technical, and skilled trades occupation26s including: • Project Managers • Designers • Surveyors • Skilled Trades • Supply Industry Fitters • Plant Operators It is clear that there are many different occupations in construction and within that different levels of engagement (e.g. career pathways). 25 LQ of 1.3 26 See also Construction and built environment | My World of Work
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31 6 Community Benefits 6.1 Introduction This Chapter considers the impacts of current community benefit activity in North Lanarkshire which is captured by the Council. 6.2 NLC NLC operates a robust community benefits approach that applies to all construction contracts and a summary is presented below with more detail in Appendix 4. Annual Procurement Summary (Extract below) NLC Procurement Report 2021 highlights that they awarded 14 Regulated Contracts with a value of £4million or greater of which 64% contained Community Benefits. They also awarded 15 Regulated Contracts with a value of between £1million and £4million of which 73% contained Community Benefits. Details of the outcomes are presented below.
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32 In addition longitudinal data provided as follows: YEAR 2019 2020 2021 2022 Total Targeted Recruitment & Employment TRE01 New Entrants – Key priority Groups 4 4 12 2 22 TRE02 New Entrants – no relevant experience 1 8 0 9 TRE03 New Entrant - Graduate 0 0 TRE04 New Start - Apprentice 1 19 0 20 Targeted Skills & Training TST01 Work Experience Placement (16 + years) 1 5 6 1 13 TST02 Work Experience Placement (14 - 16) 1 0 1 TST03 Work Experience Placement - Graduate 0 0 TST04 Careers Event 2 19 4 25 TST05 Site Visit 3 7 10 TST06 School Mentoring or Enterprise Programme 1 6 0 7 Supply Chain Development SCD01 Supply Chain Briefing with SME’s 4 0 4 SCD02 Business Mentoring for a SME’s 0 0 Community Engagement CCE01 Financial Support for a Community Project 3 3 5 0 11 CCE02 Non-Financial Support for a Community Project 1 9 4 14 Source: NLC Planning and Regeneration
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33 6.3 Local SME Spend The figure below (Source: Improvement Service) highlights the percentage of LA spend with local SMEs. 6.4 Conclusion While NLC appear to have in place a robust system for seeking community benefits the outcomes appear modest in our considered view when compared to the total spend. There appear to be also some issues around the availability of resource in the recording and monitoring of outcomes which we will return to later.
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34 7 Supply Side Analysis 7.1 Introduction This Chapter considers the potential supply side (individuals) who could be attracted to a new skills centre. It will comprise both school leavers and those seeking re or upskilling who are already in the sector or looing to change careers. 7.2 School Leavers School leaver destination in North Lanarkshire are as follows and suggest a range of between 4.6% and 6.0% of school leavers are unemployed in some form. Table 7.1: Leaver Destinations Unemployed seeking work Unemployed not seeking First 2.8% 1.8% Follow Up 4.0% 2.0% Source: SDS Data Matrix Data from NLC suggest there are around 4,000 school leavers27 per annum which will result in between 180 and 240 excluded young people. If we average it out at say 200 potential annual targets the potential scale of supply will be as follows. Table 7.2: Potential Penetration Rates (EKOS estimates) Rate Number @50% 100 @25% 50 @10% 20 27 Statistics show 93.1 per cent of North Lanarkshire school leavers are in 'positive destinations' - Daily Record (3695) More than 93 per cent of school leavers across North Lanarkshire were in a "positive destination" nine months after leaving school according to new statistics. Figures from the Scottish Government show that 3695 school leavers from North Lanarkshire went on to work, training or further study.
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35
The 10% figure is perhaps most realistic and achievable and is consistent with other
research highlighted later.
However, if adjoining authorities (South Lanarkshire) were included this could result in
around 400 new jobs for young people over a 10 year period.
From a North Lanarkshire perspective on this basis we would require around £3.5 million of
construction activity to secure 20 annual jobs based on current coefficients rating of
£175,000 per job. This should be easily achievable.
7.3 Re and Up Skilling
The supply side however could also include replacement as well as expansion demand
which would seem to be a strong possibility in terms of market capacity. The above of
course excludes those engaged in reskilling or upskilling or those seeking a change of
career.
There are currently around 13,000 construction workers in North Lanarkshire (out of a total
of over 150,000) although we have no sense as to the potential level of interest in re or up
skilling never mind change of careers. It is of course likely that skills upgrades will be
specifically required to address the developing climate change agenda.
Other interest could of course arise from those in other careers again of which we are
unable to assess potential demand.
This group currently have limited support available to support training activity.
7.4 Value for Money
For the sake of argument we assume that a new “centre” could “handle” around 40
individuals per annum which would be 400 over 10 years. On the basis of a suggested
target of a value for money of £20,000 per job (gross) this could justify support of a capital
spend of up to £8 million.
This is a not insignificant sum and would therefore be seen as offering an acceptable
Benefit Cost Ratio of 2.25 {Source of GVA data: Office for National Statistics, Annual Business Survey 2020
(Compiled by Scottish Government)
It can be seen that this is well within the potential demand scope and as such would appear
to suggest that any new “centre” would offer value for money.Page 41
36 8 Primary Research 8.1 Introduction As part of the research a series of primary research was completed and comprised: • a comprehensive set of online interviews were held with 25 stakeholder. A list of these organisation is provided in the appendix. • An online survey of local employers and apprentices; and • Two workshops with senior secondary school pupils. It is not intended to report on individual interviews but instead to highlight common and key issues. 8.2 Stakeholder Key Messages • Wider support for a construction Skills Academy • General agreement and support for some kind of skills academy and a general belief that the rationale is sound • Requirement for common/ shared strategy o Recognition that many organisations active in construction skills/ young people but there was no single Lanarkshire construction skills strategy to which everyone can rally around o Belief there is some confusion around who does what o Council seen as best placed to lead this work • Geography and footprints o While it was recognised that this research was focused on North Lanarkshire most employers and employees are indifferent to LA boundaries o Suggestion should include South Lanarkshire although question of timing • Start simple and grow o Ensure while there is long term stretch ambition in the short term it must be deliverable o Required action plan with funding and roles and responsibilities • Sell wide occupations and career pathways o Sector is still largely seen as being built around skilled trades but lots of occupations and pathways o Information and communication is key
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37 • Inconclusive evidence of gaps o Organisations sought to selling themselves rather than answer questions o Signs of complacency – organisations believe there are no gaps • City building model is seen as Rolls Royce model o LA become employer and manage skill/ training/ recruitment process o Continue to work with current architecture • Long term apprentices difficult for employers o From a community benefit position it is difficult to commit to 4/5 year apprentice on basis of a short term contract – what happens after o Develop new approaches such as codesign/ commission/ sponsor • Competition issues – procurement o Some concerns that if CB model adopted would be anti- competitive o Need to ensure proper transparency • More about labour (numbers) than skills o While specific skills issues (qualification and experience) were seen as crucial there is also a numbers issues – simple lack of numbers • Construction apprenticeship always over subscribed o When these are offered by employers supply always seems to exceed demand o Seen as appropriate route to grow talent • Need to offer support to micros and SMEs o The very large construction companies are not always the employer with a focus on sub contracting o Therefore support all size of employers • Limited ideas or thoughts on scope of CSA o Future and other issues to be addressed include Funding and support for older workers o Enterprise/ green jobs/ retrofitting/ manufacturers kit training The above were the main and key issues raised by stakeholders. It is apparent they believe that a CSA is an appropriate response to some of the challenges in the sector and that the Council are best placed to provide strategic lead.
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38 8.3 Schools Workshops Two workshops (see also Appendix 10) were held with senior secondary school pupils who had indicated an interest in construction. The sessions sought to gauge current interest in construction, what skills are important to their development and career, and what future opportunities might there be in construction. It included two poster-making exercises where pupils were asked to consider what a skills academy could look like and offer young people, and how a career in construction could be advertised. Workshop 1: Coatbridge High School • The focus group had 5 attendees – four boys and one girl. • Three were in S5, one in S4 and one in S3. • There was interest in a range of construction jobs and career including bricklaying, demolition and architecture. • One of the S5 students are currently attending a general construction apprenticeship and is enjoying the experience and introduction to the work. Most recent activity was painting and decorating as part of the apprenticeship. • Students said they spoke regularly with careers and DYW services within school. • Developing both practical and meta skills were considered important for a skills academy to focus on. • Suggestions for the skills academy included: help with a range of construction qualifications (CSCS, health and safety, driving qualifications); a range of skills development where there are opportunities (digital skills such as CAD for the architects, environmental skills; social skills); a range of employment support (work experience which was considered essential, help with CVs and mock interviews, information, employer contacts, apprenticeships). • It was felt that the construction skills academy could be a physical place with a separate campus and mixed with school.
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39 • When asked to advertise construction as a career, students focused on the range of present and future jobs, occupations and opportunities within the sector (such as green energy and digital). They also emphasised the opportunity for skills development through a career in construction. Workshop 2: Airdrie Academy • The focus group had 10 attendees – all S5 boys. • Jobs of interest included: bricklaying, mechanical engineering, joinery, civil engineering and plumbing. • Most indicated desire to leave school at end of S5 once exams were over. • One attendee had relevant work experience. • One had applied to a programme with Tigers Construction Academy - https://learnwithtigers.co.uk/construction/ - was waiting to hear back. • Students said they spoke regularly with careers and DYW services within school. • Skills they felt were important: o Communication o Good work ethic o Teamwork o Problem solving o Timekeeping • Additional skills they felt necessary to gain a career in construction: o Relevant sector qualifications such as CSCS card o Digital skills – for office jobs – e.g., site manager • Skills Academy – preference for physical place to visit within school hours with a focused on gaining work experience and specific trade qualifications.
