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More Leaving Construction Than Joining
The annual industry forecast from the Construction Industry Training Board highlights the continuing persistent gap between what the UK needs to keep up...
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Consultation To Ensure The Levy Doesn’t Run Dry
The CITB consultation with the construction industry on training levy proposal options for the years 2026 to 2029 will run from 26 September until 24 October. A consensus must be reached by next year.
During this four-week engagement period, the Construction Industry Training Board will host a series of webinars for construction employers across Great Britain, providing information on the draft levy proposals and seeking their opinions. These sessions will be a chance for active registered CITB employers in England, Scotland and Wales to share their feedback which will inform the development of the final levy proposals.
The training levy
The levy plays a vital role in investing in the British construction industry, ensuring the development of a skilled workforce to meet the sector's current and future demands.
The sector faces a pressing need for growth. Earlier this year, the CITB’s annual CSN report revealed that the UK will require over 250,000 extra construction workers by 2028 to meet current demand. Through upskilling and training the construction workforce, CITB is instrumental in helping the industry deliver the necessary knowledge and experience.
Consensus
Usually undertaken every three years, consensus is the process through which CITB seeks levy paying employers’ views and agreement on its plans for generating the levy and the skills and training this will deliver to the industry. CITB’s core focus for the 2026-29 draft levy proposals being shared in September is to ensure that the levy exemption and reduction thresholds remain current and appropriate.
Feedback gathered during the consultation will be collated for the levy strategy committee (an independent group of industry representatives and external specialists) which will provide guidance and recommendations to the CITB board before it submits final levy proposals to the Secretary of State for Education.
Tim Balcon, the chief executive of the CITB, says: “Consultation is an integral part of CITB’s consensus process for reaching industry agreement on the next three-year levy order. We need the views of employers to help inform our proposals, ensuring that the skills and training we provide meet their requirements and helps deliver the workforce desperately needed to get Britain building again.”
All CITB active and in scope registered employers can have a say on proposal options during the consultation phase of Consensus. Views can be provided at the interactive webinars or through a dedicated online consultation channel called Citizen Space.
Method
Once the final option has been selected, CITB will measure consensus in early 2025. Measuring consensus is a sample-based process, so there is no expectation that all Levy payers will be asked to provide their views. However, the Prescribed Organisations will gather views from their members and an independent market research company will conduct a sample survey of 4,000 employers who are not part of a Prescribed Organisation. The combined results are designed to be representative of the Levy paying population and of a large enough size to report reliable results.
To register for a CITB consensus webinar – Click Here
Picture: The CITB has set-out key dates for a consensus consultation on the 2026-29 training levy.
Article written by Cathryn Ellis
12th September 2024