SOUTH YORKSHIRE INNOVATION PLATFORM
How can private housebuilders create genuine social value for their communities, improve social mobility for young people AND address the skills shortage in the housing sector? Case study includes outputs from our South Yorkshire Innovation Platform including: The North Star Science School Partnerships, Waverley Build It Green Project, and Barrett’s ‘Insight House’.
The challenge
Talent is everywhere, but all too often, the opportunity isn’t. The futures of far too many young people in the UK are determined by background, not potential. The UK has some of the lowest rates of social mobility when compared to other countries (source: Goldman Sachs).
Those from affluent backgrounds are 80% more likely to be in a professional job than their working-class peers (Source: The State of the Nation Report 2018-19).
Only 16% of young people on FSM attain at least two A-Levels by the age of 19 (Source: The State of the Nation Report 2018 -19).
In areas of low social mobility, it is far harder for someone from a deprived background to escape deprivation. Up to 33% of the pay gap is driven by non-educational factors - (Source: The Long Shadow of Deprivation).
The opportunity
The housing sector offers high quality jobs and is also very accessible via vocational routes, and yet it also faces significant skills challenges in relation to current and future workforce.
The construction sector employs over 10% of the country’s workforce.
● In 2019, the sector contributed £117 billion to the UK economy, representing 6% of the UK’s total economic output, and accounted for 300,000 businesses, which was 13% of the UK’s total.
● The Government’s Employer Skills Survey in 2019 found that skills shortages accounted for 36% of all construction vacancies.
● This will require the sector to recruit an additional 217,000 workers, or more than 43,000 per year.
(Source: Meeting Housing Demand report published by the House of Lords’ Built Environment Committee in 2022).
With this in mind, the challenge we chose to collectively tackle in South Yorkshire was social mobility.
The approach
Our approach is about facilitating long-term partnerships rather than one-off projects. We’ve been working with Barratt Developments and Ibstock Plc for four years to explore how social value can be created for communities in South Yorkshire through the development of new homes.
Our approach was to create an ‘innovation platform’ across South Yorkshire. An innovation platform connects people and places, building relationships, opening doors, and transforming life chances.
It is the catalyst connecting communities with the dynamism of the private sector.
South Yorkshire is one of our key national pilot areas for creating an innovation platform.
Over the past four years, through the innovation platform, the partnership has developed a school-based programme focussed on encouraging young people to consider future careers in construction and housing.
The project was approached with an aim of building relationships and working deeply in a place.
The partnership is focussed on turning problems into opportunities. We look for the win-wins, where community and business needs align for mutual benefit. The UK needs more new homes, the housing sector has a skills shortage, and local people need jobs.
The solution
#2. The ‘Waverley Build It Green Project’
This project was set up to connect children to businesses and develop an understanding of sustainability in construction through hands-on challenges.
The programme was developed and facilitated by The Work-Wise Foundation and funded by South Yorkshire Housing Association as part of the Well Rotherham programme.
Schools said that:
“ON A STEM FRONT MANY, IT'S GIVEN OUR CHILDREN A REAL EXCITEMENT AND BUZZ. IT'S GIVEN THE CHILDREN SKILLS, NOT ONLY ACADEMICALLY, BUT SOCIALLY, TO USE TEAMWORK, RESILIENCE, THINGS THAT WE PRIDE OURSELVES ON AT WAVERLEY. IT'S ALLOWED THE CHILDREN TO LOOK OUTWARDS WITHIN A COMMUNITY, AND THINK ABOUT THEIR IMPACT OF SUSTAINABILITY ON OTHERS.”
April Taylor, Year 2 teacher at Waverley, and Science and STEM lead across the Trust.
Employers said that:
The project was an opportunity to develop local community links and give back to the local community they were working within and develop their own teams’ skills.
It was a positive experience for employees to have more in-depth involvement with the local community.
It was refreshing and thought-provoking to hear the young people’s enthusiasm and fresh perspective on some of the work they do around sustainability.
#3 Barrat’s ‘Insight House’
This project gives young people the opportunity to see how some of the discussed technologies and sustainable ideas are put together in the fabric of a real house, showcasing how sector leaders are making homes greener and more environmentally friendly.
Client/funder
Barratt Developments, Ibstock Plc
Partners
Work-wise, Rotherham City Council, Brinsworth Academy, Wales High School, Gullivers Valley, Well Rotherham.