Lord Blunkett and former Skills and Apprenticeships Minister Robert Halfon co-chair the new Council, which will examine how Heathrow expansion and other major infrastructure projects can create opportunities for young people.
The Heathrow Infrastructure Skills Council has held its first meeting in Birmingham, bringing together employers, skills providers and industry leaders to examine how major infrastructure can help tackle Britain’s NEETs crisis.
Convened by Heathrow, Make UK, the TUC and former Ministers, the Birmingham session is the first of four regional meetings to be held across the UK. The series will culminate in a report setting out recommendations for Heathrow, the wider infrastructure industry and the Government.
With nearly one million young people not in education, employment or training, the Council will hear directly from local employers, colleges, training providers and young people about how to secure the skills pipeline needed to build the UK’s future infrastructure.
The Council is co-chaired by Lord Blunkett, the former Education Secretary and Home Secretary, and Robert Halfon, the former Skills and Apprenticeships Minister who is now Executive Director at Make UK. Attendees at the inaugural meeting included the Federation of Small Businesses, Logistics UK, GMB, West Midlands Combined Authority, Connected Places Catapult, South & City College Birmingham, Birmingham City Football Club, HS2 and Balfour Beatty.
Heathrow has pledged, as part of its expansion plans, to develop a youth employment and skills plan setting out how it could deliver 5,000 youth apprenticeships, traineeships and other entry-level pathways. The company says this is in addition to unlocking 108,000 jobs nationwide across engineering, construction, logistics, sustainability and the wider supply chain.
Heathrow’s CEO Thomas Woldbye said:
“There is no better place to begin this conversation than Birmingham, a city with a proud industrial heritage and a vital role to play in developing the skilled workforce Britain will need in the decades ahead.
“Heathrow expansion is an incredible opportunity to futureproof the UK’s critical national infrastructure and to build the skilled workforce the nation needs. We want young people in every region and nation to share in the benefits of expansion, gaining the training, experience and pathways into rewarding careers that major projects can provide. This is a nationally significant project that will inspire, train, and develop the next generation of skilled workers, leaving a lasting legacy.”
Rt Hon. Robert Halfon, Executive Director at Make UK and co-chair of the Infrastructure Skills Council, said:
“As Skills Minister, I saw how often young people are told to aim high without being shown the next rung. A ladder of opportunity only works if every step is in place: a clear route from school into an apprenticeship or technical training, and from there into a skilled job that pays well and leads somewhere.
“Heathrow expansion and the wider pipeline of national infrastructure will need engineers, technicians and construction workers for years to come. The test is whether those jobs go to young people in the communities around these projects, or whether employers are left short because we did not train people in time.
“That is the work of the Infrastructure Skills Council, which I co-chair with Lord Blunkett. At Make UK’s Technology Hub today, employers, training providers and partners are meeting to match what these projects need with the training on offer, so a young person starting an apprenticeship now can see exactly where it leads.
“Britain needs new infrastructure. It also needs the skilled workforce to build it.”
Lord Blunkett, co-chair of the Heathrow Infrastructure Skills Council, said:
“Given that the Government is serious about tackling youth unemployment and closing the skills gap, they must continue to progress nationally significant infrastructure projects with absolute urgency. We are at a watershed moment, with a pipeline of projects that could transform the lives of our young people.
“These projects, like Heathrow expansion, will not only deliver economic growth; they will create apprenticeships, training opportunities and pathways into skilled, rewarding jobs for the next generation.
“That is why I am proud to support this new Council, which will develop practical recommendations to ensure these opportunities are fully realised. Our ambition must be not only to build the infrastructure Britain needs, but to recognise that this cannot be done without building the workforce that will deliver it.”
Alan Milburn, Government youth employment adviser and Chair of the Milburn Review, said:
“Nearly one million young people in Britain are not in education, employment or training. Unless we act, we risk a lost generation of young people.
“Turning that around means giving young people a reason to believe there is a future for them in Britain’s economy. Major projects like Heathrow expansion have the potential to make a real difference by connecting young people who need jobs to opportunities, skills and experience that can change the course of their lives.
“I welcome this initiative from Heathrow and the creation of the Infrastructure Skills Council. If we can harness major infrastructure investment to give many more young people a stake in Britain’s future, that will be good for them and good for the future of our country. It is a win-win.”
Sian Elliott CBE, Director of Organising and Skills at the TUC, said:
“High-quality training and good jobs change young people’s lives, while giving businesses the return on investment they need through a secure pipeline of skilled workers for the future. As major infrastructure projects like Heathrow expansion move forward, workers’ voices must be at the table to help ensure those opportunities deliver good, unionised jobs to communities across the UK.
“That is how we deliver growth in every postcode and is why we are proud to be part of this Council, bringing the experience and expertise of unions to the conversation and helping to ensure national infrastructure projects deliver for working people.”
