Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what recent assessment she has made of the effect of skills shortages in small and medium construction businesses on housing construction.

The Department for Business and Trade does not produce assessments of skills shortages in small and medium construction businesses, and the impact of these on housing construction. Annual forecasts of demand for construction skills by occupation and by region and Devolved Administration are produced by the Construction Skills Network. The forecast for 2023-27 was published on 18 January 2023, and identifies the need for 225,000 additional construction workers during that period, based on likely demand. This forecast is publicly available on the website of the Construction Industry Training Board.

(https://www.citb.co.uk/about-citb/construction-industry-research-reports/construction-skills-network-csn/).