Section: Conferences & Exhibitions

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Conference Urged to Help Homeless into Work

Sir Michael Latham spoke to more than 100 delegates at a groundbreaking conference, in London. The conference was held to find out the barriers that prevent homeless people from getting jobs in the construction industry.

Sir Michael, Chairman of ConstructionSkills, said:

"Today is not just about re-treading old ground. It's about establishing a real outcome in terms of momentum and change.

"Amongst the industry, there may be false assumptions about the real barriers which homeless, and formerly homeless, people encounter.

"Amongst the homeless agencies, there may be a sense that action in this field is about charity or about outdated skills needs figures.

"In order to move on, these misconceptions must be aired and then corrected to allow all parties to work together productively."

Sir Michael, the keynote speaker for the event, is also chair of the Construction Industry Training Board. He wrote a highly influential joint government/industry report, called Constructing the Team, in 1994.

Sir Michael said the current labour force predictions showed that industry output is set to rise by 10.8% by 2011, through projects such as the Olympics and the widening of the M25. Just to service current predictions, he said the construction industry needed to recruit more than 87,000 people every year for the next five years.

He pointed out that the construction industry was made up of a range of different sub-sectors from new build housing to repair and maintenance of heritage properties.

Each sub-sector, he said, had different labour requirements and, most important, a different capacity to absorb new entrants.

Sir Michael said: "For the well-positioned homelessness agency, particularly those near to major developments, there are real opportunities for improving the access of the homeless to employment. However, to make these opportunities concrete will require the breaking down of stereotypes of the homeless, commonly held by many employers - and a realistic assessment of candidates provided by homelessness agencies."

Sir Michael was also keen to point out the many misconceptions that construction employers held about homeless people:

"It is vital that as an industry we overcome the stereotypes that all homeless people are unmotivated and demanding; or that they have become homeless because they have little ability and have spiralled downwards through addictions.

"Many of the homeless, or former homeless, are ready and eager for work, and may have general ability or specifically useful past experience - for example, time served in the armed forces. They may also already have a relevant education."

Sir Michael said that ConstructionSkills had been working in partnership with the Housing Forum for the past two years, using social housing refurbishment demonstration projects to train disadvantaged local people.

He added: "We have already built up a lot of knowledge and best practice in this area. It's only by openly discussing the issues from both sides of the question that we will be able to move forward productively together."

The conference was organised by a consortium of organisations, including Thames Reach, Construction Youth Trust, CRASH, Department of Communities and Local Government, Homeless Link, and Off the Streets and into Work.

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Reporting on May 2007

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