SKILLS SHORTAGES THREATEN EAST MIDLAND'S HISTORIC BUILDINGS

500 craftspeople needed in next 12 months

The East Midland's historic buildings are under threat from a shortage of skilled craftspeople, according to the first major piece of research into the labour and skills situation in the built heritage sector, published today by the National Heritage Training Group.

Backed by ConstructionSkills and English Heritage, the research found that 1,984 people currently work within the built heritage sector in the East Midlands, preserving some 397,000 pre-1919 historic buildings, including 40,736 listed buildings. However, with 32% of local contractors having outstanding vacancies and the workload ever increasing, the industry needs to recruit almost 500 people at a local level in the next 12 months just to meet immediate demand.

This recruitment includes over 60 carpenters, speciality bricklayers and slate and tile roofers; over 50 lead-workers and stonemasons; and over 40 joiners and painters and decorators to work in an industry estimated to be worth over £3.5billion across England every year.

These specialist skills are essential for the repair and protection of many historic buildings at risk in the East Midlands. Derbyshire has a great number of buildings in poor condition such as the group of farm buildings at Dalley Farm in Belper, which require stone roofing skills to save it from disrepair. However, a number of organisations in the county are taking this on board and have started initiatives in craft skill training. One of these is the College of the Peak in Bakewell who are developing specific vocational courses.

In Lincolnshire, the survival of Alford Manor House, an unusual brick and timber framed 16th and 17th century house, depends upon the skills of almost every traditional trade. One particular problem has been the thatching of the roof, which is currently under repair. Similarly, Apethorpe Hall in Northants, the region's most important building at risk, will need a great number of tradesmen skilled in the repair of its stone walls and Collyweston slate roofs.

Experts also fear that nationally, in 15 to 20 years time, the smaller numbered and more vulnerable craft skills such as drystone walling, thatching, millwrighting, earth walling, and flint-knapping could disappear completely. In England today, there are currently only around 270 professional members of the Dry Stone Walling Association, under 1,000 thatchers and about 50 firms who work on cob and earth buildings. In the next 12 months alone, there is a need for almost 200 lime plasterers, around 140 wattle and daub craftspeople, over 100 glaziers, over 80 clay dabbins craftspeople, and almost 60 cob builders and dry stone wallers.

Anthony Streeten, Regional Director for English Heritage in the East Midlands, said:

"Not only does the report produce yet further evidence that heritage conservation skills are at risk, but it puts forward a funded action plan to tackle specific problems. The message is very clear: it is time for joined-up thinking and concerted action across the construction industry, amongst educational establishments and careers organisations, funding bodies and government departments to tackle a vital issue that lies at the heart of sustaining two things people hold very dear in the East Midlands - beautiful historic buildings such as Alford Manor House in Lincolnshire and Apethorpe Hall in Northamptonshire - and the craftsmanship that maintains them."

Meanwhile, almost two thirds of public and commercial stockholders and private home dwellers interviewed in the research expressed a high level of satisfaction with the work done on their property. However, under half were happy with the completion time of the work, with 54% of public and commercial stockholders and 42% of private stockholders citing a labour or skills shortage as the reason for a delay. The shortage in many parts of the country is so acute that there can be a wait of over three months for the right skilled craftsperson, potentially putting buildings at risk.

Peter Lobban, Chief Executive of ConstructionSkills, the Sector Skills Council for the construction industry, added:

"In order to preserve our country's historic buildings, it will be equally important to maintain our craftspeople's historic skills. Although it's reassuring to know that many clients are happy with the skills out there, it's clear that lack of craft training in some areas is potentially having a knock-on effect on our heritage. As the Sector Skills Council for the industry, we'll be working with English Heritage and others within the sector to ensure that we have the right skills, in the right place, at the right time to maintain these significant buildings and ensure that some of our more vulnerable trades don't die out."

