New commitment to construction skills training on Moat sites 

We have developed a Moat Construction Skills Commitment to deliver new opportunities for construction training and engagement with local people on development sites we control.

Our framework presents different levels of commitment, depending on the size of development being undertaken, ranging from school or college visits to encourage construction training and employment on smaller projects through to work placements, apprenticeships and skills accreditation of workers on larger schemes. The commitment level has a direct relationship to the contract value and is tailored to what is realistically deliverable.

Moat’s sustainability manager, Caroline Field,  says:  “While we have always been committed to providing training and employment chances for local people on construction schemes, in the past we’ve managed it in an ad hoc way. We wanted to integrate it more effectively into all of the development projects we control to ensure we maximise the benefits to local communities.”

A clear example of our new approach is the establishment of the Stanhope Skills Academy on our major regeneration project in Ashford, Kent. This is the first Construction Skills Academy in the South East and represents an important ‘added value’ investment from our involvement at Stanhope. But on many smaller projects we expect the costs of meeting the commitment to be absorbed within the contract price.

Our new approach is an important component of meeting the Housing Corporation’s 2012 Construction Commitment requirements and is based upon the Kent Construction Skills Strategy produced in 2006.

For more information contact Caroline Field on 0845 359 6813 or email caroline.field@moat.co.uk