Covid-19: CITB chief exec update - 29 October 2020

Hello,

In the past week there has been more news about local lockdowns and support from the Government which present challenges for all of us. With this in mind, I do hope you are keeping well. 

Given the changing lockdown measures around the nations and regions, please visit our urgent messages page to keep up to date with changes to our testing services and training.

The outlook for the future has been, understandably, hard to predict, but today we can provide a snapshot of how we think the next five years will look like through a new Construction Skills Network Industry (CSN) Outlook for 2021-25, published today.

Skills needs in the next five years

Despite beginning to recover from the first wave of the pandemic, local lockdowns continue and departure from the Brexit transition period is fast approaching. We’re continuing to research the sector’s future skills needs amid the pandemic and economic uncertainties and are publishing today a short briefing for you on our projections for the next five years.

The report predicts that between 10% and 14% of the construction workforce, or 286,000-372,000 sector workers, may lose their job in 2020, with numbers only fully recovering from 2025. It shows limited recruitment of new entrants and apprenticeship starts over the next year, but with demand picking up from 2023. The forecast shows that the next few years will be difficult for many construction employers and their workforces, as with the rest of the economy. CITB will continue to take action and adapt to changing circumstances to support skills.

In addition, we’ve made four key recommendations to Government to make our recovery strong and sustained. These are:

• protect and retain as much of construction’s existing talent as possible;
• make construction a priority sector in the new National Skills Fund;
• reform the Apprenticeship Levy so that more money can be spent on smaller companies in the supply chain;
• help get more college students into construction jobs and apprenticeships.

We hope you find our CSN report useful for you and your business:

Construction Skills Network – Industry Outlook 2021-2025 (PDF, 833KB)

Short duration standards update

When claiming grant it is important to use the correct code and Standard name to help us get the payments to you as quickly as possible.   

The Grant Codes for Short Duration Standards list has the most up-to-date information, with upcoming changes found in the Construction Training Directory section here.

Remember that the easiest way to get your employees’ details onto the Construction Training Register and to receive your grant payment is by giving your CITB levy registration number to your Approved Training Organisation (ATO) when booking.

Your views on the CITB Grants Scheme

There is still time for you to share your views on the support we offer industry through the Grants Scheme. This is your opportunity to shape what we offer in the future, helping us ensure limited funds are directed to where they can make the most difference for you.

Please complete the feedback form which should take no longer than 10 minutes, by 5pm on 2 November 2020.

Across the construction sector we are all adapting to new ways of working and a very different economy to what had been expected, and I’d like to thank you for taking the time to keep up to date with CITB services, and particularly those of you who have provided feedback this year on how we can better support industry. 

A reminder…

CITB’s  COVID-19 Urgent Messages page is refreshed regularly and includes updates on the full range of our work. You can also read the range of support measures being made available to UK businesses and employees by the Government.

In these uncertain times, stay safe everyone.

Best wishes,

Sarah Beale
Chief Executive