On Wednesday last week I was delighted to welcome Jacqui Smith – the minister for skills from the Department of Education – to Cornwall College’s Camborne campus, to highlight the importance of the College’s construction skills courses.

During the visit, the minister met with the CEO of Cornwall College Group, Rob Bosworth, as well as Rory Mason and Luke Bazeley, the principal and head of campus at Cornwall College Camborne. The minister went on a tour of the facilities of the construction college’s Brunel Building with Richard Billington, the curriculum area manager construction and building services, including wet trades, roofing and wood occupations.

She then spoke to staff about the potential for growth at the site, including enrolment numbers, partnerships and strategic intent in line with government aims, followed by a meeting with three construction and building services apprenticeship learners. The college was recently rated as ‘Outstanding’ by OFSTED and the minister’s visit was particularly timely given the government’s recent announcement of an additional 120,000 new training opportunities, as part of a radical skills revolution. These new places are accompanied by a record breaking £3-billion apprenticeship budget aimed at opening up opportunities for young people in careers which the country vitally needs to grow and prosper. These apprenticeships come alongside an unprecedented £3-million investment for ‘Skills Bootcamps’ in 2025/26 in Cornwall, across a range of different disciplines. This is on top of the £100-million allocated over the next four years to expand ‘Skills Bootcamps’ in construction announced already in the Spring statement, as well as additional funding for free courses for jobs in construction.

So why is this focus on construction skills so important to us here in Cornwall? Well, putting in bluntly we are facing a ‘perfect storm’ and we need some radical action. The average age of construction workers in Cornwall is 55 and we’re heading for a ‘cliff edge’ on resources available. The current situation is already very difficult and with this government’s commitment to some massive infrastructure projects in the pipeline over the next few years, it’s going to become even harder to attract workers to Cornwall. So, urgent action is needed to develop our own skills and resources at home.

I’ve already seen for myself the brilliant work that’s going on at Cornwall College by both staff and students. But given the tough housing targets that Cornwall has been given, the reform of planning laws removing many of the barriers to build, and the fact that in Cornwall we have 25,000 on housing waiting lists who are potentially being funded to live in temporary or emergency accommodation at tax payer expense, we need a profound uplift in the capacity to train and offer apprenticeships to our young trainee construction workers.

The sector in Cornwall is set for a period of sustained growth and so there will be plenty of stable and well-paid employment over many years. This is an area which, alongside Cornwall College, I am lobbying government to ensure that we are able to build the capacity to match the demand over coming years.