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40 • Some said they were unlikely to engage with skills academy if it was out-of-school hours. • The range of jobs and opportunities should be advertised. If wanting to engage young people, could use a range of different techniques such as Tik Tok. Workshop Summary • Most had an interest in construction. • Students were interested in a range of different construction jobs and careers. • Suggestions for what a Skills Academy could focus on included work experience support (either through employer contacts, apprenticeships); skills development (practical and social skills as well as help to gain Construction Skills Certification Scheme card); • There was a preference for the Skills Academy to be a physical place to visit during school time – students suggested this would be valuable for their careers. • The range of jobs and opportunities within construction should be promoted, particularly in relation to climate change/retrofitting agendas and digital skills, and its opportunity for continued skills development and career progression. 8.4 Apprentices Online Survey The responses to this (at this point in time were poor (1 only) and as such we do not intend to introduce a single response as evidence. 8.5 Employers Online Survey There were 10 responses form employers who were mainly SMEs with employment ranging from 1 to 350. While they all had employees across the different occupations thew majority (one third) were in skilled trades. The majority of employees were recruited form another company with the employer mainly looking for a qualified and experienced employee at SCVQ level 5 +. There were mixed views on the future although ALL were planning to recruit over the next year. (Over 100 in total) although in the main it was for skilled trades.
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41 The major constraints to growth were rising supplier and energy costs, availability of labour and skills and rising labour costs. The main skills challenge was finding people with the right experience. There main training needs were classed as “technical” e.g. around health and safety. Issues were raised around quality and quantity and cost of local provision. Interestingly lobbying the industry and awareness raising and providing experience were seen as the top services for a skills academy with all respondents indicating they would use it if developed locally.
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42 9 Funding the Project 9.1 Introduction At this stage it will be difficult (not possible) to identify a specific form of funding in the absence of a detailed scope and specification. We have however, identified the main potential sources of funding for the project and these are set out below. 9.2 Potential Funding Sources While there may be many individual sources there will be a smaller range of sources. In order to support this assessment we have assumed that the project will have costs as follows: • Set up/capital: £1- 2 million • Ongoing revenue: £500k- £1million pa Sources will include: • NLC internal capital and revenue funding; • City Region Deal funding; • UK government funding; • Scottish Government funding; • Partner and Other public sector funding: and • Commercial funding. It is unlikely that any single source will be able and willing to fund the full project and that a “cocktail funding” approach will be required. A particular issue will that NLC considers how far they wish to pursue commercial funding which could be used to generate a surplus for re-investing. NLC Funding There are 32 Local Authority councils in Scotland with each council responsible for a range of services, such as schools, housing, social work, road maintenance, refuse collection, etc. Councils in Scotland spent in total about £22 billion in 2019-20. This was mainly funded from four sources: (1) Scottish Government grant, (2) Service income (3) Non-domestic Rates, and (4) Council Tax.
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43 The Scottish Government seeks to distribute its funding between councils. It does this by agreeing the method of distribution with the Convention of Scottish Local Authorities (COSLA) and councils. This publication describes the calculations used for 2022-23. However, LA funding has been under some pressure for some time and each year the council produces an updated medium-term financial plan which considers projections for the future Scottish Government grant and cost pressures such as pay awards, inflation and increased demand for services. The latest plan projects a budget gap of £54.312m between 2022/23 and 2024/24. While it therefore may be possible for the Council to allocate some funds to the project it is very unlikely it will be able to fund it all and there is also likely to be ongoing Council-wide budgetary pressure. City Region Deals City Region Deals are packages of funding and decision making powers, agreed between the Scottish Government, the UK Government and local partners. They are designed to bring about long-term strategic approaches to improving regional economies, aiming to help harness additional investment, create new jobs and accelerate inclusive economic growth. The Glasgow City Region Deal is investing £520 million which includes commitments from the UK Government and eight local neighbouring authorities across Glasgow and the Clyde Valley. Regional partners estimate that over its lifetime, the deal will deliver around 29,000 jobs and attract around £3.3 billion of private sector investment. The City Region City Deal will fund major infrastructure projects; create thousands of new jobs and assist thousands of unemployed people back to work; improve public transport and connectivity; drive business innovation and growth and generate billions of pounds of private sector investment. There is a Skills and Employment Portfolio Group who focus on upskilling and reskilling, digital and meta skills and higher value jobs. A £1.13 billion fund is supporting a range of infrastructure projects across the region as well as acting as a co-ordinator for UK government levelling up funding. To date all funding has been allocated but not yet invested.
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44 UK Government Funds The UK Government has allocated funding under its “levelling up” agenda o support community, jobs, regeneration, transport and heritage projects. Funds include: the Community Renewal, Levelling Up and Community Ownership Funds. North Lanarkshire has received around £2.5 million under the CRF which has support five projects: Airdrie Central Community Engagement Project; All in North Lanarkshire; Elevator Entrepreneurial Ecosystem: E3 North Lanarkshire; Employ Me; and Lift Off and Accelerate. It was however less successful in applying for levelling up funds. The UK Shared Prosperity Fund (UKSPF) is a central pillar of the UK Government’s (UKG) Levelling Up agenda and a significant component of its support for places across the UK. It provides £2.6 billion of new funding for local investment by March 2025, with all areas of the UK receiving an allocation from UKSPF via a funding formula The UKSPF will support the UKG wider commitment to level up all parts of the UK by delivering on each of the levelling up objectives within three UKSPF investment priorities: Communities and place; Supporting local business; and People and skills A UK Shared Prosperity Fund - Investment Plan 2022 was recently submitted under the City Deal Banner (allocation of over £70 million). In this North Lanarkshire Council have identified three priorities under the skills priority • Support those furthest from the labour market including to extend provision for vulnerable young people to achieve positive post-school destinations • Develop skills academies with a focus on digital skills, construction and health and social care provision • Delivery of an integrated ‘maths in the community’ programme to provide bespoke and tailored numeracy learning. Final approvals are yet to be made and it is likely that the current wider economic events may delay any final decisions. The Levelling Up Fund will invest in local infrastructure that has a visible impact on people and their communities. This includes a range of high value local investment priorities, including local transport schemes, urban regeneration projects and cultural assets.
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45 Scottish Government Funding In parallel with most public organisations the Scottish Government are also under budgetary constraints following Covid 19 and subsequent changing economic conditions. Outside mainstream education (including further and higher) there are a few funding programmes which support skills: The Flexible Workforce Development Fund FWDF is a Scottish Government initiative, launched in academic year 2017/18, and created in direct response the introduction of the UK Government Apprenticeship Levy (July 2016). It provided up to £15,00 for each levy payer and £10,00 for other SMEs. The FWDF is aimed at providing employers with flexible workforce development training opportunities In Year 4 the Scottish Government investment in the FWDF doubled from £10 million to £20 million, in line with the Scottish Government Future Skills Action Plan (FSAP). The Employability Fund is administered by Skills Development Scotland on behalf of the Scottish Government. The scheme was founded with the aim of helping Scotland’s unemployed to bounce back and develop the work-related skills they need to kickstart their careers. The Scottish Government recently launched the National Transition Training Fund. Organised by Skills Development Scotland, this £25 million scheme is designed to help you if you’ve been made redundant by providing access to training and enabling you to achieve an industry-recognised qualification. Other Scottish Government funding source include: • Regeneration Capital Grant Fund • Vacant and Derelict Land Fund; • Placed Based Investment Programme Other Public Sector Partners There are a range of other public sector partners who, while in similar budgetary positions, may have available funding. The main ones who should be approached could include: • Skills Development Scotland • Historic Environment Scotland • Scottish Enterprise • Scottish Funding Council In addition, Scottish Towns Partnership publish a monthly Funding Finder report which includes a section on employment and training. There are also potential industry partners, notably CITB who should be considered.
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46 Commercial Funding This could include both public and private commercial funding from a range of sources: • Scottish Investment Bank; • Business Loans Scotland; • British Business Bank; and • Mainstream lenders. Of course and commercial funding would be dependant on the project being able to generate income from its activities to repay any loans or investments. While not funding in a traditional sense, the major construction companies could be approached for contribution and/or donations and/or equipment to support the project which will ultimately benefit them. Commercial funds could also be raised through trading with the project seeking to operate in the commercial contracts market. Climate Emergency The UK and Scottish Governments are committed to addressing the climate emergency through their roadmap to a net zero future. This agenda has also been adopted by many private sector construction companies and funders. Also given the size of current and future council and RSL housing stock and the wider retrofit agenda it does appear that this should be a project focus that could successfully attract funding support.
