Skills England, the government agency responsible for creating ‘better skills for better jobs’, has given further urgency to the built environment sector as the expected demand for its services increases.

In a newly published report, the agency says demand for the priority occupations across the 10 most important industrial sectors will increase by 15% from 2025 to 2030, including housebuilding and professional services.

The report also says the construction sector, to which the landscaping sector is closely linked, will have one of the greatest demands for new jobs over the next five years.

BALI’s asks on skills

BALI and GoLandscape have been campaigning for greater recognition of the skills and labour needs of landscape industries and will continue to put four keys policy asks to government:

• Providing better access to careers information and guidance about the sector.
• Ensuring that landscaping T-Levels and apprenticeships are made more available and accessible.
• Providing sufficient funding for Land-based colleges to ensure that the facilities and staff are available to deliver world class training for the landscaping sector.
• Skills training is made available to upskill new entrants into the industry.