Onsite experience opportunities in construction - England

The construction industry in England is projected to grow by 1.2 per cent, and 28,920 jobs will need to be filled each year. Public and private housebuilding and infrastructure are the sectors we expect to grow the furthest.There are shortfalls in trades and occupations associated with these sectors. In particular, there are local skills shortages across England for civil engineering operatives, labourers, and wood trade operatives. However, local skills priorities across England vary: a detailed list is available in ‘Preparing your application’ below.

Less than 30 per cent of people studying diplomas in construction end up working in the sector. Those in education need to gain more onsite experience in order to make them ‘work-ready’ and more attractive to employers.

Detailed local analysis shows that the picture of skills shortages varies across the country. The onsite approach allows a direct response to these skills shortages tailored to the needs of the locality.

There are 20 LEP areas which we want to support through this fund:

1. Cheshire and Warrington
2. Coast to Capital (including West Sussex and Surrey)
3. Cornwall and Isles of Scilly
4. Cumbria
5. Dorset
6. Gloucestershire
7. Greater Lincolnshire 
8. Heart of the South West (including Devon and Somerset)
9. Hertfordshire
10. Lancashire 
11. Leeds City Region 
12. Leicester and Leicestershire 
13. New Anglia (including Norfolk and Suffolk)
14. North East (including County Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle, North Tyneside, Northumberland, South Tyneside and Sunderland)
15. Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire 
16. Swindon and Wiltshire
17. Tees Valley (including Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar, Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees)
18. Thames Valley Berkshire (including Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Milton Keynes)
19. West of England (including Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol and South Gloucestershire)
20. Worcestershire

Any organisation best placed to deliver the outcome sought.

We especially welcome proposals from organisations that are:

• levy-registered employers who are have construction projects who are looking to employ locally
• federations and/or trade associations who are able to galvanise local construction projects to create a collaborative response
• construction clients and/or leaders of construction projects who want to support their supply partners to access the talent need to deliver high quality work
• training providers and/or training consultancies with strong relationships with construction projects who can galvanise support for an on-site hub.

We have a budget of up to £8.8m to cover at least 14 onsite hubs over a three-year period. CITB will fund up to 70 per cent of the total value of the project.

In the next three years we want to create at least 14 onsite learning hubs in the 20 LEP areas which do not currently benefit from the Construction Skills Fund. 

The expected results are:

• 10,000 individuals will benefit from receiving onsite experience
• 7,300 individuals will become employment and site ready
• At least half of those individuals will be offered sustained employment
• At least 14 onsite training hubs will create a sustainable infrastructure for talent.

By focusing the response to local occupational requirements and siting the hubs in the right place, local employers will also be motivated to support the sustained future of the hubs.

This is a two-stage process.

1. Register your interest in the commission by completing the expression of interest form which will be live from 22 July 2019. Please answer all the questions.
   
   The deadline for submitting an expression of interest is 5pm Friday 27 September 2019.
   
   
2. The funding team will review your expression of interest  and contact you to discuss your idea. If your idea matches most, preferably all of the criteria for this commission, we will guide you through the application stage.

Submit an expression of interest for this commission

22 July 2019  - expression of interest window opens

27 September 2019 - expression of interest closes at 5pm

11 October 2019 - deadline to submit applications at 5pm

You must submit an expression of interest first – if you get through this stage, you will be invited to submit a full application.

Your project should focus on flexible solutions, tailored to the needs of your chosen LEP area. You will need to:

• demonstrate how you intend to create an environment to give easy access to onsite experience
• provide the opportunity for upskilling workers where employers require it
• explore how your onsite hub will support the construction projects identified 
• create the momentum for individuals to access employment opportunities.

