Funding doubled to boost industry skills

CITB-ConstructionSkills has announced it will more than double the rate of grant available to employers for Training Plan and Short Duration training courses for one year only in a bid to boost the industry’s skills base.

The increases, which will benefit around 5,000 employers, come following another difficult year for the sector that has seen the number of construction apprentices joining the industry halve and the number of companies claiming grant funding for training fall by 34% since 2008.

Under the new temporary grant increase proposed by the industry-led Grants Scheme Working Party (GSWP), funding for Training Plans commenced and Short Duration courses carried out between 1 August 2012 and 31 July 2013 will rise from £22.50 to £50 per day. A further £11.00 will also be made available to employers eligible for supplementary payments, making a total of £61.00 per day.

Designed to incentivise construction employers of all sizes engage in training to up-skill their workforce, Chris Jones, Chairman of the GSWP, said: “I’m sure that our decision to increase grants to reward employers that train is welcome news for the industry.

“These are difficult times for our industry – 2012 has proved to be significantly tougher than expected and with businesses needing to adapt to survive, this additional grant should help incentivise construction firms build a highly-qualified workforce that is capable of capitalising on work opportunities as the sector returns to growth.”

As the leading sector skills body for the construction industry, CITB-ConstructionSkills, delivers training to 30,000 learners and 700 apprentices annually through its National Construction College and since 2008, CITB-ConstructionSkills has provided funding for more than 2.4 million days of training across the construction industry.