SIR James Cleverly MP, shadow secretary of state for housing, communities and local government, has called for a fundamental shift in how Britain values skilled tradespeople.
The former Conservative minister was speaking on a new episode of the Federation of Master Builders’ (FMB) podcast Build Up from the Basement.
“One of the problems with politics is everybody wants to be an architect,” Sir James told podcast host Iona Stewart-Richardson. “No one wants to be a builder. Bright ideas are really, really good but someone’s got to put them into practice. If we don’t recognise and reward the people that get stuff done, all that ends up happening is we talk about getting stuff done but don’t get anything done.
“As a society we have lost our respect for skilfulness. There was a big thing about university, a proper job is where you wear a suit and sit in front of a computer. That’s right for the people it’s right for. But it’s not right for everybody. I can see no credible reason why we shouldn’t attribute the same level of collective respect for people in the building trade as we do for people in the armed forces.”
On apprenticeships and young workers, Sir James said the UK Government’s increases to National Insurance, minimum wage thresholds and employment rights were ‘really, really counterproductive’, making it ‘much, much more expensive’ for small building firms to take on young people.
On the FMB’s Licence to Build campaign, which calls for mandatory licensing of builders to tackle rogue traders, he said his instinct was to favour trade body membership and due diligence over government regulation but acknowledged that if self-regulation fell short, a registration scheme would need to be considered.
“Organisations like yours are absolutely the kind of thing the government should be supporting and listening to,” Sir James added. “You want to make sure that the building trade has got a reputation for being professional.”
Brian Berry, chief executive of the FMB, said, “It was fantastic to have Sir James on the podcast to share his knowledge of the sector and discuss issues affecting our members. The shadow housing secretary has identified the right problems: a skills crisis rooted in decades of undervaluing trades, a housing target that no one in the industry believes is deliverable and a tax and regulatory environment that is squeezing small building firms, like our members out of business.”
