LEADERS from the construction sector in Liverpool and the wider North West have called on Government to invest in construction jobs and training as a route out of recession and back to growth. Despite planned infrastructure projects such as the Albert Dock biomass project, the Burbo Bank wind farm extension and the new wind farm in the Irish Sea offering hope to local firms, industry bodies and employers have urged for more funds to be committed. The call comes as indicative Construction Skills Network figures from CITB-ConstructionSkills, the Industry Training Board for the construction industry, reveal 12,600 construction jobs in the North West could be lost from the sector by the end of next year if action is not taken to stimulate growth in the region. The figures update statistics published at the beginning of the year and reflect the effect of increased uncertainty in the euro one and UK’s return to recession. They suggest a sharper and deeper decline than predicted at the start of the year. It is claimed employment in the North West construction sector could drop by 5% by the end of 2013. Falls in public funding are one of the factors responsible for the decline in the North West. The new forecast indicates that output in public housing is likely to fall by 29% and public non-housing (including schools and hospitals) by 36% in 2012. Steve Housden, sector strategy manager for CITB-ConstructionSkills in the North West, said: “As is the case for all the northern regions, the North West seems likely to underperform the UK economic growth rate over the five years to 2017.Read
