The money raised from the CITB levy is used to support training of the workforce within the construction industry.
By undertaking training, not only do employers enhance the skills-set of their employees, improve safety and efficiency, companies derive benefit from the levy by claiming this back in grant payments.
There are a number of different types of grants and full information on all of these, the current rate, and eligibility is available at: http://www.citb.co.uk/levy-grant/claiming-grants-available/
To claim grant it is essential that your CITB Grant Levy returns are being returned on time and are up to date.
CHANGES TO GRANTS
In April CITB relaunched the grants scheme, to concentrate on construction related skills, and the following are available:
- Apprenticeship Grants
https://www.citb.co.uk/grant/new-grants-scheme-2018/apprenticeships-grant/ - Construction Work Experience Grants – degree related
https://www.citb.co.uk/grant/new-grants-scheme-2018/construction-work-experience-grants/ - Long Period Qualification Grants – over one year (higher level quals)
https://www.citb.co.uk/grant/new-grants-scheme-2018/long-period-qualifications-grant/ - Short Period Qualification Grants – under one year (core construction: NVQs NEBOSH etc)
https://www.citb.co.uk/grant/new-grants-scheme-2018/short-period-qualifications-grant/ - Plant Training Grants – CITB approved courses only
https://www.citb.co.uk/grant/new-grants-scheme-2018/plant-training-grant/ - Short Duration Course Achievement Grants – other courses 3 hours to 29 days
https://www.citb.co.uk/grant/new-grants-scheme-2018/short-duration-course-achievements-grant/ - Specialist Applied Skills Programme (SAP) Grants – NVQ2/3
https://www.citb.co.uk/grant/new-grants-scheme-2018/specialist-applied-skills-programmes-grant/
CITB TRAINING DIRECTORY
The CITB’s new Construction Training Directory is live and on phase 1 (i.e. it is not yet comprehensive but should grow as more training companies sign up). You can see this here:
https://www.citb.co.uk/training-and-courses/construction-training-directory/
Using an Approved Trainer makes the grant application seamless as it is all automatic, provided the course is grant funded, and you can also see how much it is for each course. Please note that funding is available for 3 short duration courses per employee per year. However that can be divided up however you wish – so for 10 employees you have 30 possible grant funded opportunities and 2 people, say, could take 15 each and 8 take none.
CITB FUNDING
Skills and Training Funding
This provides an extra incentive to smaller employers (<100 employees) to deliver construction training which aligns with CITB’s grant scheme. This funding also supports training interventions in management & leadership.
https://www.citb.co.uk/funding/types-of-funding/skills-and-training/
Examples of successful bids https://www.citb.co.uk/funding/case-studies/
This is the most appropriate funding to fill a skills gap, but there are also other types of grants available (e.g. for 100> employees) on which your local adviser can assist or visit the CITB website at: https://www.citb.co.uk/funding/
It is worth noting that funding can be used for less obvious purposes, such as training to become an Assessor – of which there is a shortage in the industry.
REGISTER WITH CITB ON LINE
From 1 April 2018, you will need an online account to claim a grant.
Link: https://www.citb.co.uk/levy/sign-up-to-citb-online/
As a registered employer, you can access the following services on line:
1 Levy Online – to submit Levy Returns and view those from previous years.
2. Grant Online – which allows you to:
– Submit grant claims
– View grant statements to see how much grant has been paid or is awaiting payment
– Request grant reports
3. Construction Training Register (CTR) – to look up a learner’s achievements and qualifications records. (If you register for grant online you automatically gain access to the CTR.)
Opt-In for Contact with CITB
To make sure you get the latest from CITB you can choose whether you want to be contacted by email, phone or post, or by any combination of them.
Stay up to date with CITB www.citb.co.uk/opt-in You can unsubscribe@citb.co.uk at any time
Please note this will not affect legally required Levy communications.
CITB Webinars, Workshops and Events
CITB runs various events around the country, as well as series of webinars. Visit here for more information: https://www.citb.co.uk/news-events/events/workshops-webinars-and-events/
You can contact CITB on all its services https://www.citb.co.uk/contact-us/ as well as using the on-line chat service – which pops up on the site.
The grants and qualifications of most relevance to companies within the underpinning specialist sector are:
Vocational Qualification (VQ) Achievement Grants
this is available to employees, labour-only sub contractors (LOSC) and agency staff who achieve approved VQs at Level 2 and above. Currently the grant is £600.
Short Duration Off-the-job Training
Short Duration off-the-job training grant is:
- £50 per person per day (one day is six hours)
- £25 per person per half day (a half day is three hours)
- Plus an extra 10% if you pay the CITB levy and meet certain deadlines. See supplementary payment.
You can claim a maximum of £5,000 a year. The total number of days you can claim for depends on the number of employees you declared on your Levy Return.
Training must be directly related to the construction industry