Hansard

I thank all members who supported my motion and made the debate possible. I also thank the Chartered Institute of Building for its support and for briefing members on the important issue of skill shortages in the construction sector.

An article in the March edition of Scottish Construction Now highlighted that the skills gap remains a major challenge and that Scotland will require to recruit more than 26,000 additional construction workers over the next five years if it is to meet industry demands and sustain growth. In addition, there is a longer-term challenge of ensuring that there will be a construction workforce to meet future demand for more housing, schools, roads and data centres. The workforce that will be required for those projects, which will start around 2030 and last into the 2040s, are currently primary and secondary school pupils. We therefore need to encourage more young people to consider careers in construction, which in turn means we that have to encourage parents to consider the vocational route for their sons and daughters. It is interesting that the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development found that 34 per cent of current graduates are not employed in the sectors that relate to their degrees.

There needs to be parity of esteem between the vocational and academic routes in further and higher education. At a recent meeting of the Economy and Fair Work Committee, one suggestion was that instead of referring to a four-year apprenticeship qualification as Scottish credit and qualifications framework level 6, which most folk do not understand, we should refer to it as a vocational degree.

The vocational route has many benefits. Students are paid as they learn, they contribute to the country’s economy through their spending, they pay income tax and national insurance contributions, which support public services, and when they qualify they have no student debt. That is why between 92 and 95 per cent of apprentices who complete their apprenticeships stay in the occupations that relate to them.

Other countries across Europe, together with the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, have identified the importance of vocational training. For example, in Switzerland, which has a population of 9 million, 70 per cent of young people go through the vocational education and training route.

Young people here are starting to realise the benefits of apprenticeships. New data released by the Chartered Institute of Building during this year’s national careers week showed that young people and their parents are changing their attitudes to construction careers. The survey found that, in Scotland, two thirds of young people aged between 16 and 24 hold a positive view of construction careers and that around a third of them would consider working in the construction sector. A similar survey found that three quarters of the parents of 16 to 24-year-olds would be supportive of their children working in construction, and only 6 per cent said that they would be unsupportive.

Furthermore, almost half of the young people surveyed said that information about the sector was not included in the careers advice that they had received at school. We need construction apprentices to act as champions for the sector and to go into secondary schools, before pupils select their subject choices during their second year, to highlight the range of training in sectors that employ apprentices.

We also need employers to step up to the challenge, as the employer skills survey found that only 16 per cent of employers in Scotland take on apprentices. When a vacancy occurs, it is oversubscribed many times. We need small and medium-sized enterprises across Scotland to build their own home-grown talent and to understand that most apprentices start adding value to businesses after their first six months.

However, things are beginning to change, in that more schools are forming partnerships with local companies to give pupils an insight into construction. In my Edinburgh Pentlands constituency, during the building of the new Currie high school, the construction company Kier Group opened an on-site construction academy, through its constructing futures programme, which offered training in industry and employability skills to local students. The constructing futures partnership, which included Kier, the high school, City of Edinburgh Council, Edinburgh College and local employability partner Rural & Urban Training Scheme, covered the full academic year and introduced students to the construction industry.

The Construction Industry Training Board is funding more than 2,800 high-quality work experience places in the industry through its construction work tasters programme.

The shortage of project managers in construction has led the Chartered Institute of Building to introduce the tomorrow’s leaders student challenge contest, which was held earlier this year. It represents a welcome opportunity for students with a keen interest in the built environment to put their skills to the test. Seven teams took part in this year’s contest, which provided an invaluable opportunity for students to showcase their innovative ideas and teamwork skills in front of a panel of built environment judges and prospective employers.

A new national 5 course at Wester Hailes high school, which is supported by Compass Roofing, will introduce young people to traditional roofing skills in the hope that they will consider doing apprenticeships when they leave school. This year’s Scottish Traditional Building Forum event, which Alex Rowley and I sponsor, will begin tomorrow, in the Parliament’s grounds. It will provide an opportunity for young people and politicians to see the wide range of careers that are available in the sector, from slating and electrics to painting, surveying with drones and stonemasonry.

Many in the construction sector realise that they must produce their own skilled workforce, and the examples that I have given highlight some of the steps that employers are undertaking. However, we also need to see improvements in careers advice so that guidance is provided on vocational training opportunities and not just on academic routes to qualifications.

We must also re-evaluate funding and support for apprentices without falling foul of the same disaster that has hit apprenticeships south of the border, where there has been a 44 per cent drop in posts since the apprenticeship levy was introduced.

There are many challenges facing the construction sector across Scotland, but it is a growth industry that contributes 6 per cent to Scotland’s gross domestic product and currently employs 210,000 people. The sector will continue to serve Scotland well in future years, if we can get the skills system aligned with industry needs.