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47 9.3 Conclusion It is clear that there are many “potential” sources of funding which could be pursued but which would require that the project is further refined and defined. Currently, the main focus of Governments (UK and Scotland) is on a post COVID recovery and in some instances addressing the consequences of BREXIT. There has already been a great deal of speculation and forecasting28 of what the future might look like with some key impacts and consequences highlighted below: new ways of working and new types of jobs; existing job losses but with new job opportunities; reducing inequality and sub region disparities; localism - the 20 minute neighbourhood; the fast developing low carbon agenda; business restructuring; and sector specific threats and opportunities However, the future is unknown and unknowable at this point in time but it will be crucial to ensure readiness to minimise any negative consequences while seeking to maximise new opportunities. Government recognises that (at least in the short term) there will be a need for continued support for the economy and has been active in launching new schemes on a regular basis over the last few months and we expect more in the coming months, although this may be curtailed by the upcoming budget announcement. Based on previous experience it is likely that any future opportunities will be time constrained with short turn around and early spend being particularly crucial. The key issue often appears not to be necessarily a lack of funding but a lack of projects worked up to a stage to make appropriate applications and be ready to be delivered. This seems to particularly apply to economic development interventions where there is rarely a pipeline of pre-appraised projects that can be submitted when a new fund is announced. It is no surprise that many of the projects supported through previous schemes such as City Growth Deals are large scale transport ones which while it is clear why these must remain a priority, many have been worked on and worked up over many years and are seen as “shovel ready”. Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for economic development projects. 28 See for example: Scotland after COVID-19 | Nesta; COVID-19 impact on Scotland’s economy - gov.scot (www.gov.scot); The_impact_of_Covid-19_on_the_Renfrewshire_economy.pdf (strath.ac.uk); The Post Pandemic New Normal: The likely Socio-Economic Implications and Policy Choices facing Scotland and the UK - Policy Scotland (gla.ac.uk)
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48 It also clear that any approach to funders is likely to be predicated on the development and submission of a business case consistent with HM treasury guidance29. This would require consideration and identification of the following factors. Project Overview Detail Description Objectives Strategic Rationale and market failure Policy Fit and contribution Location/ coverage Inputs [£] and Inputs [people] Main activities Detail activities Delivery and governance Key Partners Roles and Responsibilities Conditionalities Timescales Evidence of need/demand Project beneficiaries Outputs Outcomes Impact Value for money Ongoing Management Monitoring, reporting and evaluation RAG risk register 29 See over and The Five Case Model
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49 10 Option Appraisal 10.1 Introduction This Chapter sets out the range of options considered for a future construction skills academy. It is based on the approach set out in HMT Greenbook guidance. 10.2 Appraisal Approach This section sets out some details on good practice in undertaking an option appraisal. Option appraisal is a practice that helps ensure projects or programmes meet their objectives in the most cost-effective manner. Creating and reviewing options also provides an understanding of the potential range of actions that may deliver the objectives – it makes the project manager think “is this the best way to achieve what I want”. It is therefore a valuable technique and is undertaken as part of the wider project development and appraisal process. The underlying principle is that an option appraisal should be undertaken before it is decided which approach to pursue. Option appraisal involves a set of principles that are part of a robust decision-making process. The general principles of option appraisal are: • being clear about what you are hoping to achieve – your objectives; • considering the different ways in which these objectives could be achieved – the options; • assessing the costs and benefits of the different options – both quantifiable and non-quantifiable; • identifying all the pros and cons of the options and quantifying them and valuing them wherever possible; • considering any risks and sensitivities; and • considering the most appropriate and best value use of resources, not just focussing on the lowest initial costs but also the actual returns. However, there is no standard approach to option appraisal and it will vary considerably between projects both in conduct and scale.
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50 For example, the level of detail required to conduct an option appraisal of a one-off £100k project will be significantly less than for a £100 million programme. They should both, however, follow the same broad approach. It is also good practice to use a longlist/ shortlist approach where the detailed appraisal is only undertaken on the shortlisted options. This allows for a much wider and less constrained analysis and will provide an opportunity for wide consultation. Undertaking an option appraisal for a project or programme is important for a number of reasons – the main one being it helps make good decisions about the use of scarce public resources. It also has wider benefits including: • enabling informed and transparent decisions to be taken; • providing a consistent approach to decision-making; • helping achieve maximum effectiveness and best value; • providing a clear basis for understanding cost effectiveness; • ensuring that the option selected is more likely to meet the desired objectives; • supporting strategic decision making as it allows a like for like comparison with other projects and therefore supports prioritisation; and • providing the context for future monitoring and evaluation. Therefore, it is a valuable technique and is undertaken as part of the wider project development and appraisal process. The basic principle of option appraisal is to convert all costs and benefits into “values” that can be compared and contrasted. However, it is recognised that in some cases it will be difficult or costly to obtain the level of information to conduct a thorough quantitative appraisal and that a qualitative approach can also be appropriate. However, it should be made clear why this is the case – it is often seen as the easy option and should only be accepted where there is a clear rationale. In many cases, it would also be appropriate to provide both a quantitative and qualitative appraisal (see below) as this will provide a more robust conclusion and allow better consideration of non-financial factors. The option appraisal is based on a scoring system which comprises a set of weighted criteria, each of which has been subdivided into a range of sub-criteria. This approach seeks to ensure that each option is systematically and objectively assessed against criteria that cover all aspects of the wider strategic objectives of the project, namely: to establish the most effective and efficient form for a Centre.
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51 On the basis of these overarching objectives, we have developed a series of assessment criteria against which each of the options will be appraised. Other considerations, such as the actual availability of funding or specific political priorities, should also be capable of being taken into account in determining final outcomes. It is important to recognise that the proposed method will only result in a prioritised list (a ranking) that simply says that against a particular set of objective criteria one option scores higher than another against the chosen variables. The system will therefore support the Council in their decision making – the appraisal does not make decisions; it only helps rationalise them. The factors that will determine which score is awarded are detailed on the individual appraisal sheets. An additional weighting is placed on each of the key criteria to reflect their relative importance. 10.3 Overarching Objective The objective against which the options are being assessed is to • maximise the sustainable local employment potential of the proposed investment in the built environment in North Lanarkshire over the next 10 years We have considered this and would suggest the following five options as possible and practical alternatives to be reviewed • Option 1: Do Nothing; • Option 2: A passive virtual centre; • Option 3: A bespoke pro-active construction portal; • Option 4: An apprentice employer model (City building); and • Option 5: A Future Skills Model.
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52 10.4 Draft Specification It is still not clear what activities a new centre could deliver or what is should look like. Indeed the stakeholder offered limited idea beyond what was already being delivered. The key focus will be on how to match the supply side (school leavers) with the demand side (construction employer through developing interest, skills and experience. A full draft specification will be developed once a preferred option is agreed. At this stage we have identified the following “potential” services: • Information and advice o regular research – state of market/ future jobs/ skills shortage • Awareness and understanding o information/ history/ sector profile/options/ range of careers/case studies • Mentoring/ work experience/placements o recruit companies/ place individuals/ support employers • Policy - linkages and partnerships o Scot Gov schools/ HE/ college/ SDS/DYW etc • Taster works include schools projects o Hands on short experience of all trades • Funding o Public + major local employers to contribute • Starting a Construction Business o Links to business gateway • Supply chain mapping o Map local capacity and capability/ pre approvals • Business links o Make it useful to them - they pay? • Core skills o Include meta/employability skills stuff Of course in all of this is the issue of duplication. We need to ensure any new project does not offer what is already available and where we are able to work within the current architecture.
