The Building Birmingham Skills Partnership (BBSP) has launched this week to support Birmingham residents into careers in the construction industry.

The partnership will create a network of trusted employment and skills organisations to link construction employers with local people, ensuring communities benefit from the record levels of investment coming into the city.

Alongside contractors, education providers, community groups and the voluntary sector will join BBSP, helping to connect local people and places to opportunities arising from investment and, in turn, supporting delivery of the city's Economic and Place strategy.

Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands, and Councillor Nicky Brennan, Birmingham City Council's Cabinet Member for Housing and Homelessness, marked the launch with a visit to Selly Oak Jobcentre and nearby site The Triangle, a £90 million scheme by McAleer and Rushe that will deliver 836 student bedrooms together with retail and community space.

Cllr Brennan and the Mayor were joined by partners from the Building Birmingham Skills Partnership, including colleagues from the Department of Work and Pensions, WMCA and the BCC Employment Access Team, to explore how major construction projects can create real opportunities for local people, particularly for young people starting out in work.

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Contractors McAleer and Rushe highlighted how their social value programme is helping people to gain skills and training, and move into good quality jobs in construction that can offer lifelong and fulfilling careers.

Councillor Brennan said: "Initiatives like this are connecting local people with real opportunities, aligning skills development and training to the construction sector and helping them to launch sustainable, quality careers. Through the Building Birmingham Skills Partnership the council will work together with our partners across the city to make a tangible difference to the lives of our residents."

Councillor Sharon Thompson, Deputy Leader of Birmingham City Council, said: "With the unprecedented scale of investment and development in Birmingham we have a once-in-a-generation chance to reduce the high levels of unemployment that our city has had for decades. We know that there are significant social and economic barriers to achieving inclusive growth across Birmingham, and through the Building Birmingham Skills Partnership we are working with our partners to break them down."

Richard Parker, Mayor of the West Midlands, said: "The West Midlands is heading into a construction boom that will power new jobs, new homes and new opportunities right across the West Midlands and I want local people to have the skills and access to jobs to deliver it. It’s why I recently announced £75m investment in training and apprenticeships in construction, engineering, design and all the supporting roles that keep our region building. Led by Birmingham City Council and partners, the newly launched Building Birmingham Skills Partnership will bring benefits to residents across the city and filter wider across the region – making it the best place to live, learn, work and visit."