Clear, simple and delivering value – CITB’s new Business Plan

With our new 2019-2021 Business Plan we are putting it front and centre, to make sure everything we do contributes towards achieving that mission.

With this in mind, we have grouped our activity into two key areas: to Attract people into construction and Support the development of people in the sector.

It’s as simple as that.

It allows us to commit to activity, knowing it is integral to what we are here to do, and in turn provides a real return on the investment that employers make when they pay the construction levy.

That’s why we are committing to our Big Six (PDF, 6MB). These are six exciting, transformative projects which will help to address key skills challenging facing the sector right now.

Our Big Six:

1. We all know with an ageing workforce and potentially having fewer EU workers, we face a massive challenge to attract new talent into the sector. In response we will launch of a new nationwide campaign to attract and inspire more recruits later this year.
2. There is a clear need for more work-ready recruits. For this reason we are building on the Construction Skills Fund to create 20 more on-site learning hubs in Scotland, Wales and rural England.
3. Apprenticeships remain a key route into the industry. We are committed to delivering a two-thirds increase in apprentices by 2025, and twice as many apprentices from diverse backgrounds.
4. A well-known barrier to joining construction is that many who take college courses are not site ready at the end of the them. By working with education partners, we will double the number of those joining the industry direct from college courses, from 9,000 now, to 18,000 in 2025.
5. A criticism that has sometimes been levelled at CITB is that we don’t do enough for the SMEs that dominate our sector. I know we must do more, which is why the expansion of the successful Skills and Training Fund is so critical. This fund was accessed by 1,400 small and micro employers in 2018 – we want that number to grow to 1,900 this year, and will bring a new fund to medium-sized employers.
6. If we want more people into the industry, we must have the capacity to do that. We will train 220 new assessors to help deliver an additional 22,000 vocational qualifications each year.

I hope you will agree that our Big Six will have a real and meaningful difference to the construction sector.

We believe they help demonstrate that each pound received through the construction levy is being worked hard, and delivering that critical ROI.

All of these projects come from the insight we gather, which is why a meaningful dialogue with employers and education providers is vital.

I’d like to see this Business Plan (PDF, 6MB) as a way of showing CITB’s value but also to start important conversations about how we can continue to deliver on our all-important mission. Mark Noonan Industry Relations Director, CITB.

Download the full version our 2019-2021 Business Plan.