Time to stop the leak of plumbing skills

Feb 14 2003 By Nicholas Craig, The Journal

"there are too many graduates and not enough plumbers and electricians," complained the Institute of Directors last year.

The good news this year is that plumbing courses are greatly oversubscribed. The bad news is there still won't be anyone to fix your leaking tap until 2005.

Newspaper headlines about £90,000-a-year plumbers have led to a huge increase in people applying for plumbing courses.

However, we're about 29,000 short at the moment and many skilled, ageing workers will retire in the next few years.

Much-needed lecturers in plumbing are paid far less than their trade colleagues, so there is a worrying shortage of good teachers to train the next generation.

From April, Summitskills - a new-sector skills council - will be responsible for meeting training needs in the plumbing, electro, technical, heating, ventilation, air-conditioning and refrigeration industries.

It's high time there was a focus on the provision of well- trained trades people and Summitskills, together with the Learning and Skills Council, could help to fill the gap.

The Institute of Directors' idea is that we should create a proper pathway in schools from the age of 14, allowing children to learn building and engineering skills.

The IoD claims people are leaving university with useless degrees that could damage their job prospects - not improve them.

Not surprisingly, the Government challenges that view. Its White Paper on the education of 14 to 19-year-olds is designed to build equality of status between vocational and academic routes. The proposals will give headteachers more freedom to offer a wider variety of subjects once children reach 14.

Are we chasing pipe dreams? Plumbing still has far too many cowboys, no compulsory registration or criteria for plumbers, and a sliding scale of charges that depends on where you live and what sex you are, as much as what the damage is.

The cutback in apprenticeships began more than a decade ago, when the recession forced firms to chop schemes and training.

Moves by Government and agencies are welcome but perhaps too little, too late.

Spats between directors and Government seem to entrench positions rather than solve problems.

We need quality and quantity quickly, and that's a tall order.

It'll cost us.

Might be able to squeeze it in 2004-5 at the earliest, if we're lucky.

* Nicholas Craig is a partner at Watson Burton law firm.