Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, if he will make an assessment of the potential merits of introducing a new scheme to support the training of scaffolders, in addition to the Construction Industry Scaffolders Record Scheme; and if he will publish the eligibility criteria for grants funded by his Department for the training of scaffold instructors.

The Government supported the 2015 decision of the construction industry to adopt the SKILLCard scheme, following research commissioned by the HSE and Construction Industry Training Board, to ensure those working on construction sites possess a relevant qualification for their occupation. Whilst the Government is supportive of CSCS, the Government does not have the power to intervene in the operation of the CSCS, as an industry-led scheme. BEIS does not provide grant funding for the training of scaffolding instructors.