Supporting employers’ core skills and training needs and tackling long-term people and skills challenges underpin the Construction Industry Training Board’s (CITB’s) 2021/22 Business Plan.
Some £140 million of industry Levy will be invested in 2021/22 to fund employers to train and provide support and services. This investment of 94p out of every pound of Levy CITB receives will be targeted at industry’s priorities to ensure Levy in, means skills out.
There will be significant Levy investment in crucial areas like apprenticeship support, work placements, building bridges from further education into construction and direct funding to employers for training.
Enhanced funding support will increasingly focus on the most in-demand skill areas required to deliver accelerated homebuilding and infrastructure and wider challenges such as boosting productivity, building safely post-Grenfell and Net Zero carbon emissions. This will include key trades and wider challenges such as leadership and management, digital skills and retrofitting.
Sarah Beale, chief executive of the CITB, said: “This Business Plan is based on listening to the industry and investing in what it has told us is important to it. As promised, we’re targeting Levy at fewer initiatives to ensure industry funds work hard and tackle priority issues. The plan strikes the right balance between employers’ current needs and future skills challenges.
“We will continue to work in partnership with industry to help attract talent and make it easier for new entrants to join, while giving employers the right support and access to training to upskill their people and retain vital skills. This work will put construction in a strong position to grow, improve productivity and become an inclusive, even-more-rewarding sector in which to develop a career.”
Careers
CITB will support changes to make securing a role in construction much more appealing and easier to access. Inspiring people from school age through STEM Ambassadors and skills competitions then providing engaging information about Careers through Go Construct.
It will also invest in and support onsite training hubs across England and Wales, providing 3,650 work experience places, delivering 2,500 new entrants ready to work onsite and join construction. CITB will be part of the delivery team providing an industry-wide Talent Management system to support early career opportunities in addition to the Construction Talent Retention Scheme.
Training and Development
CITB ramped up e-learning during the pandemic so that training could be delivered wherever and whenever it was needed.
Furthermore, apprenticeships will see a total investment of £79 million in 21/22, to support the increase in quality and volume employers need. Of the 11,000 apprentices supported by CITB during the pandemic, only 1.2% were made redundant.
CITB will continue to provide the Health, Safety and Environment Test and Site Safety Plus courses and will work with providers and support training through the National Construction College to help employers access the training they need. CITB will also invest £1 million into specialist skills.
Standards and Qualifications
A key focus from 2021 will be working closely with employers to agree the key knowledge, skills and behaviours they need to ensure they have a competent workforce to meet the challenges they face.
CITB will collaborate with qualification providers and key government bodies in England, Scotland and Wales to ensure that the key standards and qualifications support employers to invest in competent workforces.
Key figures
Careers
- CITB to support 4,000 taster experiences of construction in 2021/22, and 28,000 by 2025
- Go Construct website had 2m searches last year, and 600,000 visitors
- Training hubs will deliver 3,170 onsite experiences in 2021/22, and 19,000 by 2025
- Training hubs will have 2,500 people employment and site ready in 2021/22, and 11,600 by 2025
- A new mental health hub to support 150,000 workers
Training and Development
- CITB Training Directory and Training Register saw 1.9 million achievements awarded to 700,000 trainees
- CITB will support 8,000 learners in England by 2025 with 1,600 apprenticeships next year and 1,000 new construction traineeships
- Scotland will see an extra 120 people on its “Pathways to Apprenticeship” initiative
- Wales will see 500 new starters on the country’s FE apprenticeship programme
- CITB helped small firms access £10,000 Government grant, and medium-sized businesses access £25,000 grant
- CITB’s leadership and management course boosted 36 large employers.
