The Engineering and Building Services Skills Authority (EBSSA) welcomed the recommendations of the House of Lords Industry and Regulators Select Committee on their inquiry of Future Skills which includes Government to explore greater financial incentives for employers to invest in training, ahead of the Financial Statement this week. The Committee noted with the concern the downward trend of employer investment and wrote with their concerns to the Minister for Skills, Baroness Smith of Malvern.
EBSSA’s written evidence to the Committee highlighted these issues and also the hope that the development of Skills England will bring better coordination and collaboration amongst employers and providers to help SMEs navigate through the skills system. We agree with the Committee’s call for a national skills strategy with improved delivery and engagement at local level.
The Committee and EBSSA asked Government to carefully think through the Apprenticeship Levy 'rebalancing'; we agree with more support for young people to enter and progress with industry-approved qualifications but also provision for those who need to re-skill and upskill.
The Committee also highlighted our observations on the detrimental effect of prolonged funding cuts to colleges and the need to invest in training providers to recruit and retain high quality staff from industry to use as trainers and qualifications’ assessors.
You can read our full submission here: SFF0117.
The House of Lords Industry and Regulators Committee will hold a final session on this inquiry on 26th November. More detail on the inquiry for Future Skills: Apprenticeships and Training can be found here.
Engineering services alliance, Actuate UK, has warmly welcomed the new secondary legislation which will require reporting of cash retentions held by the large construction companies under the Payment Reporting Regulations.
Engineering services alliance, Actuate UK, warmly welcomes the landmark report ‘At a Crossroads: Pathways to a Net Zero Future’ published by the Mission Zero Coalition. The report throws a spotlight on clean energy and power generation. The engineering services industry, as part of the supply chain, are key to delivering this aspect of the UK’s net zero ambitions. Actuate UK contributed content of the report as a supporter of the Misson Zero Coalition.
Actuate UK members have teamed up with Gardiner & Theobald (G&T) — an independent construction and property consultancy — to produce a first-of-its-kind market analysis of the UK’s Mechanical & Electrical (M&E) sector.