00:00The pitch is bold. More than 10,000 trained workers to keep the region building. But the
00:09real question is how many pie packets follow? Employers need bricklayers, electricians and
00:14plumbers now, not promises. A boom only happens if people can actually build it. Viewers judge
00:20by jobs, not announcements. I'll put that to the mayor. How will he prove this means
00:25pied work and not piper work? So we've got, we're investing £75 million into construction
00:32training for young people across the West Midlands. That will create 20,000 training opportunities
00:38and apprenticeships. And the important thing about that work is we've got massive shortage
00:44of people employed in construction and an ageing workforce. And we've got massive investment
00:50plans in homes, in our transport infrastructure in the region. Those young people acquiring
00:56those skills will have skills that will give them well paid work. And there will be more
01:00than enough going on in this region to ensure those people have access to great jobs and
01:04great opportunities within the West Midlands.
01:08£75 million is serious money from devolved and national funds. But the detail decides it's
01:14worth. How much is now down? How much depends on employers? And how much goes into real teaching?
01:19Rather than admin. If the public is paying, clarity matters. I'll press for the figures.
01:25What's signed off? What's pledged? And where the money actually lands?
01:30We've committed the funding. The funding's in place. And that will run for the next three
01:36years. What we've got to work with our training providers and our colleges is to ensure those
01:40people getting those skills are then linked to the opportunities in the workplace. And that
01:44work's still to be done. But I'm really confident, given the demand for the jobs, I'm really
01:49confident that given the scale investment in construction, given the shortage of skills
01:55we've got in that sector, that the young people going through our training programme will have
02:01access to really well-paid work. Skills demand isn't even. The Black Country, Birmingham suburbs and
02:10Coventry all need different trades. From retrofit engineers to ground workers. Good training follows
02:16the work, not the photo op. Travel costs and placement options decide who benefits. So I asked
02:22whether this chance will reach beyond the city centre and whether people everywhere will see
02:27the payoff.
02:28The programme we're putting in place will reach every part of the region. I launched
02:36the programme in Dudley, in Braley Hill, but there will be colleges throughout the West Midlands
02:41providing these courses and these training opportunities. And that's really important because I want
02:46everyone, whether in Coventry or Salihala, Birmingham or any part of the Black Country, I want young
02:50people in all those places to have access to these skills and the opportunities that it will provide for them.
Comments