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53 10.5 Overarching Assessment Option 1 : Do Nothing In any options appraisal we must consider the “do nothing” option – what would or is likely to happen in the absence of any intervention. We have highlighted that there is already a lot going to support the development of the skills agenda in the sector. Currently there are around 25 groups or organisations who deliver various services to and for the sector and these are set out in detail in Appendix 7. It can therefore be seen that there is already a crowded and complex skills infrastructure with limited “joining up” or any overall strategic coherence. There is no clear or visible lead organisation, although arguably this should be a role for the Council. At one level we are unsurprised that this exists as construction has long been seen as a sector offering potential for local jobs, community benefits and engaging disadvantaged young people. We would suggest that regardless of the outcome or decision there is a need to clarify roles and responsibilities and provide some strategic framework to the above which could of course be a key issue for a new skills academy to address. While external costs will be limited there will be a need for internal capacity. Positives Negatives • No or limited cost • If change to happen will require leadership • Easy to implement • Not clear it will it change outcomes • No clear strategic coherence • No common KPIs or MEF • Relatively passive approach
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54 Option 2: A Passive Virtual Centre It would be a real option to provide a passive, virtual centre that does not require a formal building or location. This would provide information and advice about the sector: • Economic and employment profile • Careers information • Signposting • Centre of good practice - sharing It should/ could and seek to join up the various organisations already active in the sector and provide some form of leadership. We suggest it would require at least one internal dedicated resource and research/marketing/monitoring budget of £100K per annum. Total annual costs therefore of around £150,000. Positives Negatives • Limited cost – no new property • Make use of existing operations • Could avoid duplication. • Quite easy to implement • Could map supply chains • Will require internal and external resources • Not clear it will deliver additional outcomes • Need to clarify roles and responsibilities • Relatively passive approach Option 3: A Bespoke Construction Portal This would involve establishing a single on line portal for information and signposting on all aspects of the sector. To other organisations. It could also include a sully chain mapping. Again it would not require a physical presence but would require wide stakeholder agreement on content and specification, set up costs and ongoing maintenance costs. Estimated costs are initial costs £50K and annual costs of £20K + internal resource time. Positives Negatives • Limited cost – no new property • Make use of existing operations • Could avoid duplication. • Quite easy to implement • Supplier profiles • Will require resources • Not clear it will deliver additional outcomes • Need to clarify roles and responsibilities • Relatively passive approach
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55 Option 4: An Apprentice Employer Model Some stakeholders highlighted how the City Building model would be an ideal aspiration to aim to achieve. This would require NLC to set up an arms length construction company which would operate commercially. The company would offer training and apprenticeships to mainly school leavers from disadvantage backgrounds. . The company would then bid for new contracts on a commercial basis. It would also seek to support trainees into the market at a point in time when they would be able to fill skills shortages/ gaps. Initially this would work in partnership with the college sector. City Building recruit 60 apprentice per annum although we have highlighted a figure of 40 for Lanarkshire. At this stage, it is not clear how training would be funded and while it is not possible to cost in any detail we believe it is likely to be in excess of £1 million (£500k for apprentice wages and £500k for other costs) depending on number of trainees. Of course this is only the cost side and would be offset by any commercial income achieved by the new organisation. Positives Negatives • Able to market new opportunity • Could make surplus for reinvestment • Complex to implement • Provide leadership • Direct impact on employment • Proactive model approach • Will require property • Expensive • Complex model • Clarify roles and responsibilities of all • Disrupt the market • Procurement issues
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56 Option 5: A Future Skills Model Although highlighted as a separate option, this could be amalgamated with Option 4. While City Building offers a more “traditional” model and approach , this would focus on a more “radical” one and include: • Older workers • Green/ retrofit skills • Enterprise and entrepreneurship • Manufacturers products and components • Graduate level apprentices Positives Negatives • Future proofing • Surplus to be reinvestment • Complex to implement • Fit with Gov policy • Direct impact on employment • Proactive model approach • Will require property • Expensive • Complex model • Need to clarify roles • Disrupt the market • Procurement issues There is of course an issue of timing and funding. It would seem to us that a more phased approach may be advisable and deliverable.
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57 10.6 Appraisal Criteria Each of these options will be appraised against the following criteria. Key Criteria Appraisal Criteria to Consider Strategic Issues Fit with and delivery of economic strategy/policy Linkages within and across Council Strategic profile Future proofing Business Operations Internal staff motivation Ability to attract new operational staff Internal management skills Internal costs – HR/legal/procurement Effectiveness Outputs/ Impact Minimise duplication Opportunities for partnerships Potential for external influence Efficiency Set up and property/ other costs Overall delivery costs Financial risk Flexibility Service Delivery Management resource capability/ time Responsiveness to change Skills issues Levels of structural/ governance complexity Implementation Impact on staff (internal and external) Responsiveness to customers Time to set up Legal/ Employment Issues External Issues Employer views/ responses Employer organisations views/ responses Impact on training infrastructure Reputational risk Each component of the selection criteria is awarded one of three possible scores: High (5); Medium (3); Low (1). An additional weighting (1.5) is placed on 3 key criteria [strategic issues; effectiveness and efficiency] to reflect relative importance as per research objectives.
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58 10.7 Scoring the Options The scoring of options, both at the gross level and with weighting applied, is summarised below. Table 9.1: Un-weighted Scores SCORING CRITERIA Do Nothing Virtual Centre Online only Employer Model Future proofing Strategic 4 12 12 16 20 Operational 12 14 14 8 8 Effectiveness 8 8 8 18 18 Efficiency 18 16 16 12 12 Service delivery 14 14 14 10 10 Implementation 16 16 18 12 12 External 10 16 18 18 18 Total 80 92 96 100 100 Please note that weighting of an additional 50% was applied against the strategic, effectiveness (outputs and impacts) and efficiency (inputs and risk) scoring criteria to reflect the importance of these issues with delivering future support provision. Table 9.2:Weighted Scores SCORING CRITERIA Do Nothing Virtual Centre Online only Employer Model Future proofing Strategic 8 24 24 32 40 Operational 12 14 14 8 8 Effectiveness 16 12 12 36 36 Efficiency 36 32 32 24 24 Service delivery 14 14 14 10 10 Implementation 16 18 18 12 12 External 10 16 18 18 18 Total 112 130 132 144 148 It must also be considered that each option is not necessarily stand alone and could be mixed and matched.
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59 10.8 Assessment of Scores The qualitative appraisal highlights that there is a broad similarity of scores across all options apart from do nothing option. Once the score are weighted there is little difference between Option 4 and 5. Each of the options is considered in more detail below. • Option 1: This option scores low in terms of strategic fit and effectiveness as it is not clear it will deliver any additional employment or training. It scores high in low cost, low risk and ease to implement. One aspect which needs to be considered is to review and design a stronger leadership framework as there is currently no single overall set of objectives. • Option 2 scores higher due to opportunity for greater impact but it also has some costs attached to it. This reduces final score. • Option 3 scores slightly higher due to perception that external factors are more in favour also with similar estimated impact. • Option 4 has significantly higher potential for impact but on the down side has much higher costs and risks. However, the cost element will be effected by the ability to generate any surplus which is not possible to calculate at this stage. • Option 5 together with option 4 offer the best strategic solution and also the highest impacts but also with unknown costs, long time scales and higher risk. Overall, with the available information it is not robustly possible to arrive at a single definitive preferred option but there is sufficient evidence to suggest that it would be worth undertaking a deeper dive into options 4 and 5 together with parts of the other options viz strategic leadership. Our sense is also that any approach should seek to start simple and then expand as it progresses. For example, initial focus is on young people in North Lanarkshire only while later this could included longer term unemployed etc. • Scope of project similar to City Building • NLC as managing agent/employer/trainer • Narrow focus at start • Commercial contracts (?) • Local work experience • Focus on housing (Initially ?)
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60 • Evolution of time – focus/ geography/ training/ manufactures/ enterprise/target group • People focus • Young people • Older people • Upskilling • Issues to address • Gender • Enterprise • Short term wins • Construction skills strategy • Governance structures • Climate change • Form follows function
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61 11 Conclusions and Recommendations 11.1 Introduction This final Chapter presents an overview of the conclusions reached based on the evidence presented in this report. However, the lack of detailed data means that we are unable to fully address all the objectives but are able to present some reasoned and evidenced conclusions. 11.2 Overview The analysis has confirmed the rationale of the Councils initial thinking that there should be an opportunity to tie up the demand side (future construction contracts) with the supply side ( for example, disengaged young people). We take slight issue with this as we believe the evidence shows the supply side opportunities should be much wider and address a range of future issues including those highlighted at Option 5. Although we recognise that we must start somewhere and would concur that young people are probably the most appropriate initial target group. There is clearly a major programme of new investments in North Lanarkshire and beyond. While the major projects may still best fit with the more established large employers, the repair, maintenance and refit markets which sit well with the micro employers will remain a key future opportunity, as will the developing climate emergency market. There are currently around 25 + organisations engaged in delivering support activities to the construction skills sector, mostly in isolation and working to their own agendas without the coherence of either strategic leadership or a common strategy and approach. It is also clear that from a demand perspective there is “more than enough to go round everyone” and that any future intervention should seek to work with the current architecture already in place. While there was no real sense of anyone identifying clear gaps or being able to suggest a clear scope for a new CSA , the consensus was that an employer-led model with the Council establishing a new company similar to the Glasgow City Building model was the preferred option best able to meet the needs of the sector.
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62 There was a strong sense in the need to curb ambition, at least in early years, but with a clear long term plan for the future which could include wider geography, non accredited product training, enterprise and retraining and upskilling of older workers and retrofit related training. It may also be possible to partner with a major industry “player” who could provide industry inputs and joint finance and consideration of the commercial reach and scope should be a key question for the proposed Leadership Forum (Recommenation3). 11.3 Recommendations Based on the research, and in discussion with NLC we have identified ten recommendations below. Recommendation 1: NLC to secure internal dedicated resource to lead on day to day development of project. Without this the project may fail to progress due to pressure from other priorities. Recommendation 2: Establish strategic construction skills leadership forum (chaired by Industry/NLC vice chair) to bring together all stakeholders and develop and agree a common approach and oversee development of a Lanarkshire construction skills strategy. Recommendation 3: Re think both what community benefits are sought and how they are monitored and reported. It should be possible to make more of this approach. It may also be appropriate to include this as part of R1 above. Recommendation 4: The Council to agree to agree and pursue a preferred option(s) and lead on the further development of an outline business case including undertaking a deeper dive into operational issues. Recommendation 5: Develop a supply map of construction employers (capacity and capability) in North Lanarkshire including options for updating. This could be a stand alone piece of research. Recommendation 6: NLC to open discussions with City Deal and Scottish Government around using available resources to support training for older workers and discuss how any new project could best address the climate emergency and retrofit agenda. Recommendation 7: NLC to review (sound out) funding sources (with details) and produce report for input to future business plan . It would be appropriate that this was completed in parallel to the development of the business case.
