CHC Roundtable: Scaling the retrofit and construction economy

As part of our Senedd election campaign, we are convening a strategic roundtable to move beyond identifying barriers and start drafting solutions. Our goal is to produce a National Retrofit & Construction Skills Action Plan: a ready-to-implement blueprint for the next Welsh Government to unlock thousands of local, secure, and green jobs.

We will focus on three "unblockers" to transform the Welsh housing sector into a primary engine for economic growth:

• SME Confidence & The "Long-Term Pipeline" How can the next government provide the 10-year certainty required for local SMEs to move from "surviving" to "scaling," allowing them to invest in permanent staff and apprenticeships?

• Housing Associations as engines of change How can housing associations most effectively use their procurement power to spearhead training and apprenticeship opportunities and work across housing tenures to support energy efficiency measures.

• The "Green Tech" Rebrand How do we reposition construction and housing maintenance as a high-tech, prestigious career path to attract the next generation of Welsh talent?