CITB has pledged to give 19,000 people construction site experience and allocate a further £110m, on top of grant support, to support learners and employers as part of its ‘Strategic Plan’
Key elements of CITB’s Strategic Plan aim to support training and retraining, improve productivity and make it easier to help employers bring in apprentices and other new entrants.
CITB will focus on a smaller number of priorities to help modernise construction and increase productivity, collaborating with industry, governments and Further Education (FE).
As well as delivering direct support to employers, CITB’s Strategic Plan will use this period to help fix the system, making it easier to recruit workers into the industry and to access training.
Between 2021 and 2025, CITB’s levy will be invested across Britain to:
- Support 28,000 taster experiences of construction and in Go Construct
- Give 19,000 people onsite experience to prepare them to start work in construction through onsite hubs
- Create a new pathway between Further Education and employment available to 8,000 learners, including 1,600 apprenticeship starts
- Raise the share of apprentices completing their programmes from 60% to 70% through allocating £110m to support learners and employers on top of grant support
- Help employers to invest in training initially to rebuild after the pandemic but increasingly to modernise and raise productivity through the Grants Scheme and other funding. This will see over £500m (77% of levy) of funding to employers
- Support employers to modernise by identifying the key competencies required, including those that support digitalisation.
CITB will also work with colleges and training providers to increase the number of learners becoming construction apprentices.
‘Fix the system’
Sarah Beale, CITB chief executive, commented: “The recovery presents construction with big challenges but also major opportunities to do things differently and bring a wider range of new workers into the industry.
“Our Strategic Plan will support employers to realise these opportunities by helping fix the system that brings people into work and supporting them to do the training they need.
“We will focus on a small number of areas such as providing new entrants with information and experiences, creating a new pathway from Further Education into apprenticeships and a job, and boosting the numbers of apprentices completing their programmes.
“We will also help employers to train by addressing gaps in provision, making training accessible and targeting funding where it’s needed, including through the Grants Scheme.
“Over time, a greater share of this will support employers to modernise and raise productivity.”
Sophie Seddon, people and culture director at Novus, and recently joined the CITB board, said: “For many businesses, particularly small ones, the focus today is on survival and recovery.
“But looking forward we make it much easier to join construction and recruit from a much wider range of backgrounds.
“The plan sets out how we can do that through supporting apprenticeships, work experiences and pathways from FE.”
CITB’s strategic plan was developed during discussions this summer with employers, trade federations and associations and CITB’s board and Nation Council members.
