CITB Annual Report Traces Pandemic Employers and Apprentices Support

THE CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY Training Boards (CITB) 2020-21 Annual Report and Accounts show CITB’s grants scheme supported 13,700 employers’ workforce training, funded in the 12-months to 31 March 2021

During the furloughing and lockdowns, the Construction Industry Training Boards (CITB) provided practical support including online COVID-19 site operating procedures, checklists and risk assessments which were downloaded 38,000 times. A free COVID-19 eCourse was completed by 22,000 people.

Levy Reductions

To aid cashflow for employers, CITB suspended Levy collection for 5 months during 2020 and halved the amount due for 2021-22. It also funded a project with the Lighthouse Club charity to train mental health first aiders supporting 6,000 people.

The Skills and Training Fund supported 1,000 SME employers who receive more Levy funds than they put in – contributing 70% while receiving 73%.

The CITB 2020-21 Annual Report and Accounts show that apprenticeships grants supported 23,000 apprentices and 9,000 employers during 2020-21, while 2,800 apprentices benefited from travel and subsistence. CITB enabled apprenticeship attendance grants to be paid in advance to employers and contacted 11,000 apprentices to provide support through the pandemic – just 2.5% ended up being made redundant, with half of those going on to start a new construction apprenticeship.

Support

Evan Thomas, Managing Director of Probuild Llandudno Ltd, said: “CITB have been a huge support for our company during very unsettling times due to the pandemic. Our company cannot thank them enough for their actions.”

Lee Marley, founder of Lee Marley Brickwork Ltd, adds: “In 2020 the decision was made to start taking on brickwork apprentices in in Scotland. The company contacted CITB to help facilitate this. The representatives were very helpful in coordinating the sign-up process of apprentices and contacting the colleges. Currently Lee Marley Brickwork Ltd have taken on 14 apprentices in Scotland and will continue to do so.”

No Ordinary Year

Tim Balcon, CITB Chief Executive

Tim Balcon, CITB Chief Executive, said: “Our accounts for 2020-21 show how it was no ordinary year for the sector. To protect skills CITB acted quickly to provide assistance, doing everything we could to protect apprenticeships as well as enabling employers to continue training amid very difficult and constantly changing circumstances.

“From Levy receipts, 84p in every pound was invested in the last financial year into employer funding and industry-wide initiatives to address skills requirements. As construction recovers from the pandemic, CITB’s support for skills and training will remain at the heart of helping to solve the current, emerging and future challenges that the industry faces.”

The accounts show that the DfE-funded Construction Skills Fund (CSF) hubs, often run by local councils on major development sites, provided free training and site experience to 6,000 people in 2020-21, with 900 gaining long-term employment in construction. CITB’s successor to CSF are Onsite Experience hubs, set to deliver 8,500 onsite experiences, with 3,800 achieving employment by 2024.

CITB also funded organisations such as trade associations to deliver training to construction employer members, or Higher Education facilities, such as the University of Wales Trinity St David delivering the new CITB-funded scaffolding training centres in Swansea and Cardiff.

Read the Annual Report and Accounts 2020-21

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