Responding to Andy Burnham’s speech in Manchester this morning, in which the Labour leadership frontrunner pledged the biggest council house building programme since the years after the war, an education system giving technical routes parity with university, and a “Number Ten North” devolving greater control over social housing, welfare and education to the regions, Sutcliffe CEO Sean Keyes said:
“Whilst Westminster will spend today weighing the politics of this speech, my interest is in two fundamentals: housing and skills. After more than 35 years building across this part of the country, I’d say he has identified the right priorities. A decent home and a strong technical education are the foundations of a successful society. Get those right and a great deal else follows.
“I welcome the ambition to deliver the biggest council house building programme since the years after the war. We’re involved in the design of around 5,000 homes a year, so I don’t say that lightly. However, ambition on that scale runs straight into a hard reality. You cannot build at that pace without the engineers, surveyors, planners and skilled trades to design and deliver it. The Royal Academy of Engineering estimates that almost one in five engineers will retire by 2028. That is why his commitment to technical education is every bit as important as his commitment to housing.
“To my mind, ending a school system that has for too long treated university as the only successful route is long overdue. We’ve committed to training 40 new engineers and surveyors over the next decade because we believe apprenticeships and degree apprenticeships are essential if we are to tackle the UK’s engineering skills shortage. Young people should be able to build rewarding professional careers without necessarily taking on tens of thousands of pounds of debt. If a Number Ten North can put real weight behind apprenticeships and technical education, it will find firms like ours ready to support it.
“Overall, I welcome the direction of travel. The real test, however, is delivery. Devolved powers only succeed if they come with the funding, planning reform and skilled workforce needed to make them work. For me, success won’t be measured by announcements or structures. It will be measured by the number of homes built, the number of apprentices trained and whether businesses finally have the skilled people they need to grow. Get that right and there is a genuine opportunity for places like ours. Get it wrong and it risks becoming another reorganisation that changes the letterhead but not the outcome.”