Page 34 - Swansea Skills Report 2024

Construction - Future Skills
Projects
• Homes as Power Stations
• Trust Mark
• Civic Centre / Copperworks
• FLOW
• Blue Eden
• NET Zero Transition
• Freeport
• Heritage Buildings
• Swansea Centre North
• EV Charge installation
• Metro
Many of the large infrastructure projects planned
for the county will no doubt utilise larger
national construction companies that will bring
the majority of their own workforce. However,
the larger contractors will still require local
supply chains for these projects and ongoing
future maintenance will require a healthy local
competent & knowledgeable construction base.
Future Skills Mapping
• Engineers
• Electricians
• Skilled Trades (upskilled)
• Trust Mark Assessors
• Digital literacy, basic to advanced
• Sustainable Materials
• Sustainability / Circular economics
• Planning / Civil Engineering
• Problem solving
• Supply chain management
• 3D printing
• Renewable Energy systems
• Project Management
• Groundworkers
✓ Upskill the current workforce
✓ Promote the opportunities within communities and throughout the educational system.
✓ Help local businesses become part of the supply chain for major projects via procurement assistance
✓ Close the gender imbalance
✓ Promote “Green Building” policy
✓ Encourage homeowners to uptake newer technologies (create the demand)
Upskilling the current construction workforce for
energy efficient buildings and new sustainable
heating technology is a vital first step. Trust Mark
requires PAS accredited assessors to ensure
retrofit systems are implemented correctly.
Retrofit skills are urgently needed. e.g. UK Gov
has set a target of 600,000 Heat Pumps to be
installed by 2030, There is a massive shortage of
qualified heat pump engineers. The current
number of heat pump engineers is estimated to
be around 3,000. According to modelling, at least
27,000 qualified engineers will be required by
2028 to meet the government’s target. This is a
roughly nine-fold increase in just six years.
(Nesta.org)
Swansea is also behind on house building
targets. Data taken from Stats Wales, states
that between 2011 and 2022, in Swansea only
3,858 homes have been built; barely a quarter
of the planned number of homes.
(Within Swansea's local development plan
15,600 houses and flats to be built over a 15-
year period.) Although skill gaps would not be
responsible for this shortfall, skills will
undoubtably be required for target
achievement and must be considered when
assessing the Economic & Housing growth and
Local Housing Market (in conjunction with NPT)
for LDP target amends.
With 98% of construction businesses in the
county being small and micro, releasing staff
for upskilling is a challenge, however if this is
not done, they will potentially be left behind or
create a bottle neck in the educational system,
plus loose opportunity to be part of the supply
chain for larger planned projects.
34