MP seeks support for site skills scheme

Daventry MP, Tim Boswell, has tabled an Early Day Motion (EDM) in the House of Commons calling on the Government to do more to address employment and skills training opportunities for young people during the recession.

The MP welcomed ‘Construction Futures’ - a new initiative developed by West Northamptonshire Development Corporation and Northamptonshire Enterprise to provide construction skills training to young people in the county, calling for the Government to recognise the innovation being demonstrated and to encourage this integrated approach to be adopted across the country.

Construction Futures is the first of its kind in the UK. Launched last year with the first students already on two sites in Daventry, it links construction skills and training directly to the planning system, providing training to local students on projects which have been given consent in their area. Not only does Construction Futures address skills shortages, it provides jobs for the local community, and these jobs are sustainable as they will lead to careers which will last a lifetime.

The programme involves each sizeable planning application being assessed in terms of the skills that will be required to construct it. These are compared to the skills available locally and any deficiencies identified, with the subsequent “S106” community contribution from the developer being spent to train people to fill that skills gap.

Tim Boswell said: “Construction Futures addresses the perennial issues of construction skills, youth employment and transparency of the planning system. However, the way Construction Futures integrates the elements is truly innovative and that is why I am calling for the Government to encourage its roll-out across the country.”

Early day motions are formal motions submitted for debate in the House of Commons. However, very few EDMs are actually debated. Instead, they are used for reasons such as publicising the views of individual MPs, drawing attention to specific events or campaigns, and demonstrating the extent of parliamentary support for a particular cause or point of view.