Havant Borough Council has been awarded National Skills Academy for Construction (NSAfC) accreditation status by the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) for their excellent work utilising Employment and Skills Plans on large scale construction projects.
The council’s Economic Development team partners with developers and their supply chain to create and deliver Employment and Skills Plans, embedding social value and skill development throughout the project’s duration. This approach, endorsed by the NSAfC, aims to address chronic skills shortages within the construction sector by ensuring a healthy pipeline of new entrants to the labour force and raising the sector's profile in schools and educational establishments nationwide.
The construction companies are given key performance indicators (KPIs) that focus on creating jobs for local residents and work experience for students and the unemployed. They also deliver construction careers information and guidance for school-aged children. Other requirements include demonstrating that the existing workforce are attending and completing industry standard training, and including green skills to ensure the sector plays its part in addressing climate change.
Councillor Gillian Harris, Cabinet Lead for Regeneration and Communities, said: “This is a well-deserved award and demonstrates our commitment to helping Havant residents, particularly young people, find good skilled work. We will be building more homes in the coming years as part of our commitment to the government's target, and this training not only fills skills gaps in the sector but also ensures the jobs created can be filled locally. This will have significant impact on our local economy and the health and wellbeing of all involved."
Havant Borough Council’s Chief Executive, Steve Jorden, accepted the award from Elizabeth Steel and Chris Gingell of CITB. He said: “Thank you and well done to the Economic Development team! We are very proud of the work they are doing to support the skills agenda."
Also in attendance were Wayne Layton - Executive Head of Regeneration, Economic Development, and Preventative Services - and James Maw and Hannah Haynes of the Economic Development team. James and Hannah work directly with the developers on Employment and Skills Plans to ensure their successful delivery.