Speaking about this development, CCATF chair, Martyn Price, commented ‘the agreement we have reached to host the next CCATF meeting at the GLA’s offices is the clearest indication possible that the level of engagement and alignment of ambition between our two organisations is very high.
London is not isolated from the shortages of labour, and we must all continue to work hard to achieve our aims and goals relating to apprenticeships and the wider skills agenda.
Price continued ‘the collaboration with the GLA is the next, extremely positive step in, we believe, a two-way, multi-level initiative that can support skills development in the nation’s capital and builds on our active support for the Mayor’s Construction Academy Scheme.
At the July event held in Westminster, the CCATF successfully secured presentations from the Education & Skills Funding Agency (ESFA), the Institute for Apprenticeships (IfA) and a keynote opening address from City & Guilds. The Conference was attended by many leading construction industry employers and stakeholders such as GLA, the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP) and CITB. Panellists, for a Q&A session, were also drawn from industry coupled with awarding bodies, FE and private training providers.
Speaking about the CCATF’s recent work Chair Price said ‘the levels of engagement that the CCATF has been able to develop over recent months is, I feel, centred around two things. Firstly, the need for the construction sector to continually strive to engage with young people and encourage them to take a look at what is a diverse and exciting industry sector. Secondly, Price observed, the CCATF underpinned through its extended funding with City & Guilds is now being recognised as a positive force for change and growth within the apprenticeship arena; the agreement reached with the GLA is further validation of the progress the organisation is making’.
