THE Labour Party’s proposal to link up housing and skills policy would be the right approach for a post-Brexit UK.

Its pledge to integrate housing and skills policy is the right approach to tackling two of the key challenges we face in the building industry.

We are building too few homes in every part of the UK and this problem is exacerbated by the construction skills shortage.

Jeremy Corbyn has said that freedom of movement would end under a Labour Government and it is therefore right that the party has a clear plan to build the homes we need and train the people we need to build them.

It is a strength of the Labour manifesto that it has such a clear focus on apprenticeships and high-quality training.

The commitment to doubling the number of NVQ Level 3 apprenticeships by 2020 will be well received by small construction firms.

The sense of a decline in the standard of construction apprenticeships has reduced the attractiveness of taking on apprentices for many SMEs.

SME construction firms still carry out two thirds of all apprenticeship training and nearly three quarters of construction SME bosses say they would be more likely to take on an apprentice if the standards to which apprentices are trained improved.

A higher level skills base is key to increasing the UK’s productivity which trails behind other leading economies.

There is little, however, to address the fundamental issue of industry capacity.

  • Brian Berry is chief executive of the Federation of Master Builders.