Following on from the signing of a Sector Skills Agreement between ConstructionSkills and English Heritage, the findings of the report have prompted the National Heritage Training Group to develop a Skills Action Plan to address skills shortages and encourage more people into the sector. The main aspects of the plan include:

* Campaigning to raise the profile of vocational training and the built heritage sector and to interest more young people to pursue careers within it * Supporting the Trade Federations, Chartered Institute of Builders and DTI in the implementation of a Quality Scheme to provide consumer protection from poor work by unqualified people * Working with professional institutions to promote good practice in using a suitably skilled and qualified work force * Looking to develop current and new qualifications to ensure traditional building craft practical knowledge and skills can be gained from GCSE to Master Craft level * Supporting the development of regional training centres of excellence, based on the CoVE network and national centres where the training need is better sustained at this level * Establishing an approved network of training provision * Developing a rolling programme for 'Training the Trainers' to improve delivery of conservation, repair and maintenance at NVQ Level 3 * Co-ordinating a programme of Skills Fairs across England * Securing funding for heritage conservation qualification at NVQ Level 3 and adult apprenticeships

For further information about the National Heritage Training Group, visit http://www.nhtg.org.uk. For further information about ConstructionSkills, visit http://www.constructionskills.net. For additional information on English Heritage, visit http://www.english-heritage.org.uk

David Linford, Chairman of the National Heritage Training Group added:

"The Skills Action Plan has been developed in consultation with everyone involved in heritage building skills - from employers, to education providers and clients. We believe it offers a robust solution to the current threats to vulnerable trades and buildings and look forward to many years of safeguarding the country's built heritage."

ENDS

Definitions of several of the trades mentioned in the press release are as follows:

Bricklayers: In the built heritage sector, bricklayers often repair and replace bricks on an historic building or wall. In order to do this, they need patience and an eye for detail, as well as needing to learn about the different methods of laying (bonding) the bricks over the centuries and the changes in pointing that have occurred.

Carpenters/ joiners: In the built heritage sector, these roles require many of the same skills as modern day carpentry and joinery. However, it also involves lots of problem solving and an understanding of how different wood is affected by different conditions and amounts of time. A carpenter or joiner could be asked simply to make repairs to a building, or even to copy original features.

Slate and tile roofers: Roofers need to be able to identify problems and know how to fix them before they strip a roof for re-slating or re-tiling. As with all traditional materials, a roof slater and tiler needs to be able to make best use of the original roof covering and be able to use traditional methods for fixing both the original and replacement tiles or slates in place.

Lead Workers: Lead Workers are recognised for their specialist skills in shaping lead sheet and other metals into different details, either by bossing or lead welding to make the different component items for the job in hand. These range from lead flushing for a chimney or dormer window to elaborate coverings for specific roof features, such as a turret or dome.

Stonemason: Stonemasonry covers a range of different roles. A banker mason works stone to replace decayed stonework on a historic building and needs to be skilful with tools used for working stone into different shaped components, using templates and moulds as a guide. In contract, a fixer mason users the stone components created by the banker masons to carry out the repair and conservation work on the buildings.

Painters & decorators: Historic buildings contain some of the most detailed and elaborate decoration and painters and decorators specialising in this area need to be inspired by decoration of early periods and be able to rise to the challenge of replicating them. It is also possible to specialise in the more ornate decorative work of gilding, graining and marbling.

Thatchers: A thatcher installs and repairs thatched roofs, using a range of cutting and fixing tools. Like many craftspeople, thatchers work outdoors at height, in all weather conditions. The thatcher needs to know what is the most appropriate thatching material to use on the roof according to where the building is and the historical use of longstraw, combed wheat reed, water reed and sedge grass. This is a highly skilled job that involves having the skills to check and repair the wooden roof structure and chimneys and preparing the thatching materials before fixing them to the roof, adding the new thatch, and installing or repairing the ridgeline whose design is often personalised by the thatcher.

Wheelwrights: Wheelwrights make and repair the wooden and metal components of a wheel as well as make parts for wagons and carts. So, they need to have acquired a range of skills, including carpentry and joinery, ironmongery and painting.

Dry Stone Wallers: Dry Stone Wallers build walls without cement or mortar. The walls are mostly boundaries to fields or properties and can be found in most parts of the UK except East Anglia. A waller will repair and rebuild dry stone walls using the most appropriately available local stone. The skill is in the technique used to construct the wall.

