Skills England to Tackle Skills Shortage

Following last week’s King’s Speech, which included the Skills England Bill to transform the skills system, the Government has announced the launch of the new ‘Skills England’ body that will put in place the framework for delivering a highly skilled workforce for the long term. With Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer promising to ‘break down barriers to opportunity’ and ‘enable British businesses to recruit more home-grown talent’, Skills England will bring together central and local Government, businesses, training providers and unions to boost training and tackle skills shortages, particularly in key sectors like construction, whilst reducing reliance on overseas workers. It will also identify and maintain a list of training eligible for the new Growth and Skills Levy which will replace the Apprenticeship Levy.

Education Secretary Bridget Phillipson has appointed the former chief executive of the Co‐operative Group, Richard Pennycook CBE, as Interim Chair of Skills England, which will be established in phases over the next year and hosted in ‘shadow form’ within the Department for Education while Parliament passes legislation to officially establish its role and remit in law.

Retentions Update

The Department for Business and Trade (DBT) has confirmed to Build UK that the draft legislation to amend the Reporting on Payment Practices and Performance Regulations to introduce new metrics on retentions has been withdrawn. This is as a result of the General Election, which means there is now insufficient time for the legislation to be completed before the intended commencement date of 1 October 2024, and DBT is working with the new Ministers to confirm a revised date. New metrics on the value of invoices paid and disputed invoices will still come into force as planned from 1 January 2025.

Public bodies in Scotland are now required to publish a retention policy statement on their website by 31 August 2024, in accordance with CPN 1/2024 published last month. The statement, which must be reviewed on an annual basis, should cover the public body’s strategic approach to retentions and the factors which determine their use.

Reporting Carbon Emissions

Action Sustainability, working in partnership with Build UK member the Supply Chain Sustainability School, has developed a free Carbon Calculator that enables businesses in construction to measure their carbon emissions and then share the information with their clients. Under the Streamlined Energy and Carbon Reporting Regulations, large companies must report their scope 1 and 2 carbon emissions and are strongly encouraged to report their scope 3 carbon emissions.

With an increasing number of businesses across the sector now collecting this data, the Carbon Calculator offers a standardised solution which is already being used by a number of Build UK members including BAM, Canary Wharf Group and Willmott Dixon. Adopting it across the whole supply chain will ensure consistent, accurate and timely data, avoid unnecessary duplication and waste, and help the industry respond to the net zero challenge.