My contribution to today’s debate will focus primarily on the need for greater skills planning and training in Wales within the construction sector if we want to achieve the optimum benefit for the people of Wales in terms of job creation, utilisation of the local supply chain and investment in skills, so that we can meet the demands of our incoming infrastructure projects.

The importance of effective skills planning to the success of infrastructure delivery continues to be highlighted as one of the most pressing issues facing the construction and engineering sectors in Wales. So, to capitalise on the largely positive construction environment in Wales at the moment, the Welsh Government and industry must work closely together to recruit talented people and train the workforce whilst also of course avoiding unnecessary skills mismatches.

For skills planning, innovation and cost effectiveness should be the key drivers for future growth and reform. Closer partnership between employers and Welsh Government is crucial of course, as well as linking labour market intelligence to regional learning and skills partnerships. In Wales, we have regional skills partnerships that bring together a range of relevant bodies to co-ordinate and plan for skills development. However, there is no formal structure to co-ordinate their work at a national level.

In Plaid Cymru’s proposals for a national infrastructure commission for Wales, we called for skills planning and forecasting to be a central role within the remit of the commission, which could have provided that level of central co-ordination. Whilst giving evidence to the Economy, Infrastructure and Skills committee, both CECA Wales and CITB Cymru agreed that construction sector skills should be part of the commission’s remit and that it should produce a national infrastructure plan for skills to forecast requirements and avoid gaps in demand. Unfortunately, the Welsh Government rejected this idea, claiming that the current structures were appropriate to meet future demand. I suppose only time will tell as to whether they’re right or not.

Our motion today specifically calls on the Welsh Government to consider establishing a national construction college for Wales. Back in February 2015, two years ago now, the then Minister for skills said that the Welsh Government were working very hard to get a construction college under way as soon as possible and that it would be aligned to employer needs. However, as far as I’m aware, very little has happened since then.

So, why do we need a national construction college for Wales? Over the years, some apprentices have had to leave Wales to gain industry recognised construction skills. The national construction college, as a strategic entity, would ensure that Wales has home-grown skills in place to meet the construction industry’s current and, indeed, future needs. The case for a new-build national construction college is based on the model for the rest of the UK’s national construction colleges—to satisfy the demand for courses not currently available in Wales. It would provide provision that’s more tailored to the needs of industry in Wales, with expert teaching staff and facilities that can help raise the profile and, indeed, the attractiveness of the sector.

A new-build facility could offer a dedicated centre of excellence with significant advantages, allowing, for example, large-scale equipment and realistic practice on a scale unlikely to be acquired within existing provision, and enabling Welsh construction firms to develop a broader base of skills in order to compete effectively within Wales and, of course, outside of Wales. Such a facility could potentially benefit the Welsh construction sector by bringing advanced resources and equipment within economical reach.

There are significant challenges ahead of us if we’re to ensure that the construction sector in Wales has the capacity to deliver on infrastructure projects and the future infrastructure projects that we know are coming. However, there are also significant opportunities if action is taken to meet that demand.

I recognise that strides have been made in recent years, such as the establishment of the construction innovation centre for Wales in Swansea that’s set to open in September this year. However, a strategic entity is required that provides if not all then certainly much more of the construction sector training provision that we require here in Wales. So, a key message for us from this debate this afternoon is that better engagement with the sector is now essential to improve and deliver enhanced forward skills planning and long-term improvement to the provision of training within the construction sector.