Hopefully, we all learn something new every day. I recently learned that the UK has six million buildings (about 20 percent of the total stock) that were built before 1919. This is the highest proportion of traditionally built properties in any western country.
I learnt this at an awards ceremony for the Traditional Building Skills Bursary Scheme. It was held to celebrate the success of craftsmen and women that had used the scheme to learn the specialist skills that will allow them to undertake remedial and maintenance work on those older buildings that make such an important contribution to our national heritage.
The Bursary Scheme is a partnership between English Heritage, The National Trust, CADW (the statutory body in Wales with responsibility for historic buildings), CITB-Construction Skills, the National Heritage Training Group and the Lottery Heritage Fund. Since lottery funding became available, just over 100 people have been supported by the scheme. Up to now it has focussed on enhancing the skills of people already qualified in the construction industry but in the future it wants to expand into new entrant training.
SPECIALIST TRADITIONAL SKILLS
The importance of building up a skills base in traditional methods is becoming more important as many of those now entering the industry are focussed on the techniques of the 21st century. This is illustrated by the research from the National Heritage Training Group which revealed at least one-third of those working on traditionally built building were unqualified and that many who thought they were competent to undertake this type of work actually didn’t have the skills and knowledge to complete the work successfully. With the growing urgency to bring existing buildings up to modern energy efficiency standards, having sufficient people capable of working on the oldest buildings is now a high priority. A Level 3 NVQ award in Heritage Skills is available and is the standard those working in this field can aim for. FMB is working closely with the National Heritage Training Group and we are represented by member, Philip Hall, to ensure this need can be met by FMB members who want to be involved in this type of work. More details about the bursary scheme and the support it offers can be found at www.buildingbursaries.org.uk and more on the National Heritage Training Group is at www.nhtg.org.uk.
FMB HEAD OF TRAINING
Other areas of training remain as important and they remain a priority for FMB. I wrote in this column a couple of issues ago about our intention to create a new role within FMB as Head of Training to support members to improve both their business skills and the technical skills of their employees. We are now in the final stages of recruiting for that post and I hope we will be able to provide details of the new post holder in the next issue of Master Builder.
FMB CONSULTED ON CONSTRUCTIONSKILLS BUSINESS PLANS
Support from ConstructionSkills for this new appointment has been especially welcome as ConstructionSkills is one of FMB’s most important partners. The statutes governing ConstructionSkills explicitly specify the FMB as one of a small number of trade federations in the construction sector with which ConstructionSkills must work. This provides for FMB representation at the highest level in the organisation with two seats on the Board reserved for FMB members. Our status as a ‘Consensus Federation’ means that we must also be fully consulted on ConstructionSkills business plans. A major piece of work currently underway concerns the future of the levy scheme, the continued operation of which must be approved by Parliament during 2012. Earlier this year, the FMB was invited to nominate a member to sit on a ConstructionSkills working party to look at the future of the levy scheme given the many changes that the industry is now undergoing. Kevin Smith, who represents the Southern Region on the FMB National Council, agreed to take on this role and ensures that the views of members are put forward effectively on the working group. The group’s proposals are due to be published later in June and will then go to wider consultation across the industry. We will publish details in Master Builder as soon as they become available.
