Onsite experience opportunities in construction - Wales

Welsh construction is projected to grow on average by 0.5 per cent by 2023, with a requirement for 6,550 workers.

The majority of students who start construction courses in further education do not progress into the sector. The main barrier for employment in the sector is not necessarily lack of jobs, but employers find that these students lack onsite experience and are not work-ready.

Government policy and construction output are focused on three areas of the country: South East,* South West and North Wales. With the modest growth in the sector, there is an opportunity to establish a recruitment infrastructure for the whole nation which:

• creates a site and employment ready workforce to meet employers’ immediate needs
• ensures proposals lend themselves to the unique characteristics of each locality.

*Please note, CITB are not seeking further applications for the South East area.

Any organisation best placed to deliver the outcome sought.

We especially welcome proposals from organisations that are:

• levy-registered employers who have construction projects and 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 onsite hub.

If you are interested in submitting an expression of interest for this commission, please sign up for the webinar where you can find out more.

We have up to £2.2m to cover projects over two areas in Wales. CITB will fund up to 70 per cent of the total value of the project.

We aim to fund at least two onsite hubs aligned to the current aims of:

• The Swansea City Deal
• The North Wales Economic Ambition Board

Your project could address the challenges facing one or more of these areas, as outlined in ‘The challenge facing industry section’ above.

Projects funding can run for up to three years.

CITB are not seeking further applications for South East Wales, but are seeking to establish at least two onsite hubs  in North and South West Wales, to benefit a minimum of 1,830 individuals in the first three years.

The overall expected results across the two areas identified in this opportunity are:

• two onsite hubs supporting 915 individuals to become employment and site-ready
• supporting 915 full-time construction diploma students to receive an onsite experience
• at least 275 individuals will achieve sustained employment, of which at least 83 are from under-represented groups
• increased collaboration and potential for sustained local action as a result of this investment
• employer and stakeholder consortia to create a critical mass of opportunities, thereby demonstrating the effectiveness and justification for an onsite training hub.

The application pack will be available from 25 November 2019. Please email onsite.experience@citb.co.uk to request a pack.

You can submit your application between 25 November and 5pm on 20 December 2019.

25 November 2019 - application window opens

20 December 2019 - deadline to submit applications at 5pm

Your proposal should:

• Focus on one of the following areas: South West and North Wales.

• Describe how you will establish an onsite hub (static, portable, mobile or using existing training infrastructure)
  You should show how you intend to enable onsite experiences to respond directly to employer feedback and research findings. Remember that in many cases you may need to provide training to enable individuals to better meet employer requirements.

• Identify how you will work with construction employers to enable people to enter sustained employment. The fund will facilitate onsite placements and training, using mobile and static onsite training hubs and fixed infrastructure. These interventions will lead to individuals gaining employment in the sector, in the immediate or longer term.

• Outline how you will complement existing training and employment provision. If your proposal is aligned to where construction activity is occurring, it is likely to have better take up with individuals already considering a career in construction, in addition to offering those individuals the opportunity to gain employment through local construction projects.

• Describe the approach you will take to create and nurture a collaborative approach with construction employers and stakeholders.
  You will need to ensure that:
  • consortia between employers and stakeholders can be maintained
  • onsite hubs can deliver sufficient outcomes
  • construction capacity is maintained at the estimated level to enable outputs
  • employers will recruit from this source.

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

Application support

We can offer you one to one support sessions via Skype for Business or telephone to assist you with the application process during the application window. Please contact us at onsite.experience@citb.co.uk to book a session.