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63 Recommendation 8: Consider review of headline name “ Construction Skills Academy” There are already many of these on the go and the market is confused. Options to include: • Construction Skills for the Future • Built Environment Centre • Future Infrastructure Employment Centre Recommendation 9: Ensure all schools and career advisors have up to date and comprehensive data (information packs) to promote careers in the construction sector and agree protocols to ensure it is up to date. Recommendation 10: NLC to consider report and circulate for stakeholder comments. NLC to develop project scope based on their internal priorities and the evidence presented in this report to be used as basis for developing business case and for future discussions.
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64 Appendix1: Construction Forecasts30 30 Infrastructure Investment Pipeline | Scottish Futures Trust
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76 Appendix 2: Additional Construction Data
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77 Estimated stock of dwellings by tenure: 2020 Total number of dwellings (000s) Total number of occupied dwellings (000s) Total number of vacant dwellings (000s) Privately owned dwellings 1 Social rented dwellings 2 Total number occupied dwellings Owner occupied Rented privately or with a job/business 3 Vacant private dwellings and second homes From housing associations 4 From local authorities, New Towns, Scottish Homes Number % Number % Number % Number % Number % Scotland 2,645 2,533 112 1,936 1,540 58 395 15 101 4 291 1 317 12 North Lanarkshire 157 153 4 107 - - - - 3 2 11 7 37 23 Source: Scot Gov Housing Statistics 2020 Number of registered private sector businesses1 in Scotland and their total Scottish employment and turnover2 by Local Authority area3 and sector4 March 2010-2021 Section F Construction Year Local Authority Number of businesses Total Scottish employment Total Scottish turnover (£m) 2021 North Lanarkshire 1,395 13,370 2,386 Business in Scotland 2021 Scot Gov
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78 otal new work experienced a record 16.3% fall in 2020, with percentage reductions of 17.2% and 16.0% in public and private new work respectively Public infrastructure Public housing Public other Private infrastructure Private industrial Private commercial Private housing 2010 5005 4893 14372 8535 3551 23710 14839 2011 4907 4938 13291 9710 3349 24031 16334 2012 4108 4049 10826 9567 3688 22332 16066 2013 5537 4323 10265 8926 3489 23502 18088 2014 5415 5809 10564 9376 4186 25868 23717 2015 6665 4908 10755 11106 4728 26846 26261 2016 7352 4806 11508 10413 4588 29751 30573 2017 7833 5826 11521 12274 4826 32370 34406 2018 12055 5886 10581 9471 5529 31136 37695 2019 13667 7027 10718 9585 5965 31525 40600 2020 11361 4763 9901 11156 4863 24614 32992 Source: Office for National Statistics - Construction statistics, Great Britain: 2020
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79 Over 30% of construction firms and employees were concentrated around London and the South East of England Region Number of Business' classified to Construction Proportion (%) London 58,296 17 South East 58,204 17 East 43,631 12.7 South West 32,435 9.5 North West 31,623 9.2 West Midlands 26,241 7.7 East Midlands 24,194 7.1 Yorkshire and the Humber 23,995 7 Scotland 20,873 6.1 Wales 13,448 3.9 North East 9,516 2.8 Region Employment by businesses classified to Construction Proportion (%) South East 209,522 15.1 London 209,311 15.1 East 171,932 12.4 North West 163,504 11.8 Scotland 120,898 8.7 South West 119,942 8.6 Yorkshire and the Humber 106,116 7.6 West Midlands 102,082 7.3 East Midlands 91,101 6.6 Wales 53,045 3.8 North East 43,093 3.1 Source: Office for National Statistics – Construction statistics, Great Britain: 2020 (Table 3.3 and 3.6)
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80 Appendix 3: Other Research Evidence
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81 Why don’t young people want to work in construction? The construction industry is facing a skills shortage and not enough young people are taking up careers in the sector. Why are millennials turning their backs on jobs in construction and what needs to be done to spin their opinions back around? Fifteen year old guest blogger and Year 10 work experience student, Jacques Prior- Chadfield, shares his views on why he and his peers haven’t previously considered a career in construction. He also says the industry needs to do more to sell itself while girls and boys are still in school. Over recent years, stereotypes surrounding construction have grown and, among my peers, the idea that construction is solely a profession for the unskilled and unintelligent is a popular one. More often than not, young people overlook the fact that careers in the construction sector are incredibly diverse. Even though jobs within the industry include everything from architects and virtual construction managers to engineers and contractors, friends I’ve talked to regard it as a much less 'glamorous’ line of work than many so-called white-collar professions. I don’t think this is true. Most jobs in the industry require a great deal of skill and some do not even involve setting foot on site. On top of this, construction is a way of changing the world around you. For example, the redevelopment of slums across third world countries coupled with the construction of affordable housing has changed residents’ lives drastically, giving people access to modern comforts such as electricity and clean running water. It is imperative to begin to encourage young people into careers in the construction industry, that much is obvious. Although this may appear a mammoth task to many companies, it is possible to do. Increasingly, other industries are finding place in their ranks for starting roles aimed at younger people. As many of these roles can lead to high pay and an interesting future career, they are not only enjoyable but snapped up fast, leading to considerable growth within both individual companies and the sector as a whole. This is an idea that could easily be adapted to fit better with the construction industry. Another viable option for drawing in younger minds is setting up further apprenticeships, internships and work experience placements. By doing this, you are educating people at a young age on the importance of the construction industry, its many merits and why the sector offers a wealth of viable future career prospects.
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82 What must also not be overlooked is the need to let young people know how many different types of work are available in construction. There is no way everyone is going to be interested in brick laying but someone who has no interest in plumbing may be fascinated by electrics. Any starter careers, taster sessions or starter schemes in place must stress the broad range of rewarding careers within the industry as a whole and within individual companies. One thing that is often overlooked is the creative options a career in construction offers. Typically, people’s perceptions and media portrayal lead to the assumption that the sector is only about builders and maybe the occasional plumber. However, to an architect or designer, creative thinking is essential. Facts about the creative side of the industry need to be highlighted in order to draw a wide variety of people into careers in construction. In all honesty, it is only recently that I have learnt about the diversity of job roles in the construction industry. With hindsight, I feel it’s easy to overlook the links between professions such as architecture and the stereotypical depiction of those working in the industry both drawn in people’s minds and in the media. I personally believe this to be the main reason why construction is seen as an unappealing career path to lots of young people. I would like to see people working in the industry doing more to make sure students learn more about what prospects it offers while they’re in school. Writing this piece has proved an eye-opener. Researching it has explained the real need for younger workers in the construction industry. It has also opened my eyes to a wide range of options within what I admit previously believed to be a pretty dull, uncreative sector limited to just a few jobs that, although essential, were not worth even considering a career in. To be honest, I also believe that the lack of younger people looking for careers in construction is due to stereotypes in popular culture that are so engrained they are automatically seen as true. Let’s put it like this: Things such as Money Supermarket’s 'Builders vs Strutters’ advertising campaign do not help inspire young people to join this diverse, creative, and thoroughly interesting sector that provides an opportunity to change people’s lives for the better and make a real difference to the world. What young people really need to see more of are the many positive aspects of construction. This means educating people on the importance of the industry and the wide range of career prospects it offers. I think industry needs to think about partnering with schools and colleges so children and young people can hear - first hand - how rewarding and creative working in the sector can be.
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83 I’d also like to see more graduate and non-graduate schemes offered by the industry that allow people to get a taste of all the types of work a career in construction offers. If this doesn’t happen, I think young people will remain close-minded to the opportunities available and the construction industry skills shortage will only get bigger. Jacques Prior Chadfield Jacques Prior- Chadfield was born in December 2001. He attends the Radcliffe School, in Wolverton, Milton Keynes, where notable alumni include England and 'Spurs midfielder Dele Alli. Jacques recently completed work experience with Trimble MEP and credits his two week's tenure with sparking an enthusiasm for looking at Higher Education opportunities that cross-transfer to the construction industry. New research shows Construction Industry failing to attract young people Less than one in ten young people would consider a career in construction, even though more than half are interested in subjects that qualify them for the industry, new research by L&Q has revealed. L&Q, one of the UK’s largest housing associations and developers, surveyed 1,095 16-18 year-olds about their career aspirations. Around 50% of the young people said that they were interested in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM). However, only 9% stated that they would consider a construction career. The Construction Industry Training Board estimates that 230,000 new recruits will be needed by 2020 to support construction growth and account for an ageing workforce. There are 167 different careers in construction, and the built environment is the second biggest employer in the country after the NHS. Around half of all construction careers require degrees in a STEM subjects. However, the new research revealed that the industry was perceived as challenging and unexciting by students. The findings were revealed today as L&Q launched its new schools programme aimed at increasing the number of young people joining the construction industry by raising awareness of the wide variety of jobs available.
