NCC students march on Parliament in college fiasco protest

More than thirty National Construction College (NCC) students have marched on Parliament in a bid to secure funding for the troubled flagship NCC East training facility.

Morgan Ashurst bagged a £26m contract to build redevelop NCC East in November last year, after a long series of setbacks which saw the NCC's plans to fund the scheme through a major housing development thwarted by planning officials.

The project had looked likely to go ahead when it secured funding from the Learning and Skills Council (LSC) under its Building Colleges for the Future programme.

But the cash-strapped LSC announced last month that just 13 projects out of more than 100 it had originally intended to bankroll would get funding.

NCC East submitted a 'robust' bid emphasising the facility's national importance to construction training but it did not make the cut.
 
Jason Chapman, a 2nd Year Plant Mechanic, said: “It’s a disaster. The site is over 70 years old and in dire need of redevelopment. We’re unhappy that the LSC could not see that the work we do here is vastly different from any other college in the country. If the site closes some of the best specialist training for the industry will clearly be lost. It just doesn’t make sense.”
 
Paul Sealy, Head of Organisation Development Kier, said: “The construction industry faces long term skills shortages and the provision of high quality training through a craft and technical centre of excellence is vital in addressing this issue. Nationally only the NCC is currently capable of providing the facilities, specialist equipment and teaching expertise to deliver this type of training. However, it is now in an extremely precarious position. The College was poised to begin a £26m redevelopment programme, which has now been cancelled by the LSC.

“This withdrawal of support for a craft and technical skills centre of excellence at the NCC will have a detrimental effect on the skills of our future workforce and ultimately on the construction industry’s long term ability to deliver the country’s built environment.”

Andy Walder, NCC Director said: “Our project met all the LSC’s ‘readiness to start building’ criteria – with full planning permission, a strong design team, detailed build designs and all other funding sources in place for a planned start on site of Autumn 2009. We had already stripped away aspects of the project that were not essential. The remainder of funding – outside the LSC’s contribution – is already in place, including funds already set aside by the College and grant money from the East of England Development Agency.
 
“Without this funding the college cannot continue to provide the training support the construction industry urgently needs. We are now actively seeking talks with the LSC to ensure they understand the unique nature of this project and to discuss how we can secure the redevelopment.”

Stephen Ratcliffe, Director, UKCG said: “The College is driven by industry needs. UKCG, a group of senior executives from leading construction companies, have acknowledged that if the National Construction College were to cease providing training in any specialisms, this would have a severe negative impact on the industry.”