THE Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) has hailed the success of the ‘Mind the Gap’ programme, designed to open new pathways into the industry for people with convictions.
The organisation has released the outcome of an independent social impact study evaluating the initiative. The original programme launched in 2017 and was led by BeOnsite, which was established by Lendlease in 2007 as a not-for-profit company. The project tackled the challenges of ensuring sustained job creation in construction and the need to reduce reoffending.
Over three years, the £720,000 investment is said to have created ‘positive’ service interventions and support for employers, the criminal justice system, currently serving prisoners, and ex-offenders across England. Mind the Gap engaged with 400 employers and 795 candidates, resulting in 172 job opportunities and 75 sustained employment outcomes – exceeding its original targets.
CITB added that the independent social valuation of the project suggests Mind the Gap created £3,536,000 of social value between 2017 and 2020 by helping prison leavers into jobs and reducing reoffending. The report’s key finding stated that the programme was successful in demonstrating the value of this cohort as a source of workers while delivering significant social value to government and other stakeholders.
People employed through the programme reported a range of changes they had experienced, including improved personal wellbeing, relationships, and technical skills. Employees specifically identified the development of work skills, financial literacy training, and provision of support networks as key elements that helped them into employment.
The project adopts a collaborative approach, working across the criminal justice system and construction employers to design, test and deliver long-term training and support. It demonstrated that by improving recruitment methods and tapping into a broader, more diverse talent pool, employers can meet their workforce needs and contribute to meaningful societal change.
Jessica Mellor-Clark, head of BeOnsite, said, “The power of collaboration was the secret to Mind the Gap’s success. We’re proud to have brought together government, business, statutory bodies and third sector organisations to create lasting change.”
Mind the Gap also helped lay the groundwork for the Ministry of Justice’s New Futures Network, launched in 2018 to connect prisons with employers and fill local skills gaps.
Adrian Beckingham, strategy and policy director at CITB, added, “The construction industry has an array of opportunities for people from all sorts of backgrounds. By creating new routes into the industry for people with convictions, we’re not only helping individuals rebuild their lives – we’re also helping employers access untapped talent.
“Mind the Gap is a powerful example of the multitude of solutions we need to consider to address the skills shortage while improving people’s lives, and it will help inform other projects we work on and, in turn, government policy. With almost a third of construction employers citing skills shortages as a key challenge, it’s vital we broaden our recruitment horizons and build a workforce that reflects the diversity of our society.”
To read the full social impact study and find out more about the Mind the Gap programme, visit the CITB website.
