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By Sean Kearns, CSCS Group Chief Executive
For local authorities and combined authorities data-driven insights from CSCS-logoed card schemes and technologies can aid planning, monitoring and delivery of projects in your areas and regions.
Councils and local authorities are being asked to deliver housing, regeneration and infrastructure at pace, while improving local employment outcomes and building sustainable skills pipelines. That is difficult without a reliable view of workforce capacity and competence across programmes.
CSCS is a not-for-profit organisation, owned by industry for industry and will be at UKREiiF 2026 in May to take attendees through its digital infrastructure, from cards and skills passports to digital verification via CSCS Smart Check and Workforce Insights.
Through the CSCS Alliance, we are developing Workforce Insights to support place-based planning. Our work aligns with the Construction Leadership Council and the Construction Skills Mission Board, with a focus on competence, productivity and long-term skills supply.
Workforce Insights across the CSCS Alliance
The CSCS Alliance holds a significant view of the carded workforce, including occupations, qualifications and training, skill levels, location and age demographics.
On its own, that is valuable supply-side intelligence. The real step forward comes from combining it with increasing on-the-ground Smart Check verification and card type patterns. This provides a clearer picture of what is happening in practice across sites and programmes.
What councils and regions can use it for
1) Skills planning based on evidence, not assumptions
Alliance workforce data helps you understand the occupational shape and demographics of the carded workforce in your area. Verification patterns add a practical sense check on demand and activity on the ground.
2) Stronger assurance across local programmes
Where you are working with multiple delivery partners, you need confidence that checks are being applied consistently. Smart Check patterns can help you understand where verification is happening and where it is not, supporting better conversations with delivery partners.
3) Earlier sight of pipeline risks and opportunities
Workforce Insights can help highlight where there may be skills pipeline issues or opportunities by looking at occupation types alongside card levels and age demographics, mapped regionally.
4) More credible monitoring for partners and government
Combined insights provide stronger evidence for government, councils and industry partners to support skills pipelines and long-term growth across construction and the Built Environment.
Partnership-first, with clear boundaries
We want to work with authorities and councils to shape what indicators and reporting are most useful for local governance and programme delivery. Any outputs must be appropriately aggregated and governed, with clear terms and transparency on limitations, but we’re here to support your planning and development, using a skilled and competence workforce.
UKREiiF 2026
At UKREiiF, we will be meeting councils and regions to discuss what workforce intelligence would be most useful for planning and delivery, and how we can co-design practical reporting.
