Covid-19: CITB chief exec update - 4 March 2021

Good afternoon, 

I hope everyone is enjoying their week so far. Today’s email details the launch of our Levy consultation, an overview of Scottish National Apprenticeship week, and how next week we’ll be celebrating women in construction.

Have your say on our Levy proposals

Monday saw the opening of consultation into our Levy proposals, in which we’re suggesting a return to pre-Covid rates in the way we raise the Levy for the next three years. We’re asking for your feedback on our plans to help get our sector back on its feet and play a leading role in the country’s economic recovery.

Following our decision to apply a 50% Levy rate for this year, we’re now proposing returning to 2019 levels from 2022. CITB will support smaller employers even further this year by increasing the threshold, making an extra 5,000 of them exempt from paying the Levy. You can get full details on our proposals by clicking here.

CITB Levy registered employers can take part in our consultation, which runs until Sunday 11 April, by clicking here. You can also register for one of our virtual events explaining our proposals by clicking here.

Consensus will take place from Monday 14 June to Sunday 15 August, with more information available by clicking here. As we’re in a Census year, it’s also worth nothing that our CITB Consensus is in no way related to this year’s national Census.

Scottish Apprenticeship Week

This week is Scottish Apprenticeship Week, with a variety of events and engagement opportunities taking place throughout the country to encourage young people into our industry.

If you’ve got any examples from your business, we’d love to hear them. It was great to share this news of a 21-year-old painter/decorator who followed in the footsteps of his boss – and his boss’s boss – to be a Drumchapel business’s third nominee for Apprentice of the Year at Glasgow Clyde College’s Anniesland Campus in the West End! Please do let us know of similar stories, so we can share the great examples of where apprentices are helping your business.

You can get involved by downloading campaign resources by clicking here, and using the #ScotAppWeek21 and #BusinessBackingTalent on your social media stories. You can share your businesses apprenticeship opportunities by clicking here.

Women in Construction Week

Next week we’ll be joining the industry in celebrating the contribution of women to our sector as part of Women in Construction Week. The focus is on highlighting the contribution women make to our industry, and raise awareness of the opportunities available as we look to give construction employers a wider pool of potential recruits to choose from.

We’ll be sharing case studies and asking you to get in touch with any that you may have. Role models are a great example of showing young women that construction can be the industry for them.

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 made available to UK businesses and employees by the UK Government.

Best wishes and stay safe everyone, 

Sarah Beale 
Chief Executive