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84 Learning to Succeed is a £1 million programme that will seek to address the sector’s image issues by offering free STEM education lessons and careers advice to 30 schools in 12 London boroughs. The programme is being developed and delivered in partnership with Construction Youth Trust, the construction industry’s youth charity. Schools became obliged to provide weekly careers advice to all pupils in 2018, although no extra funds have been allocated. L&Q is the first housing association in the country to offer careers advice and assistance of this kind Article in Construction Week June 2017 A new construction skills academy has opened in North Lanarkshire. The facility, NL Construction Craft Skills Academy, will provide apprentices with the opportunity to learn from leading experts within the construction industry. The academy, based on the Bellshill Academy campus, is aimed at creating opportunities for pupils to move directly into employment, college and training. Apprentices will be able to learn from industry experts and enhance their occupational skills, as well as be offered work-related opportunities with local employers. The academy is open to senior pupils from schools in North Lanarkshire. Councillor Jim Logue, Convener of Learning and Leisure Services, explained: "The new academy will provide young people with the opportunity to progress from the 13 vocational construction centres within our schools to a more advanced course at the Skills Academy Level 5, which focuses on the standards needed for direct entry into modern apprenticeships in the construction industry. It will act as a hub for modern apprenticeship recruitment for employers, Skills Development Scotland and colleges throughout the year." Ann Munro, Head Teacher of Bellshill Academy, added: "The construction academy provides a fantastic opportunity for pupils at both the Academy and Cardinal Newman. Our young people will learn new skills, gain valuable experience and achieve a trade which they can take into their future careers." The initiative brings together a number of partners including New College Lanarkshire, MEARS, Skills Development Scotland, Scottish Qualifications Authority and North Lanarkshire Council. Article Build Scotland Feb 2015
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85 Appendix 4: Local FE Courses
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86 College Course SVCQ Commit Time Details New College Lanarkshire Construction - Access to Industry 3 FT 3 days per week The NC Built Environment course develops knowledge and skills for work in the construction industry in areas such as quantity surveying or as an architectural technician, and provides the grounding for technician-level posts and more advanced study. NC Built Environment 6 FT FT You will gain knowledge and skills in a variety of construction disciplines which will prepare you for further study or employment in the construction industry NQ Computer aided design 6 FT 2.5 days per week This course is for those who wish to develop a career in design and technology with a specific interest in Computer Aided design (CAD). It is an excellent starting point and will provide a good grounding point in the practical and theoretical aspects of the CAD within the Engineering and Construction industries. HNC Computer Aided Architectural Design and Technology - Year 2 7 FT FT But cn be mixed and matched. HND Construction Management 8 FT FT The HND Construction Management course is year 2 of the technician level qualification which combines the broad- based construction industry first-year curriculum (HNC) with a more specialist second-year curriculum (HND), teaching you the skills you need for employment in this highly demanding sector. HND Computer Aided Draughting and Design - Year 2 8 FT FT The HNC Computer Aided Draughting and Design at New College Lanarkshire is recognised as one of the UK’s leading CAD courses Construction - Pre Apprentice C&G 1 FT FT This course is designed to provide students with a range of skills, industry- recognised qualifications and certificates that will assist them in the pursuit of a construction-related apprenticeship. Carpentry and Joinery; Painting and Decorating and Bricklaying Construction - Internal Refurbishment and Refit C&G 1 FT 3 days/ week This course is designed to provide students with a range of skills, industry- recognised qualifications and certificates that will assist them in the pursuit of a construction-related apprenticeship. Construction - Pre Apprentice (Basic Kitchen & Bathroom Fitting) C&G 1 FT 3 days/ week This Basic Kitchen & Bathroom fitment course offers industry qualifications in the construction industry. Construction - Bricklaying C&G 2 FT 3 days/ week This course is designed to provide focused skills in Bricklaying with industry- recognised qualifications and certificates that will assist in the pursuit of a Construction Apprenticeship or another similar, life long meaningful career.
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87 Construction - Joinery C&G 2 FT 3 days/ week This course is designed to provide focused skills in Joinery with industry-recognised qualifications and certificates that will assist in the pursuit of a Construction Apprenticeship or another similar, life long meaningful career. HNC Construction Management 7 PT Evening The HNC in Construction Management develops knowledge and skills in areas such as building measurement and cost studies, building science, building services, construction materials and specifications, as well as health and safety in construction. Foundation Apprenticeships Foundation Apprenticeships at SCQF Levels 4 and 5 to support school pupils from S3 to S6 A Level 4/5 Foundation Apprenticeship is picked as a subject choice at S3 and up to S6. The three subjects are Construction, Hospitality or Automotive. South Lanarkshire College NPA Bricklaying 5 FT FT The NPA in Bricklaying at SCQF level 5 is suitable for those who wish to follow this as a career. The course introduces learners to general workplace health and safety, a range of bricklaying techniques such as decorative brickwork and the safe use of hand-tools and equipment, In addition, this NPA develops knowledge and understanding of the construction industry; practical, technical and transferable skills; oral, written and evaluation abilities; resource management; problem solving and planning; organisational and communication skills. NPA Carpentry & Joinery 5 FT FT The NPA in Carpentry and Joinery at SCQF level 5 is suitable for those who wish to follow this as a career. This course introduces learners to general workplace health and safety, carpentry and joinery skills and the safe use of hand tools and equipment. In addition, this NPA develops knowledge and understanding of construction; practical, technical and transferable skills; oral, written and evaluation abilities; resource management; problem solving and planning; organisational and communication skills. NPA Painting and Decorating 5 FT FT The NPA 5 in Painting and Decorating at SCQF level 5 is suitable for those who wish to follow this as a career. The course introduces learners to general workplace health and safety, a range of painting and decorating skills such as decorative painting and the safe use of hand-tools and equipment. In addition, this NPA develops knowledge and understanding of the construction industry; practical, technical and transferable skills; oral, written and evaluation abilities; resource management; problem solving and planning; organisational and communication skills.
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88 NPA Construction Management 7 FT FT . The course introduces learners to several trades including bricklaying, painting & decorating, carpentry & joinery and plastering, also the safe use of hand-tools and equipment and workplace health & safety. In addition, this NPA develops knowledge and understanding of the construction industry; practical, technical and transferable skills; oral, written and evaluation abilities; resource management; problem solving, planning; organisational and communication skills. HNC Construction Management 7 FT FT This HNC Construction Management course will help you develop a career as a site manager or supervisor in the construction trade. It will teach you main aspects of the trade including site surveying, project work, leading a team and site administration. The course is designed for those with some experience in the industry who are looking to upskill, or for students who have completed level 6. NPA Plastering 5 FT FT The NPA in Plastering at SCQF level 5 is suitable for those who wish to follow this as a career. The course introduces learners to general workplace health and safety, a range of plastering techniques such as applying lightweight plaster and the safe use of hand-tools and equipment, In addition, this NPA develops knowledge and understanding of the construction industry; practical, technical and transferable skills; oral, written and evaluation abilities; resource management; problem solving and planning; organisational and communication skills. Plumbing C&G 3 FT FT This City and Guilds Diploma in Plumbing is suitable for those who wish to follow this as a career. This course introduces learners to general workplace health and safety, plumbing skills and the safe use of hand-tools and equipment, In addition, this Diploma develops knowledge and understanding of plumbing; practical, technical and transferable skills; oral, written and evaluation abilities; resource management; problem solving and planning; organisational and communication skills. Plumbing, Gas Installation & Maintenance BPEC 5 FT FT This course is for candidates wishing to pursue a career in the Gas industry. Gas and Renewables BPEC 6 FT 18 weeks Entry requirements for this course include successful completion of a Gas Foundation managed learning programme and a portfolio of evidence. Successful performance at an interview will also be required. There are many opportunities in the Gas and Micro-renewables sector for those who are enthusiastic and appropriately trained. Modern Apprenticeship 3 Block release 2 years Bricklaying; Carpentry & Joinery ; Painting & Decorating; Plumbing; Roofing
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89 CITB The National Construction College (NCC) offers an unrivalled range of training courses. We provide over 140 open courses for the construction industry at all levels from apprentice to director. We also offer personal and tailored variations of our courses to meet specialist requirements. Apprenticeships Drylining and interior systems Ceiling fixer apprenticeship course Drylining finisher (Ames taping) Drylining fixer apprenticeship course Groundworks and construction Highway Maintenance General Construction Roofing Built-up Felt Roofing Roof Sheeting and Cladding Scaffolding and access Scaffolding Source: College websites The attached links will take you to all courses offered at South Lanarkshire College at present https://www.south-lanarkshire-college.ac.uk/courses/apply/course-list-a-z/?t=courses&c%5B1%5D=gas-and- renewables&c%5B2%5D=&c%5B0%5D=&s= This link is what is on offer from participating colleges in Scotland and the route map https://esp-scotland.ac.uk/energy-efficient-skills/
