8. What discussions has the Minister had with the construction industry about the future skills required for its workforce? OQ57095

I held an introductory meeting with the Construction Industry Training Board in June. I'll be holding regular meetings with them, together with the Deputy Minister for Climate Change, to discuss all aspects of the industry’s training and skills requirements.

As you met the CITB in June, you'll be fully aware of the skills deficit they highlighted in their report in March, about the sorts of skills that we need for the public buildings we're going to be building in the future, so people like energy assessors, retrofit co-ordinators, insulation and heat pump installers. The three major constructors involved in works in my constituency at the moment, Bouygues, Willmott Dixon and ISG, are all keen to tell me about the amount of local labour and suppliers that they have working on their projects. But, as most of the subcontractors are either sole traders or small companies involving maybe a dozen employees, how are we going to ensure that they are fit to take on the work that we're going to be requiring of all constructors involved in any buildings that involve public money and that the work isn't going to be brought in from outside?

There is a key challenge about a broader point, not just in construction, but it's a good example of how, with the optimised retrofit programme that was announced by the climate change department here, a really welcome step forward to make sure the value of that is retained as far as possible, as locally as possible. That's why it's important that I continue to work with the Ministers for climate change and to actually understand, when we're letting those contracts, the terms that we can insist on to actually make sure that we do get local return on that, and to make sure that the skills that the industry need are actually being provided. It's why I'm very pleased with the recent conversation I had with regional skills partnerships, and the one we'll have with the sector itself. I have another date in the diary in the next couple of months with the construction industry itself to try to make sure that we are definitely pointing in the right direction, and make sure they understand what we want and what we expect from the public money we would invest, but also that they're investing back in their own businesses and in local communities.

Thank you, Minister.