We welcome today’s construction skills announcement from the Chancellor, which aligns closely with the key objectives we’ve been championing through PfP Thrive.

Rachel Reeves is absolutely right: we cannot meet the urgent need for 1.5 million new homes without a skilled construction and trades workforce to build them. This means investing not only in the next generation of engineers, bricklayers, electricians, and carpenters, as the Chancellor highlights, but also in upskilling the existing workforce.

We are keen to learn more about how the £600 million in skills funding will be distributed and hope it presents opportunities for partnerships with organisations like ours to help train the skilled workers we need. The focus on skills boot camps is promising, particularly as it aligns with our own goals of reskilling the workforce to adopt new construction techniques and materials. Additionally, the emphasis on foundation apprenticeships is encouraging, as we are already collaborating with organisations across the sector to help them utilise the apprenticeship levy to address the skills gap.

However, challenges remain – particularly the upcoming National Insurance increase, which could dampen the appetite for apprenticeships. We hope this announcement signals a broader commitment to addressing such barriers, ensuring we are in a strong position by 2029. 

Together, we can build a highly skilled workforce capable of delivering not only the 1.5 million homes needed in this Parliament, but also the crucial housing projects and upgrades that will follow.

Tom Arey is director at PfP Thrive, an organisation delivering comprehensive bespoke training programmes for the UK housing and construction sectors, as well as compliance training, trade skills apprenticeships and leadership development to meet evolving workforce needs.  

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