Construction Sector: Skills Shortage

Debate between Lord Allen of Kensington and Baroness Smith of Malvern

Monday 29th June 2026 Lords Chamber

[Lord Allen of Kensington]

To ask His Majesty’s Government what steps they are taking to address the skills shortage in the construction sector and to ensure a steady future supply of skilled workers.

[The Minister of State, Department for Education and Department for Work and Pensions (Baroness Smith of Malvern) (Lab)]

My Lords, in 2025, the Government announced a £625 million investment to train up to 60,000 more skilled workers in construction. This includes £100 million for skills bootcamps, £98 million for industry placements, £100 million to establish 10 construction technical excellence colleges, a £90 million uplift for 16-19 courses and £75 million for adult retraining. Construction will also benefit from new foundation apprenticeships, with employers receiving up to £2,000 for each apprentice they take on and retain in the industry.

[Lord Allen of Kensington (Lab)]

My Lords, I declare an interest as chairman of Balfour Beatty Plc. I welcome the steps that my noble friend the Minister outlined. Attitudes to the sector are outdated and sometimes ill informed. Attitudes toward careers in construction and infrastructure are contributing to the reduced pipeline of people coming into the sector. Almost half—47%—of young people report that construction and infrastructure careers are not even mentioned in their school’s career advice. I started life in the steel industry in Scotland as an apprentice, and I am proud to say that. What steps are being taken to ensure that career guidance in schools accurately and positively represents the significant opportunities in this important sector for Britain?

[Baroness Smith of Malvern (Lab)]

My noble friend is absolutely right. There are well-paid, secure jobs in the construction industry. One of the benefits of my role is that I quite often get the chance to meet young people who have made that decision. We need to make sure that that message gets through in the improved careers education that we are providing in schools. Also, as part of the construction support package, we are delivering targeted communications to raise awareness of those construction careers and promote the sector as a pathway to good jobs and progression. That will increasingly focus on young people, alongside tailored promotion for women and for those returning to work, in order to spread more widely the message that my noble friend has ably communicated.