Tradespersons who have taken electrician or plumbing training courses could find themselves in demand to supply services during the construction of thousands of new council homes across England.

It was announced yesterday (January 11th) by housing minister John Healey that an extra £246 million has been made available to local authorities to construct an additional 4,000 council homes nationwide - with the government providing £122.6 million and the councils matching the sum.

According to Mr Healey, employment opportunities will be one of the benefits of the house building schemes.

"We're using the power of public investment to help economic growth by building the homes we need and creating jobs and skills for the future," he said.

He added that he is "requiring all councils getting this government money to offer new jobs and apprenticeships to local people" to make sure tax payers' money is well utilised.

Electricians, plumbers, gas workers and bricklayers could all find their services in demand during the construction process.

Mr Healey was appointed as housing minister on June 5th 2009 after working as a local government minister since 2007.

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