The union attributed shortages to the failure of the industry to train sufficient skilled workers in the last 20 years.

Alan Ritchie, general secretary of Ucatt, said: “The British construction industry has consistently taken a short term attitude and has failed to train enough skilled building workers for decades. This short termist attitude has been made far worse by the attitude of successive Government’s at best there has been indifference at worst downright hostility.”

His attack came after the Construction Skills Network revealed that 182,000 workers are needed in the UK construction industry.

Last year only 7,000 places could be found for construction apprenticeships, despite over 50,000 young people applying for a place, Ucatt said. The union estimates that 65,000 new recruits are needed in the industry every year to replace those leaving the industry. Many existing construction workers are set to retire in the next 10 years. Migrant workers have filled the shortfall in construction workers in recent years.

Ucatt blamed much of the training problems on “the rampant levels of bogus self-employment inherent in the industry”. More than half the 2.4m construction workers are falsely self-employed, the union said.

Ritchie said: “When companies realise they can get away without employing anyone, they also realise they do not have to train the workers of the future. This will have major consequences for the economic future of our industry.”

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