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90 Appendix 5: Community Benefit Summary31 31 Source: NLC Datasets
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91 OUTCOMES DEFINITIONS DETAILED DEFINITIONS AND CLARIFICATIONS 2019 2020 2021 2022 Employment Benefits - TARGETED RECRUITMENT AND EMPLOYMENT New Entrant (TRE01) The new entrant and is eligible for employability support. No relevant experience prior to employment is required. Key Priority Groups must meet the following criteria: * Beneficiaries supported by an employability programme CLARIFICATIONS * New sustainable jobs created for new entrants through the delivery of a project or programme by the main contractor, subcontractor or supply chain. * For a job to be sustainable it is expected to last a minimum of 26 weeks. * Construction jobs relate to employment through site acquisition or preparation and physical construction or through procurement, legal and business operations related to a development and include relevant supply chain and subcontractor appointments. * Only full time positions will be count towards this output. * A full time position relates to a job that is at least 30 hours per week. * The unit of measurement is the post itself, rather than the person or persons that fill the post. * To avoid double counting, a job is not counted again if it is filled over time by different people. * For a created job to be considered permanent, it must be expected to last 26 weeks (Note it is the expectation that is relevant, not the ultimate outcome). * Project owners will be expected to advise whether the job created is with a main contractor, or sub- contractor/supply chain. * Project owners will be expected to advise when a job has been sustained for 12 weeks and 26 weeks. 4 4 12 2 New Entrant – no relevant experience (TRE02) New entrants employed with no relevant experience prior to employment. New entrants employed must be unemployed people who have no relevant experience prior to employment. Note: All clarification criteria detailed for New Entrant (TRE01) applies to this output. 1 8 0 New Entrant – Graduate (TRE03) Unemployed or under employed Graduates Unemployed or under employed Graduates. Underemployed graduates are graduates with skills who are employed in jobs that do not require those skills to perform the required work. * New sustainable jobs created for graduate new entrants to the sector through the delivery of a project or programme by the main contractor, subcontractor or supply chain. * For a job to be sustainable it is expected to last a minimum of 26 weeks. * Construction jobs relate to employment through site acquisition or preparation and physical construction or through procurement, legal and business operations related to a development and include relevant supply chain and subcontractor appointments. * Only full time positions will be count towards this output. * A full time position relates to a job that is at least 30 hours per week. * The unit of measurement is the post itself, rather than the person or persons that fills the post. * To avoid double counting, a job is not counted again if it is filled over time by different people. * For a created job to be considered permanent, it must be expected to last 26 weeks (Note it is the expectation that is relevant, not the ultimate outcome). * Project owners will be expected to advise whether the job created is with a main contractor, or sub- contractor/supply chain. * Project owners will be expected to advise when the post has been sustained for 12 weeks and 26 weeks. 0 New Entrant – Apprenticeship (TRE04) New Start Modern apprentice * Construction jobs relate to employment through site acquisition or preparation and physical construction or through procurement, legal and business operations related to a development and include relevant supply chain and subcontractor appointments * The unit of measurement is the post itself, rather than the person or persons that fills the post. * To avoid double counting, a job is not counted again if it is filled over time by different people. * Project owners will be expected to advise the PMO whether the apprenticeship is filled by a person between 16-24 years of age or age 25 plus. 1 19 0
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92 Skills and Training - TARGETTED SKILLS AND TRAINING Work Experience Placement (16+ Years of Age) (TST01) Work Experience Placement provided for 16+ years of age. Duration of Placement must be a minimum of 2 weeks for an unemployed person and should include vocational tasters. This output is aimed at providing persons with the opportunity to carry out tasks agreed by their supporting organisation (where applicable) and the employer, enabling the individual to gain a meaningful insight into the construction sector and/or business operations evident within the supply chain. * Completed Work Placement must be evidenced by the following: * A completion certificate * Case study An example of projects could be ALEO's Routes to work 1 5 6 1 13 Work Experience Placement (14 - 16 years of age) (TST02) Work Experience Placement provided for young people between 14 – 16 years of age. Duration of Placement must be a minimum of 5 days and include a vocational taster (Consecutive and non-consecutive days). Completed Work Experience Placement must be evidenced by the following: * A Completion Certificate * Supporting Case Study 1 0 1 Work Experience Placement Graduate (TST03) Work Experience Placement provided for unemployed or underemployed graduate. Underemployed graduates are graduates with skills who are employed in jobs that do not require those skills to perform the required work. Duration of Placement must be a minimum of 4 weeks and can be consecutive or non-consecutive and paid or unpaid as specified within the contract. Graduate Work Experience Placement must be evidenced by the following: * A Completion Certificate * Supporting Case Study * A report from the employer and the graduate undertaking the placement. 0 0 Careers Event (TST04) Careers Events can include other sectors such as those associated with subcontractors/ supply chains and consultants. Must be aimed at increasing awareness of the opportunities available within the construction industry, and sectors associated with sub-contractors / consultants / supply chains. The careers event must be formally structured, agreed by the contractor(s) and the relevant Member Authority and engage with a minimum of 20 people and should target at least one of the Key target groups below: * Beneficiaries of an employability programme * School, college or university students * Unemployed people including those on health related benefits Careers event must be evidenced by the following: * Supporting Case Study * A report from the employer (s) and relevant Member Authority. 2 19 4 25 Site Visit (TST05) Site visits must be aimed at Construction Key target groups. Workplace Visits should be structured and take the form of Industry Awareness Days or Workshops enabling the learner to gain a meaningful insight into the construction sector or sector associated with a sub -contractor or supply chain. Engagement with a minimum of 5 learners each visit is required and should target at least one of the Key target groups below: * Beneficiaries of an employability programme * School, college or university students * Unemployed people including those on health related benefits Careers Events must be evidenced by the following: * Supporting Case Study * A report from the employer 3 7 10 School Mentoring or Enterprise Programme (TST06) Delivery of a more sustained mentoring or enterprise programme in line with delivering Scotland’s Young Workforce Agenda. The programme must use positive role models to improve students’ confidence, self-efficacy and employability. An effective package of mentoring support for young people should be developed that can be tailored to students’ needs and includes group mentoring, workplace visits, inspirational speeches and competitions. A minimum commitment of 16 hours per academic year (2-3 sessions per term) is required. Completed School Mentoring or Enterprising Programme must be evidenced by the following: * Supporting Case Study * A report from the employer, school and students taking part in the programme. 1 6 0 7
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93 Appendix 6: Occupational Data
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94 OCCUP/ AGE 16-24 25-34 35-44 45-54 55-64 65+ Total M F T M F T M F T M F T M F T M F T M F T directors' - - - 942 - 942 * * 2,784 4,335 1,589 5,924 * * 3,674 715 - 715 11,819 2,22 0 14,039 Estate mgrs.' - - - - 487 487 * * 610 2,134 2,239 4,373 1,539 731 2,270 * * 708 4,753 3,69 5 8,448 Civil engineers' * - * * * 3,673 3,887 277 4,164 1,817 - 1,817 * * 1,198 * - * 10,993 563 11,556 'Engineer prof * - * * * 3,866 * * 2,824 2,316 629 2,945 1,478 - 1,478 * - * 10,249 1,32 8 11,577 'Conserve profession - - - * - * * * 399 * * 1,130 * - * * - * 1,354 397 1,751 Envt profs - - - 817 1,286 2,103 * 339 * * * 1,243 * * 1,092 - * * 2,824 2,34 1 5,165 'Architects' - - - * * 1,478 * * 1,184 * * 873 * - * * * * 3,473 996 4,469 'Town planners' - - - - - - - * * * * 690 * - * - - - 231 707 938 Quantity surveyors' * - * * * 897 541 - 541 * * 793 * - * * - * 2,899 453 3,352 'Chartered surveyors' - * * * * 948 936 856 1,792 * * 1,729 917 - 917 * - * 4,118 1,94 0 6,058 Chartered arch tech - - - - - - - - - * - * * - * - - - * - * 'Project mgrs. - - - * * * * * 876 * * 1,797 1,873 - 1,873 * * * 4,486 533 5,019 'Electrical technicians' * - * * - * 688 - 688 296 - 296 557 - 557 * - * 2,003 - 2,003 'Eng. tech * - * * * 1,287 * * 3,350 * * 1,378 * * 737 * - * 7,000 688 7,688 Building technicians' - - - 1,175 - 1,175 428 - 428 * * * - - - * - * * * 2,077 QS technicians' - - - * * 871 * * * * * 548 * * 399 - * * 1,212 1,3 48 2,560 'Architect planning technicians' * - * * * 508 * * 869 * * 592 * * * - - - 1,813 811 2,624
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95 'Draughts persons' - - - * * 1,906 965 - 965 * - * 503 - 503 * - * * * 3,705 'Estimators, valuers and assessors' * - * 1,103 - 1,103 * - * * * 1,029 * * 547 * - * * * 3,517 'Electrical trades * * 1,111 1,559 - 1,559 1,284 - 1,284 1,475 - 1,475 * - * * - * * * 6,495 'Skilled metal, trades - - - * * * 1,038 - 1,038 1,394 - 1,394 * - * - - - * * 3,321 'Steel erectors' * - * * - * - - - 439 - 439 * - * - - - 768 - 768 'Bricklayers * - * 1,341 - 1,341 1,082 - 1,082 1,192 - 1,192 * - * - - - 4,464 - 4,464 'Roofers, * - * 1,223 - 1,223 1,363 - 1,363 * - * 472 - 472 * - * 4,369 - 4,369 Plumbers 2,469 - 2,469 2,120 - 2,120 * * 2,385 3,457 - 3,457 2,142 - 2,142 360 - 360 * * 12,93 3 Joiners' 3,760 - 3,760 6,921 - 6,921 4,608 - 4,608 6,403 - 6,403 * * 4,470 1,251 - 1,251 * * 27,41 3 'Glaziers, * - * 643 - 643 593 - 593 566 - 566 * - * - - - 1,920 - 1,920 Other building trades * * 932 3,518 - 3,518 * * 1,911 * * 4,387 2,003 - 2,003 354 - 354 12,481 624 13,10 5 'Plasterers' - - - 753 - 753 * - * * - * 680 - 680 * - * 2,203 - 2,203 'Floorers and Wallers - - - 834 - 834 * - * 901 - 901 * - * - - - 2,340 - 2,340 'Painters and decorators' * - * 1,101 - 1,101 3,042 - 3,042 * * 2,977 2,130 - 2,130 * - * * * 11,16 1 'Cons supervisors' * - * * - * 809 - 809 2,997 - 2,997 * * 1,907 - - - * * 6,504 Source ONS Special request
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96 Appendix 7: Schools in North Lanarkshire
