Britain 'facing huge skills shortage'

A lack of skilled tradesmen across Britain has now become apparent and could even jeopardise construction work scheduled to take place in preparation for London's hosting of the Olympic Games in 2012, it has been claimed.

Liberal Democrat MP Don Foster has said that builders, electricians and plumbers are all in short supply and advised that new training schemes needed to be put in place.

The British construction industry was advised at the time of London's successful bid that it would need to "embrace change" in order to cope with increased demand, the Times reported back in 2005.

But Mr Foster's comments suggests that skills shortages are still a key issue in the industry.

"Britain is facing a huge skills shortage that could undermine the success of the Olympics. What progress is being made to get the necessary training in place to make sure we have sufficient people with the skills so we're not held to ransom by unscrupulous contractors?" the MP asked.

Responding to the comments, Olympics minister Tessa Jowell said that a number of schemes involved at training up suitable workers were now underway.


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