Construction colleges to get £6.7m in funding

The funding will be to provide courses that could fill skills shortages in the construction sector.

Colleges across West Yorkshire are to receive £6.7m to fund construction training courses, it has been confirmed. The Construction Skills Capital funding was approved by West Yorkshire Combined Authority (WYCA) at a meeting on Thursday. An estimated 60,000 more workers are needed nationally as the current workforce ages - and it is hoped the money will help address a "significant" skills shortage in the region.

The money will be awarded to Leeds College of Building who will then share it between its partner colleges in Bradford, Keighley, Kirklees, Calderdale and the Heart of Yorkshire Education Group. Keighley College principal Kevin O'Hare told the BBC: "Bradford has got some really exciting infrastructure projects ahead and we want local students to be trained to be involved in those projects." The Construction Skills Capital funding said one of its aims is to tackle the region's "skills gap" where local construction companies will struggle to meet demand in the coming years.

O'Hare also said that one of the reasons that the construction workforce may be dwindling is due to stereotypes such as it not being academic, with long hours, conditions that are dirty and cold and that it is male-dominated. But the industry has evolved, added O'Hare, and now career paths are "much more lucrative" and "incredible" technology and design play a bigger part. "There's quite a lot of disincentives around the history of construction in the UK but it's a genuine place for people to have long-term careers and do valuable work.

"We're also working hard to redress some of the obvious gender imbalance within construction and the wider trades," he added. Jobs within construction that are not "site work" include business administration, project management, design and team leadership. The college said it would use some of its funding to meet capacity because even though there is a national shortage of construction workers, applications are up 50% this year.

This would mean building partnerships with employers and more classroom space. Emerging industries such as heat pump installation and low carbon technologies will also be among the areas that the colleges could focus their training funding on. O'Hare said: "Construction is having a technological reboot and we are trying to co-ordinate a different narrative.

"It's not just about laying bricks." Listen to highlights from West Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North.