Covid-19: CITB chief exec update – 30 April 2020

Good afternoon,

I hope you’re having a good week. Today’s weekly industry summary includes an update on CITB’s COVID support measures and news on: a deadline extension to our Leadership and Management Fund; an update on demand for our Buildathon competition and a call to action for construction employers in Wales.

It also provides an opportunity for you to submit feedback on how these email updates can be improved for industry.

Leadership and Management Fund

The application deadline on our Leadership and Management Development Fund has, following industry feedback, been extended from June 12 to July 31 - one month after the end of the Government furlough scheme.  As this is a competitive bid process and numerous organisations have furloughed staff who, under normal circumstances, would be developing bids, we have agreed that providing a time extension would be helpful. To apply for funding, please click here.

Buildathon

The standard of competition for our Minecraft Buildathon – a competition designed to show children (aged 5-12) construction’s appeal - has been excellent; entries have been innovative, sustainable and environmentally friendly. Demand to take part in Buildathon has been very encouraging, extra slots have been made available for May and June. For more information and to register your interest please click here. Winners of the early rounds will be announced shortly.

Call to action for Welsh construction employers

New construction qualifications for 16-19 year-olds will be introduced in Wales in September 2021.  It is essential that they suit the needs of construction employers - and learners - across Wales. Qualifications Wales has been working with a range of partners, including CITB, to support the changes, which are being developed by City & Guilds and Excellence Achievement and Learning.

If you would like to offer feedback on how the new qualifications should look please complete the registration form on this page to get involved (Welsh page here) or email City and Guilds directly.

CITB has also been working with Qualifications Wales and Welsh Joint Education Committee on the development of a new Built Environment GCSE. This will be available from September 2021. Details can be found here.

Update on recent Support Measures

Grants

On April 6 I announced that CITB would pay grants for second and third year apprentices in advance. Since then approximately £3.1m has been paid to over 1,800 employers, supporting 3,418 apprentices.

Following industry feedback we extended our Advanced Grant support to Higher Level Apprenticeships on April 7. Over £183K has been paid to 61 employers to support 271 apprentices since then.

Skills and Training Fund

Our new Skills and Training Fund for micro, small and medium sized businesses was launched on April 1. To date we have received 203 applications. To apply for funding, please click here. 

Sites Safety Plus course uptake

It’s been another positive week for Site Safety Plus (SSP) remote delivery. Confirmed courses delivered have doubled in the past week with over 150 delegates completing the courses.

Site Supervisors' Safety Training Scheme and Site Management Safety Training Scheme have been added to the list of SSP products available for remote delivery. These courses were launched by CITB’s Product team on Friday, 20 course notifications have been received since release.  The full list of remote learning standards can be seen here.

Health Safety and Environment Test app

Our Health, Safety and Environment Test LITE App has had 1,730 downloads since its launch on March 24 (details here) with uptake increasing week on week – a 60% increase in the last week alone.  

CITB’s COVID-19 Urgent Messages page is refreshed daily and includes updates on the full range of our work.

You can also read the range of support measures made available to UK businesses and employees by the UK Government.

Finally, if you would like to offer feedback on how these emails can provide you with better support, please get in touch, I’ll be very happy to hear from you, simply respond to this e-mail with your views.

In the meantime, have good weekend all, stay safe.

Kind wishes

Sarah Beale
Chief Executive