Join the new Levy Strategy Committee

Most people see investing money as much more interesting than raising it. And the act of spending money tends to generate much less criticism than that of bringing it in. We can see that from how Rishi Sunak has received widespread praise for the way he has turned on the spending taps to protect the economy from the Covid Pandemic. But we also know that his day of reckoning will come when he needs to raise taxes to fund at least part of it.

And that’s why we need you to help us to get the CITB levy right. This is never an easy task. We need to raise the right amount of money to fund the support the industry needs. But at the same time, we need to think about what it can afford to pay. We also need to agree the fairest and most efficient way to raise it - never easy in a sector that is really a collection of different industries.

It’s vital that we get these decisions right. In a normal year the CITB levy raises over £200m, which is more than four fifths of its income. And this year and next will be nothing like normal years. From April next year up to March 22, the levy will be half its current rate to provide some relief to employers as they recover from the worst crisis in over a century.

Having set the rate for next year, we need to start looking beyond it and thinking about future years. We will need to think about the industry’s needs and its outlook. We must also consider whether the recovery from the pandemic or new technology will reshape construction in ways that mean we need to rethink how the levy works. We’re asking you to help us in both recommending future levy rates and also fundamentally reviewing the levy. We’re also planning to look at whether there are better ways to collect the levy.

We’re setting up a Levy Strategy Committee to help advise us and report into our Board. If you’re a senior employer working in construction or expert with an understanding of it, we’re asking you to share your time and expertise with us. You’ll be discussing key trends in the industry with us and testing ideas. Sometimes, we’ll ask you to plough through spreadsheets and at others to network with your contacts to test the Committee’s thinking.

If this sounds like you and you’d like to get involved, please register your interest here.