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97 Greenfaulds High School Athelstane Drive Cumbernauld North Lanarkshire, G67 4AQ St Aidan's High School Waverley Drive Wishaw North Lanarkshire, ML2 7EW Firpark Primary School Firpark Street Motherwell North Lanarkshire, ML1 1DL Dalziel High School Crawford Street Motherwell North Lanarkshire, ML1 3AG Braidhurst High School Dalriada Crescent Motherwell North Lanarkshire, ML1 3XF Kilsyth Academy Kilsyth North Lanarkshire, G65 9NF St Maurice's High School Westfield Cumbernauld North Lanarkshire, G68 9AG Our Lady's High School Dalzell Drive Motherwell North Lanarkshire, ML1 2DG St Andrew's High School 9 Old Monkland Road Coatbridge North Lanarkshire, ML5 5EA Coatbridge High School 17 Park Street Coatbridge North Lanarkshire, ML5 3NA Taylor High School Carfin Street Motherwell North Lanarkshire, ML1 4JP Cardinal Newman High School Main Street Bellshill North Lanarkshire, ML4 3DW
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98 Cumbernauld Academy South Carbrain Ring Road Cumbernauld North Lanarkshire, G67 2UF Caldervale High School Towers Road Airdrie North Lanarkshire, ML6 8PG Calderhead High School Dyfrig Street Shotts North Lanarkshire, ML7 4DH Coltness High School Mossland Drive Wishaw North Lanarkshire, ML2 8LY Our Lady's High School Dowanfield Road Cumbernauld North Lanarkshire, G67 1LA St Ambrose High School 65 Townhead Rd Coatbridge North Lanarkshire, ML5 2HT Bellshill Academy Main Street Bellshill North Lanarkshire, ML4 1AR Airdrie Academy South Commonhead Avenue Airdrie North Lanarkshire, ML6 6NX Brannock High School Loanhead Road Motherwell North Lanarkshire, ML1 5AY Clyde Valley High School Castlehill Road Wishaw North Lanarkshire, ML2 0LS St Margaret's High School Waverley Drive Airdrie North Lanarkshire, ML6 6EU Chryston High School Lindsaybeg Road Glasgow North Lanarkshire, G69 9DL
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99 Appendix 8: North Lanarkshire Construction Skills Related Organisations • Industry Leadership Group • Construction Innovation Centre • Skills Development Scotland • Careers Service • CITB • Scottish Enterprise • NLC Employability • NLC Education • NLC Schools • NLC Economic Development • Routes to Work • Further and Higher Education • My World of Work • Scottish Government • DYW Lanarkshire • Construction Trade Bodies • Individual companies • Business Gateway • Apprenticeships Scotland • South West Hub • National Skills Academy • NLC Community Benefit Team • Private training companies
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100 Appendix 9: HUB South West Activity
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101
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102 Appendix 10: School Workshops
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103 Introduction This Chapter presents the draft fieldwork materiel (lines of enquiry) to support the primary research and covers: • 2 x school focus groups; and • on-line survey of construction apprentices. In all cases a briefing note will be circulated prior to formal contacts. A separate online employer survey has also been designed and will be delivered through intermediary organisations. The chosen schools are Chryston and Coatbridge who will identify/ recruit 5-8 S3-S% non academic pupils (who have no clear career in mind if possible) Dates to be agreed with client and schools. We will also speak with relevant school officers.
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104 School Focus Groups The focus groups will last for a maximum of 90 mins and be held in school at a time and venue to be agreed with the key contact/ Head Teacher. The EKOS consultant will arrive a short time before the event and make an introduction with the school named contact and ensure room is set up as required. Ideally we will seek to recruit (max 8) students who have indicated they may not wish to pursue an academic career. Required materials to be provided as follows: • EKOS o post it notes o pens • school (EKOS will agree with individual schools) o flip charts and boards o seats and tables. The proposed detailed conduct of the research is highlighted over. Ground Rules/ Approach • A briefing note will be provided by NLC with support from EKOS for all participants at the start of the session which will set out format and some ground rules32; • It is important not to assume that all or any participants will have much in the way of prior knowledge and understanding of the subject; • The language used in the discussion guide and supporting materials will be kept simple, easy to understand - but never patronising. We will avoid using language that children and young people may perceive as trying too hard to be ‘down with the kids’; they generally can spot this a mile off! • Venue – we will seek a venue that the students are familiar with and is not too intimidating - this will be agree with the individual school/college/ university; 32 This will also cover consent from pupils to take part in the research, to record the conversation, as well as ethical guidelines/GDPR considerations.
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105 • Introduction - we will make it clear the purpose of the focus groups, why we value their participation; how we will use what they say; set some ground rules around confidentiality and respect; and set out the format. We will seek agreement that everyone is comfortable with our proposed approach • Non attribution - all comments/ written work will be non-attributable; • Pre-start – icebreaker exercise to get everyone talking and provide an effective introduction to the session; • Everybody counts. No right or wrong answer - this is not a test and there are no right or wrong answers only views and opinions - all of which are equally relevant; • Time - we will seek to keep each focus group with a two hour frame; • Relevance - their views matter and will be used to inform future design and delivery of actions; and • Projective techniques – To avoid boredom with a ‘dry’ discussion guide and a conversation we will use interactive and creative methods, such as creating mood boards, posters, and other different projective techniques. Focus Group Plan - Schools Session Time Allocation [Max Mins] Introduction 5 Opening 25 The construction sector 20 Knowledge and understanding 20 Skills academy 20 Marketing campaign 25 Close 5 Introduction • Welcome and introduction of EKOS facilitator - including background; • Participants to introduce themselves; • Set out ground rules; • Seek understanding and agreement; and • Set out high level overview of the research project..
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106 Opening Session Two Truths And A Fib - an icebreaker to get participants taking and engaging. Each person must make three statements about themselves, one of which isn't true. • For example: I have two brothers, I was born in England and I have a cat called tiddles. Each participant is given a few minutes to think of their statements which they then write down on post it notes. They then take turns to tell the group their three “facts” and the rest of the group write down the one they think is a fib. There is then a show of cards based on number 1-3 to see how well the group have spotted the fib. The Construction Sector Overview This session will start with a brief presentation (using hand-out slides) by EKOS around the scale and scope of the sector and careers and pathways. Firstly, participants will be asked if they are comfortable with the concept of construction sector and have some sense of why it is important for North Lanarkshire. Participants will be asked to write down: • What they perceive are the strengths and weaknesses of the sector as a career choice; • Things the know (or think they know) about the skills/qualification required to be successful as a career; The post it notes will then be put onto a flip chart and the participants asked to “sort” the responses into common themes. This will support an initial open discussion on what students think about a career in construction and identify specific areas where further work/ clarification mat be required. Knowledge and Awareness An open facilitated discussion to cover the following questions: • What do you know about careers in the sector – how important are pathways to you?
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107 • How well have potential career opportunities been communicated to you – including MAs? • How should the sector best be sold to young people – what is important to you? The discussion will be recorded by the EKOS facilitator and written up in final report. Design a Construction Skills Academy This will commence with a brief introduction by EKOS followed by an open discussion on views to what they think a skills academy should do. Participants will be asked to complete post note showing services that could be provided. These will then be grouped. This will be followed by a brief review by EKOS of possibilities based on the following potential services: • Provision of sector market intelligence • Lobbying on behalf of local construction companies • Awareness raising mainly among young people • Apprenticeship support with paperwork • Providing tasters to young people with interest in career • Developing and delivering “real life” school projects • Providing funding for skills development • Business development support • Direct employment, skills training for sector “stock” • Local supply chain development support • Supplier specific product skills training (eg non SVQ) • Business start and enterprise We will then undertake a short open discussion. Marketing Campaign The participants will split into 2/3 groups and told they are a marketing consultancy company who have been commissioned by NLC to design a promotional campaign to “sell” the concept of a career in construction to their friends, peers and other students. They will be asked to design a poster and a concept of how/ where it should be utilised or promoted.
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108 They will be provided with paper, pens and other materials to support their work. They will be given 15 minutes to complete the design and then present it to the other groups and the facilitator will use this for a wider discussion around how best to encourage wider engagement. and roll out. Closing Remarks • Thank everyone for their input and insights and participation; • Ask if there are any further questions or comments; • Identify any follow up interest. All sections will be delivered by EKOS who will provide two consultants – one to deliver and one to take notes and observe. Online Apprenticeship Survey Lines of Inquiry We will undertake an online survey with construction apprentices identified through Routes to Work. Lines of enquiry will include: • Rationale for their undertaking a career in construction • What sold it to them as option and how did it compare to other options • Quality and quantity of information to help decide career • Rating of current apprenticeship programme – strengths and weaknesses • Areas for improvement – any gaps • Experience of career to date • Views on training delivery methods and materials • Career current expectations - looking to the future • How to best sell career to other young people • Any gaps in provision in current career and skills development activity • View on a construction skills academy – what should it do • Options for delivery