Task force set up to address skills shortage

A task force was launched this week to find apprenticeship places for 10,000 students on construction courses who cannot find a contractor to take them on.

The Cross Industry Construction Apprenticeships Task Force, which is headed up by the Federation of Master Builders, has been set up in the wake of Britain's dismal showing at the World Skills Championship in Japan last month.

The British team was unable to field an entrant in some of the construction categories because the youngsters were not skilled enough to compete on the world stage.