Construction businesses across the UK are being offered co-investment to help develop new ways of boosting management skills in the sector.
A £4m funding pot is available through the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES), as part of an ongoing government-backed programme to encourage employer-led solutions to persistent skills problems.
The fund is part of UKCES’s UK Futures programme, which is also investing in new ideas to disseminate skills in offsite construction – for more information see our story here.
The competition is open to organisations in the construction, manufacturing, financial and legal sectors, and the UKCES expects to invest up to £300,000 per successful proposal.
Nigel Whitehead, group managing director of BAE Systems and a UKCES commissioner, explained: “Our research shows that the UK lags behind its international competitors when it comes to management skills. That matters. It matters even more in the construction sector because it’s such important part of our economy. And while the UK’s best firms may be world-leading, the sad truth is that, generally, management capability in the UK isn’t as good as many other countries, particularly the US.”
“But improved management isn’t something that can be imposed on business. It needs to be led from within. That’s why we’re making up to £4m co-investment available to businesses to help them find innovative and effective ways of working with their networks or supply chains to boost management and leadership capability.”
To be eligible for the grant, all proposals must be led and partially funded by major businesses, which will work with their supply chains or networks to address issues such as:
- Raising the capability of leaders and managers to align skills, job design and other workplace practices.
- Boosting demand for good leadership and management skills.
Increasing the opportunities for managers to interact with one another and learn from their peers
The closing date for submissions is 30 July 2014.
£30m to boost women in engineering
Meanwhile, the government has also announced a new £30m fund directed at increasing the number of women entering the world of engineering, including civil and structural engineering.
The fund will be administered by the Skills Funding Agency, and forms part of the government’s Employer Ownership Fund that enables employers to design training projects that can address skills shortages holding back their business, providing 50% match funding to employers.
The funding package is part of the government’s efforts to implement the recommendations of the November 2013 Perkins Review of Engineering, which found that the UK had the lowest proportion of women in engineering professions in the EU.
The new fund follows the “Your Life” call to action in May 2014 to encourage women to choose scientific, technical or engineering careers, supported by more than 170 leading organisations across business, education and the third sector. Construction employers supporting the campaign include Arup, Atkins, Balfour Beatty, Carillion, Crossrail, Laing O’Rourke, Mace and Skanska.
The campaign aims to create 2,000 employment opportunities aimed at increasing diversity and put in place a raft of measures geared towards increasing take-up across science, technology, engineering and maths.
