Trading places

Unto the man of yearning thought
And aspiration, to do nought
Is, in itself, almost an act

My placard-waving, DM-and-hoodie-wearing student activist self from my 1980s days at the University of Essex is probably hanging her head in shame.  Why? Because I found myself agreeing with more or less every word  that William Hague, former leader of the Conservative Party, writes in today’s Times. (link here, sorry, there’s a paywall, but it is worth hunting out.)

The headline is: Britain can’t build without a trades revolution, the introduction runs: Both parties must address the woeful shortage of skilled labour or their promises of 300,000 homes a year are empty

I read the article this morning over my cornflakes, idly wondering if anyone would notice if I just copied the entire piece here, because it says everything that I would say given the same subject.

We are heading into a General Election – it might be in May,or not until the early Autumn, there are plausible arguments for each scenario – and the need to build more houses will, as Hague rightly points out, be writ large in the manifestos of all the parties.

Yet, do we have sufficient labour, skilled labour to build these homes? No, we do not. As Hague puts it: “Even if the green belt was declared to be a giant New Town, and Nimbyism was made illegal, and anyone who thought of putting up a house was instantly given planning permission, it is very unlikely that such a number could be reached. “

Hague points out that there are not enough roofers, electricians, plumbers, bricklayers, plasterers to be able to contemplate building anything like the number of homes we require, or that the campaigning parties will be claiming they can provide.

It’s hard enough to get a builder round to quote about anything, let alone develop a whole layer of skilled labour to house our population. Back to Hague: “we do not have in this country the electricians, plumbers, bricklayers, plasterers, tilers, scaffolders, bathroom fitters and roofers who would be needed to build 300,000 homes every year. Their skills cannot just be conjured up, but need training and apprenticeships that can take years. They are the very skills that will also be in demand to retrofit existing homes with heat pumps, change cladding that should never have been installed, and work on big infrastructure projects such as HS2. And they are skills that we — we as a society, including industry and schools, as well as ministers of all parties — have not been producing in sufficient numbers for a long time.”

The increasing of skilled labour in this industry has been bemoaned for as long as I have been working in the sector, Brexit made it worse, but didn’t cause it. The drive from successive governments away from tertiary education towards academic qualifications and universities didn’t cause it, but is nevertheless a big factor.

It’s attitudes that have changed as well, those of parents, young people and teachers. We talk a lot about the need to get out into schools and colleges, introducing youngsters to the wealth of career opportunities there are in, not just merchanting, but the whole of the construction.

As most of you know, I’m on the steering group of the Maddie Rose Campaign, which, driven by the Construction Youth Trust, is doing sterling work in trying to change those views and perceptions, and introduce youngsters to the world of possibilities. We would love more people to get involved, so drop me a line, or check out the website here.

Another obstacle, that Hague points out, is the cumbersome way that apprenticeships and incentives for small businesses to get involved in training and recruiting youngsters are structured. It’s hard work to take on someone new and train them up, especially when you are a sole trader with only a handful of people working for you.

Politicians can talk all they like about the 300,000+ homes that their party will ensure are built, but until they have a clear grasp on how they are going to fill the skills and employment gap, it’s just more hot air spouted in Westminster.

Anyway, putting my money where my mouth is, I have just volunteered to talk at my daughter’s school careers event in a few weeks’ time, pushing the builders merchant industry as a top place to start a career. She will be mortified, but then, as a parent, if you aren’t embarrassing your teenagers, are you really parenting properly?