IMPROVED TRAINING FOR MEMBERS
Providing training support for members should be one of the prime functions of any trade federation.
Although FMB has arranged many excellent training events over the years they have not always been as well co-ordinated and strategic as they could have been. One of the objectives of the restructuring that is now taking place within the Federation will be the establishment of a Training Department with a remit to fill that gap by offering a range of relevant courses across the country for members to access.
We are in the process of recruiting a Head of Training, who will lead this area of activity and have responsibility for identifying the various grant and support opportunities which FMB should be taking advantage of for members. Our planning for this initiative has closely involved ConstructionSkills which is anxious to see competence levels raised across the industry and particularly within SMEs. Life-long learning has become something of a cliché in recent years but with changing needs in the industry it is something that needs to be put into practice. Our objective is to have a range of courses covering both building techniques and materials as well as best practice in running businesses in place as soon as possible.
FMB COMPETENT PERSON SCHEME
Training will be an integral part of our plans for a Competent Person Scheme. Discussions have been moving forward with officials from the Department for Communities and Local Government who will have responsibility for advising Ministers on whether our application should be approved. At the time of writing it seems likely that our application will be made in late-summer so that an official go-ahead can be given in the spring of 2012. Although the scheme is not designed exclusively for work to be undertaken as part of the Government’s Green Deal initiative, which is due to start in October 2012, it is expected that businesses accepted into the FMB’s Competent Person Scheme will be accredited as Green Deal installers which would allow customers to finance the work done on their property under the Green Deal by repaying loans using the savings on future energy bills.
FMB has been fortunate that as an early advocate of the need to need to embark on a nationwide programme to improve the energy efficiency of the existing building stock, the Government has been eager to engage with us on the planning of the Green Deal. The importance that the Government places on the project is highlighted, perhaps alarmingly, by the fact that the Department for Energy and Climate Change alone has more than 70 civil servants working on the project and that number seems to be expanding almost weekly. FMB now has representation on two of the main committees advising Ministers and civil servants on implementation. Everyone can be reassured that everything possible is being done to ensure that the ability of FMB members to be key partners in the delivery retrofitting of existing building is being highlighted wherever the opportunity arises.
WE NEED TO BUILD MORE NEW HOMES
But whatever is done with older buildings, demographic changes and the need to replace older building that are impossible to improve, the country will still need to be building many new properties for years to come. The outturn figures for new home building in 2010 was, very disappointingly, barely 100,000 units. That number needs to be increased by a factor of at least three if our current housing problems are not going to become a crisis. I was pleased to have the opportunity recently to take member Chris Carr, to meet staff from the 10 Downing Street policy unit to discuss the practical barriers to increasing new home numbers. Chris, who runs Carr & Carr, a fourth generation family building company in Lincolnshire, was able to highlight his practical experience of the financial, planning and design barriers he faces every day in his business. Copious notes were taken and hopefully the points made by Chris will be addressed as the Government develops its housing strategy in the coming months.
