§ 1. Ms Joan Walley (Stoke-on-Trent, North) (Lab)What assessment he has made of the supply of skilled construction workers. [169204]
§ The Minister for School Standards (Mr. David Miliband)The statutory industrial training board for the construction industry currently forecasts an average annual requirement for 82,000 recruits into the industry in the period 2003 to 2007. The latest survey of new entrants shows around 50,000 individuals entering formal training in 2002–03. Other sources of recruitment are people re-entering the industry and foreign workers. A further group of around 28,000 people already employed in the industry is undertaking on-site assessment and training.
§ Ms WalleyIt is important that we have a new construction college in Burslem in my constituency that will train workers from across the country. Will the Minister take a special interest in how the learning and skills council and Stoke-on-Trent college of further education take that forward, particularly on the need to retrain pottery workers who have been made redundant? Will he take a special interest, too, in how we need local employers to provide local employment if we are to deliver the Government's agenda on new investment in housing and hospitals?
§ Mr. MilibandMy hon. Friend spoke about the important work of the Burslem centre during the Housing Bill debate on 12 January. I shall certainly take an interest in it and ensure that the Under-Secretary of State for Education and Skills, my hon. Friend the Member for Bury, South (Mr. Lewis), looks into it. My hon. Friend the Member for Stoke-on-Trent, North (Ms Walley) is right that the partnership between employers and the education system holds out real promise of progress.
§ Mr. Phil Willis (Harrogate and Knaresborough) (LD)Does the Minister agree that the roofing industry is crucial to the construction industry? Is he aware that, 986 of the 57,000 employees working in that industry, only 8,000 have certification to construction skills certification scheme standards? Is he aware that, of the 352 people who joined modern apprenticeships for roofing last year, 40 per cent. dropped out during their first year? What is he doing to stop people dropping out of modern apprenticeships? What will he do to ensure that people who work in the roofing industry have CSCS certification? Will he hold discussions with the insurance industry to try to ensure that firms that have qualified people get discounts on their massive insurance premiums?
§ Mr. MilibandI certainly agree that we cannot have a house building or construction industry without roofing specialists; I think that there will be cross-party agreement on that.
I am pleased that the hon. Gentleman mentioned modern apprenticeships and the 255,000 young people undertaking them. He rightly mentioned the importance of quality in those apprenticeships, which is being taken up through the Learning and Skills Council. It is significant that £325 million of LSC money is supporting construction industry training, in addition to £75 million from the industry itself. That is a good example of the sort of partnership the hon. Gentleman and I both want.
§ Mr. Ian Davidson (Glasgow, Pollok) (Lab/Co-op)What steps is the Minister taking to ensure that everyone in the construction industry receives appropriate safety training, particularly foreign workers, many of whom do not have an adequate grasp of English and for whom safety notices are therefore meaningless?
§ Mr. MilibandIt is obviously important that we collaborate with our colleagues in the Department of Trade and Industry on this matter, which crosses departmental boundaries. All training must include the health and safety aspects to which my hon. Friend referred and I shall take up his point about literacy and the issues related to it.