A report issued today by the Public Accounts Committee (PAC) calls for the Government to set out how it will address the UK’s lack of skills and capacity to deliver major infrastructure projects. In response to the report and its findings, Andrew Baldwin, Head of Policy and Public Affairs at the Association for Project Management (APM), the chartered membership body for the project profession, said:

“We have been warning for some time that there is an ever-growing gap between project professionals’ demand and their supply. This is serious, as the skills shortage has impacted on the current Government’s ability to achieve its levelling up programme, will impact on the likelihood of achieving net zero by 2030, and unless addressed, will seriously undermine any attempt to implement a party manifesto post-election.

“More must now be done to support the IPA to further professionalise project and programme management within government. Getting 1,000 accreditations per year is sterling work, but the IPA must be given the resources to rapidly increase numbers.

“Beyond this, we need to encourage new entrants, either via university or by changing career, and upskill the current workforce much faster. The Government would also benefit from increasing the number of Chartered project professionals working on major infrastructure projects.”

(Pic – Milestone/Hampshire County Council)