Potential Actions - Employment & Training
The are a number of potentail actions that can be taken towarded delivering effective training and employment, these include: training plans, apprenticeships, on-site assessment and training, establishing links with local training bodies, providing employment days or drop in centres and supply chain development. To find out more about any of these please see details below.
Training Plans
Training plans give an organisation a picture of the skill levels and strengths within their company and can help them decide where and when to focus their training.
Apprenticeships
Apprenticeships are practical work-based schemes, developed by the construction industry to help achieve a skilled and qualified workforce. They lead to respected qualifications - National Vocational Qualifications/Scottish Vocational Qualifications - that prove that the standard of work expected in the industry has been met. Apprenticeships allow a young person to learn, work, earn and get qualified, all at the same time.
On-Site Assessment and Training
On-Site Assessment and Training (OSAT) helps experienced workers get the qualifications to prove they can do the job. It turns their existing skills and experience into a nationally recognised qualification such as an NVQ or SVQ. Having these qualifications also helps qualify them for a Construction Skills Certification Scheme (CSCS) card. The whole process is carried out whilst the workforce is on site so they don't have to take time off to go to college.
Links with Local Training Bodies
Building links with local training bodies, such as ConstructionSkills North West, Constructing the Future (in Pennine East Lancashire) and The People Pool (in Liverpool), for example, can help in recruiting local people and accessing apprenticeship and OSAT schemes, etc.
Employment Days / Drop-In Centres
The Project Applicant may consider holding specific Employment Days for the project where local people can see what the project entails and what jobs/skills the Applicant is in need of to undertake the project. The Project Applicant may wish to take this further and have a specific Drop-In Centre where local people can come and go as they please to access potential employment opportunities.
Supply Chain Development
Where local firms may be engaged in the longer term, the Project Applicant may link with appropriate support networks such as ConstructionSkill or, at the sub-regional level, Constructing the Future in East Lancashire, to provide development events for local people within their sub-region. This would encourage local firms to take up apprenticeships and/or encourage the employment of local people.
Data Analysis
Project Applicants should be encouraged to keep information on local employment and training issues and benchmark these against the national Constructing Excellence Key performance Indicators.