Millwrights: Millwrights need a range of skills to repair and maintain the many wind and water-powered mills. These include heavy structural timber-frame skills, carpentry and joinery skills, brickwork skills, decorating and painting, and mechanical and engineering skills. A millwright will often have to work in confined spaces within the mill and needs to move and raise heavy weights.

Cob and earth walling and Clay dabbins: Cob and other earth-walled buildings now remain in specific parts of England, particularly the South West, the East Midlands and the Solway Plain in Cumbria. A cob / earth waller needs to understand how to build in courses and how to integrate other elements and materials such as plinths, roofing, limewash and lime plaster, to the structure. Repairing cob / earth walls is a highly specialised skill as you need the knowledge and skills to stitch new blocks to old and make blocks to match the existing structure.

Flint-knapping and walling: Flint wallers have a range of skills that enable them to work with the material in a variety of ways to provide solid masonry walls, facing to an outer skin of a cavity wall, as a decorative, non-structural surface to a wall, as cobbles for flooring. Flints can either be used whole or fractured, i.e. 'knapped', and the latter is a highly specialised skill.

Wattle and daub: The majority of timber-framed buildings in England are in-filled using a framework of thin wood (wattle) and a covering of earth, straw or hair and lime (daub). Repairing and consolidating wattle and daub requires skill and expertise and an understanding of how to re-create this very localised material and apply it at the appropriate time of year to ensure it is not compromised by bad weather.

Glazier: To repair historic glass, glaziers need specifically to understand how to use the appropriate material relevant to the window and building on which they are working.

Notes to Editors

1. The skills mapping survey was commissioned by the NHTG in February 2004 to cover the nine English regions: South West, South East, London, East of England, East Midlands, West Midlands, Yorkshire & Humberside, North West and North East and involved primary (qualitative and quantitative) and secondary (desk) research. The qualitative research was conducted between 1 July and 1 October 2004, and 1,439 letters of introduction from the NHTG were sent to potential respondents, to set the context and encourage participation in this project. From this, 100 interviews were undertaken, with 12 interviews conducted over the telephone and 88 interviews conducted face-to-face at the person's home or place of work, with a range and regional distribution of respondents. Quantitative research was carried out to collect previously unavailable data on the built heritage sector and to establish the level of robustness of the qualitative findings. Telephone interviewing was selected as the best means of collecting the data for this stage and 1,567 telephone interviews were completed using five separate questionnaires, for stockholders, contractors, sole traders, professionals, and training providers. The next stages of the research will look at skills in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

2. For the purposes of this research, an historic building is defined as a building constructed prior to 1919

3. An outstanding vacancy is one that has been unfilled for three months or more

4. ConstructionSkills is a partnership between CITB-ConstructionSkills, CIC and CITB (NI). It is one of the Sector Skills Councils tasked by the Government to implement UK-wide Sector Skills Agreements between the bodies responsible for delivering training in the UK and those that demand it.

5. English Heritage is the lead body for the conservation of England's historic environment. It maintains and opens to the public over 400 historic properties including the World Heritage Sites at Stonehenge and Hadrian's Wall. It advises national and local government and the public on matters affecting the historic environment and gives grant aid for its conservation and repair. Responding to the Government's policy "The Historic Environment: a force for our future", English Heritage is helping to co-ordinate the development of craft skills nation-wide.

6. The construction industry Sector Skills Agreement (SSA) offers significantly increased employer commitments to training and skills through their supply chains. The objective is to work in partnership with further and higher education and government agencies to respond to the key skills challenges revealed by research and industry consultation. In addition to considerable investment by individual companies, employers have agreed a financial strategy in which they will provide funding of over £120m per year for collective training activity. The key elements of the SSA are collaborative action plans addressing the construction industry's three major skills challenges: Improving Business Performance, Qualifying the Existing Workforce and Recruiting Qualified New Entrants

7. The National Heritage Training Group is a specialist sector skills development group comprised of contractors, trade unions, training providers and heritage bodies - with a UK-wide remit to develop training and skills provision for the traditional building crafts sector. It is a formal part of CITB-ConstructionSkills protocol to engineer craft skills to a DfES model and is currently joint funded by CITB-ConstructionSkills and English Heritage. Its first Business Plan was launched in October 2003.

Issued on behalf of English Heritage by Government News Network East Midlands.

Client ref EM/62/05