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The recently published Construction Skills Network 2023 – 2027 data shows a continuing demand for bricklayers in the Homebuilding Sector. It is estimated that the industry needs 4,000 additional bricklayers per annum.

Since 2019, CITB has invested in the delivery of bricklaying skills. CITB have funded the development of 16 short courses in specific areas of brick work (e.g. Installing Fire Barriers & Breaks, Brick Slip Systems and Sills, Copings, Cappings and Junctions) and delivered brickwork standards training to 15 colleges. As of February 2023, this upskilling programme had supported over 1500 learning interventions in further education (“FE”) programmes and to over 400 experienced bricklayers .

Creating high quality on and off-site training courses for Bricklayers, through the launch of 16 ATO delivered short duration training courses, provided by the ABC Assessment Centre.

The training courses will be written directly by bricklaying employers to target bricklayers on a nationwide scale. The areas of skill covered by the training courses have been determined by employers because of their relevancy to Modern Methods of Construction and to address the lack of skills seen from bricklayers and trainees on their sites.

Through the development and delivery of a mental health and wellbeing digital learning hub and supporting digital campaign, hard to reach (micro-organisations) in the construction industry will be better equipped to manage mental health, wellbeing and resilience issues that they encounter in the workplace.

Laing O’Rourke, in collaboration and partnership with other Construction Companies and Trade Organisations, will engage the Lighthouse Construction Industry Charity and The Samaritans to develop a Wellbeing & Resilience Hub. The aim is to raise awareness, develop skills and inform construction workers of themes of wellbeing, mental health and resilience. Specifically, the project will 'target' individuals who work for smaller businesses, and those classed as hard to reach. The project will work with the Samaritans to deliver a marketing campaign to drive traffic to the digital hub, increasing participation and long-term engagement. 

The project will deliver digital change in construction companies by upskilling leaders by developing three leadership training programmes that adopt an action learning approach. 
This method delivers change through achievable cycles of learn / test / do / review that allow leaders to undertake gradual stages of digital adoption, learn through the process but also taking practical steps to digitalise during the training. These programmes will increase adaptive capability and approaches to unlock and exploit digital opportunities within the sector.

Each training programme is proposed to be accredited with ILM at L3 (team level); L5 (departmental level); L7 (organisational level). The project aims to ensure training is eligible for grant funding as an exit strategy. 48 construction companies will each put two leaders through the programme. This will help to unlock digital change at strategic and operational levels of a business.

After the project participating employers will have taken measurable steps to digitalisation. The qualifications will be available for industry to access and benefit from. NFB will follow process to ensure they are eligible for grant funding.

This project will redevelop and deliver the Drilling and Sawing Association Specialist Applied Programme to meet the needs of millennials that are considering a career within the Construction Industry.

It will use the introduction of new technologies, such as, E-Learning platforms to include Digital imaging (videos & presentations), Functional Skills and App's to support learning and portfolio building to enhance the engagement of newcomers into the industry.

• To develop e-training modules as part of training for people who will knowingly disturb asbestos, that is doing non-licensable work (NLW) and the annual refresher training. It can be used as a standalone training tool and also complementary to current format of training that most people is receiving. 
• To develop a way to assess the impact of the e-training after it is launched.

“Performance through Procurement” brings together 11 of our Partners who are tier 1 contractors, their key supply chain members and client organisations to drive increased performance through the adoption of better procurement and supply chain management practices and improved collaboration.

We will achieve this through five key activities:

1. Developing a supply chain performance dashboard - to track performance improvements.
2. Developing a procurement skills diagnostic tool - to assess the training needs of participants.
3. Developing 8 CPD accredited training courses, 8 e-learning modules and an online resource library of learning videos, materials and tools.
4. Delivering 92 training sessions and over 200 days of coaching through three work streams:
   • 40 organisations participating in 10 supply chain improvement projects.
   • Direct trainer led delivery to 400 supply chain organisations in the 3 target sectors.
   • 300+ organisations access procurement training through our online portal.
5. Monitoring the impact of our training interventions.

This project will involve the implementation of an “Integrated Value-based Supply Chain (IVSC)” procurement approach for the delivery of local authority (LA) projects. According to industry forecasts, the LA building sector fared poorly in 2018, and is expected to continue to underperform relative to the housing and infrastructure sectors. This new procurement approach will embed processes and practices that drive productivity improvements through innovation and a focus on collaborative value addition by Tier-2, and Tier-3 organisations.

This project will increase awareness and understanding amongst small employers of the importance of organisational resilience; develop the skills and capacity to implement it with five employers and develop an approach, which enables the effective implementation of organisational resilience across the sector, which can be sustained beyond the life of this project. 

The project will develop learning materials and toolkits to BS6500 standards, and pilot these in the sector.

After the project, the gap analysis tool will be freely available for organisations to map their resilience and identify training tools to address the gaps.  The project will have piloted organisations adopting the 'BeResilient' framework and will share its learning on best practice in doing so.

The project will deliver the capacity and capability to upskill industry on standardised skills and knowledge in offsite construction.

Training will be a combination of  trainer-led and application of online resources. Content will be modular and accredited, purposed for a wide range of uses and mapped to relevant L2-7 qualifications and standards. Guidance will be developed to help trainers contextualise modules to their particular subject area.

The project will enhance materials with experiential learning that includes classroom enrichment, immersive and real-world experiences, as well as a sustainable network of experts to share knowledge, maintain and support the products.

After the project, a significant proportion of the construction FE sector will be upskilled in offsite practices. Sustainability will be achieved by hosting on a free online platform in a format compatible with other platforms, thus allowing resources to be freely downloaded and shared. Trainers will be certified once upskilled to deliver the content.