COMMENT

It continues to be a very challenging time for the scaffolding and access industry and for the wider construction community.

Many of our challenges are shared across other sectors. Access to skills has always been a problem for us, but with so many other industries competing in the labour market, our task to plug our own shortage is made increasingly difficult.

At the end of March, we met with Lee Rowley MP, Minister for Industry at the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS). Rowley has a large ministerial portfolio which has included the construction industry since his appointment last September. He is also the co-chair of the Construction Leadership Council (CLC).

High on the agenda was the growing labour and skills shortage, and the challenges we have and will continue to have to meet demand. BEIS is a fundamental component of the government’s commitment to build hundreds of thousands of new homes and businesses over the coming years, and with the support of other government departments, to ‘level up’ this activity across the UK.

We made it clear to the minster that significant collaboration and effort from industry and government would be needed if we are to recruit the 200,000 new workers that the construction sector estimates it will need to support demand over the next five years.

We are very grateful to the minster for taking the time to listen to some of our concerns and look forward to working more closely with him and his officials to address them.

Words already included in this article, are ‘community’ and ‘collaboration’, and both are so important if this sector is going to address its skills and labour woes as well as many of the other challenges it must overcome. There is only so much support the government can provide, and we’ll make sure that we get as much as we possibly can. However, industry must do its bit too.

To support this need for community and collaboration, this issue of AccessPoint covers some exciting initiatives which the Association has been developing in the background for several months.

National Scaffolding Week (NSW) will take place in September and will shine a light on the diverse range of career options and skills training available within the sector. It’s hoped that over time, this annual celebration of industry will inspire a new generation or those looking for a new challenge to take up a role within the scaffolding and access industry.

NSW will also provide an opportunity to highlight some of the achievements of the organisations and individuals already operating within the sector and showcase best practice and innovation.

NSW will coincide with the associations annual conference on 29th September which is taking place at the Heart of England Conference and Events Centre, Coventry. Over the past 12-months we’ve been developing some important relationships, which as well as the minister for industry (who we hope will be able join us at conference), are all crucial to our ability to address industry headwinds.

Many of these individuals have agreed to speak at the conference including Tim Balcon, Chief Executive Officer of the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), Richard Turfitt, Senior Traffic Commissioner and Stuart Young, Head of Stakeholder Engagement & Management, Construction Unit, BEIS. Stuart will be talking about the ConstructZero initiative which is helping to support industry meet net-zero targets.

We have some significant challenges ahead of us but it’s also an exciting time for the Association and its members and a time when we can make a difference – by working together on common interests and objectives.

Robert Candy CHIEF EXECUTIVE, SCAFFOLDING ASSOCIATION www.scaffolding-association.org