Chancellor Rachel Reeves announced her plans to ‘get Britain building again’ on Saturday, ahead of this week’s Spring Budget Statement.

Under the plans, £100 million has been earmarked for 10 new technical excellence colleges and a further £165 million will be invested to help existing colleges deliver more construction courses.

Skills bootcamps will also receive funding to expand their services to trade debutants, those re-joining the trades and tradespeople looking to improve their skills

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The small-scale renewables sector has continued to grow, despite the wider slowdown in construction output.

By the end of February there have already been over 50,000 certified renewable installations in 2025.

Last month saw over 2,500 battery installations and more than 5,000 heat pumps fitted.

However, Ian Rippin, CEO of MCS, said that to continue growth it was crucial to ensure there was a skilled installer base, delivering high quality installations.

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Keepmoat has partnered with His Majesty’s Prison Service and the NHBC to create a bricklaying academy at HMP Moorland.

The housebuilder, along with NHBC provide materials, equipment and training to offer inmates industry standard skills and improve their employment prospects upon release.

To date 24 prisoners have completed the 12-week training programme.

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