More money for training for engineering construction sector
1 Dec 2009
London - A £4.5 million increase in Government funding for apprenticeships and trainees in the engineering construction sector will mean that opportunities for young people to train for skilled jobs could double to 1,200 by 2011, Lord Mandelson, secretary of state for business, has announced.
Making its initial response to the Gibson Review of Engineering Construction, a study of productivity and skills in the sector, the Government has committed to earmarking £4.5 million of funding for more trainees and apprenticeships in the sector and working with the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board to ensure that the industry’s training levy is fairly applied to all firms working in the industry, including non-UK firms.
Lord Mandelson said: “The engineering construction sector employs up to sixty thousand people in the UK. This new investment means that more home grown workers will be provided with the skills and experience needed for them to take the work opportunities that designing, building and maintaining the wave of new investment the country needs in power stations and energy infrastructure.
Lord Mandelson also backed the creation of a new cross-industry body set up to promote change in the sector to be chaired by Ian Marchant, chief executive of Scottish & Southern Energy: “I am delighted that someone of the calibre of Ian Marchant has agreed to take on this important role. His experience is highly relevant, and he is extremely well placed to take the work of the Forum forward.”
Secretary of state forenergy and climate change Ed Miliband added: “There’s a big challenge ahead to build the energy infrastructure we need for the long term, in particular the massive expansion of low carbon sources needed to play our full part in the global fight against climate change. A deal in Copenhagen will be vital in sending a strong signal, but it’s down to Government, industry and employees to work together to nurture the high tech skills needed to make it a reality”
The Department of Energy and Climate Change is to publish its 2050 Vision document in spring 2010, an important guide for the energy sector in the move to the low carbon future. This will respond to the report’s recommendation that the government should provide further information and signals to the energy sector to help companies produce long term investment strategies.
Mark Gibson, a former director general at the UK department for business, was appointed earlier this year to review productivity and skills within the construction engineering sector.