You need to show how you will use mobile onsite training hubs and fixed infrastructure. Your project should address the skills priorities in your area (as identified below)

Your project should focus on one or more of the following LEP areas (which are split in the EOI form according to county / district area):

Cheshire and Warrington

• Bricklaying
• Building envelope specialists  
• Painters and decorators
• Roofers   
• Specialist building operatives   

Coast to Capital (including West Sussex and Surrey)

• Civil engineering operatives   
• Plasterers   
• Plant operatives
• Scaffolders   
• Steel erectors

Cornwall and Isles of Scilly

• Civil engineering operatives
• Labourers
• Painters and decorators
• Plasterers
• Roofers

Cumbria

• Civil engineering operatives
• Civil engineers
• Painters and decorators
• Plant mechanics/fitters
• Specialist building operatives

Dorset

• Bricklayers
• Painters and decorators
• Plasterers
• Roofers
• Wood trades

GFirst (including Gloucestershire)

• Civil Engineering Operatives
• Labourers
• Painters and decorators
• Plant operatives
• Roofers

Greater Lincolnshire

• Civil engineers
• Painters and decorators
• Plastering
• Scaffolding
• Wood trades

Heart of the South West (including Devon and Somerset)

• Bricklayers
• Painters and decorators
• Plasterers
• Roofers
• Wood trades 

Hertfordshire

• Civil engineering operatives   
• Labourers   
• Painters and decorators
• Plant operatives   
• Steel erectors  

Lancashire 

• Bricklayers       
• Building envelope specialists    
• Painters and decorators   
• Plasterers   
• Specialist building operatives

Leeds City Region 

• Civil engineers   
• Floorers
• Plant operatives
• Roofers   
• Wood trades

Leicester and Leicestershire 

• Bricklaying
• Labourers
• Painters and decorators
• Scaffolding
• Wood trades

New Anglia (including Norfolk and Suffolk)

• Bricklayers
• Labourers
• Painters and decorators
• Plasterers
• Wood trades

North East (including County Durham, Gateshead, Newcastle, North Tyneside,Northumberland, South Tyneside and Sunderland)

• Building envelope specialists
• Construction process managers
• Construction professional and technical staff
• Labourers
• Wood trades  

Stoke-on-Trent and Staffordshire 

• Bricklaying
• Flooring
• Painters and decorators
• Plasterers
• Specialist building operatives

Swindon and Wiltshire

• Bricklayers   
• Painters and decorators
• Plasterers
• Roofers
• Wood trades

Tees Valley (including Darlington, Hartlepool, Middlesbrough, Redcar, Cleveland and Stockton-on-Tees)

• Building envelope specialists
• Civil engineers, including operatives
• Construction project managers
• Painters and decorators
• Wood trades and interior fit out  

Thames Valley Berkshire (including Berkshire, Buckinghamshire, Oxfordshire and Milton Keynes)

• Civil engineering operatives
• Labourers
• Painters and decorators
• Plant operatives
• Steel erectors 

West of England Combined Authority (including Bath and North East Somerset, Bristol and South Gloucestershire)

• Labourers   
• Painters and decorators
• Plasterers   
• Roofers   
• Wood trades

Worcestershire

• Bricklayers
• Flooring
• Painters and decorators
• Plasterers
• Wood trades

You can propose a phased project bid, and projects can last up to three years.

If your bid is successful, your projects must start within three months of us notifying you.

Find out about more on the momentum behind this commission from the experience of the Construction Skills Fund

Pre-application webinars

We recorded a webinar to introduce this commission earlier in July. It includes an overview of the commission and some further details about how to apply.

View this webinar on YouTube

We have more live webinars for you to find out about this commission. Use the links below to register and take part:

Date: Tuesday 23 July 2019
Time: 13:30 – 14:30

• Register attendance with eventbrite
• Attend the webinar with eventbrite

Date: Tuesday 30 July 2019
Time: 10:00 – 11:00

• Register attendance with eventbrite
• Attend the webinar with eventbrite

The webinars will be recorded and shared afterwards if you are unable to attend one of the above slots.

Application workshops

We will also host workshops across the country. These workshops will give you an opportunity to find out more about the application process and how we assess proposals for funding.

Application workshops will be held in Exeter, London, Preston, Newark, Stoke, Swindon, York.

Details will be sent to you as part of the acknowledgement of your expression of interest.