CITB

The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) is the industry training board for the UK construction industry.[1]

The CITB logo

History

The CITB was established on 21 July 1964 by the Industrial Training (Construction Board) Order 1964,[2] and was one of a number of training boards covering UK industries. It was a non-departmental public body of the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills[3] until 2016 when it moved to the Department for Education.[4] The activities of the CITB have been redefined by statutory instruments (including the Training (Construction Board) Order 1964 (Amendment) Order 1991 and SI 1992 No. 3048).[2]

In October 2003 Charles Clarke, then Secretary of State for Education and Skills, awarded the licence for the new construction industry sector skills council (SSC) to "ConstructionSkills", a partnership between the CITB and the Construction Industry Council (CIC).[5] The CITB became known as CITB-ConstructionSkills, or simply ConstructionSkills, for the most of the next 10 years.

In March 2013, it was announced that the organisation would drop brands such as CITB-ConstructionSkills, CSkills Awards and the National Construction College (the NCC operated from seven locations: Ashbourne, Erith, Inchinnan, Bircham Newton near King's Lynn, King's Norton, Leytonstone and Llangefni),[6] and revert to its original CITB name as a result of industry feedback suggesting that multiple brands were causing confusion.[7]

With construction employers paying a statutory levy to the CITB, it has been subject to industry criticism over its funding of training. In June 2016, for example, the CITB was criticised for not supporting an industry charity, Building Lives, while providing grants to organisations to train sales and marketing staff.[8]

Review

The October 2016 Farmer Review of the UK Construction Labour Model made several key recommendations to reform training in the industry. One of these was for fundamental reform of the CITB and the levy.[9] In May 2017, the awarding body Cskills Awards was sold to another industry awarding body NOCN.[10]

In October 2016, the government's skills minister Robert Halfon appointed Paul Morrell to lead a review of industrial training boards, in particular the future role of the CITB.[11] Industry support for the CITB varied widely, with some sectors (notably housebuilding)[12] voting against renewal of the CITB's levy, while others (Build UK, for example) favoured its continuation so long as there were reforms.[13] The report, Building Support: the review of the Industry Training Boards, was published in November 2017.[14]

In November 2017, the CITB unveiled a new strategy to become simpler and more streamlined, ending direct training via the National Construction College, and abandoning its facility at Bircham Newton in Norfolk moving to Peterborough.[15] The changes were likely to include substantial job losses among the CITB's 1,400 staff, particularly in Norfolk, as it commissioned outside providers rather than providing training itself.[16] In total, 750 staff, more than half the workforce, were said to be under threat of redundancy.[17]

In April 2018, the CITB unveiled a three-year plan in which more than 800 staff would be axed in reforms designed to modernise its business. The CITB proposed to reduce from 1,370 UK staff in March 2018 to 358 by 2021.[18] In November 2018, various back-office functions were outsourced, affecting 337 staff, with most transferring to the new provider, Shared Services Connected Ltd (SSCL).[19] In December 2018, it was revealed that, to retain employment with SSCL, over 200 staff based in Norfolk, plus over 100 staff in London, Leicestershire, Scotland and Wales, would be forced to relocate and work from SSCL's offices in York and other locations - a move condemned by Unite the Union as effectively making the 300 staff redundant.[20] In March 2019, the CITB's new head office was established in Peterborough.[21]

In February 2020, the CITB announced it had sold the NCC's Bircham Newton site to West Suffolk College, based in Bury St Edmunds, aiming to continue construction industry training provision at the site.[22]

References
  1. CITB. "Our move to CITB". CITB Website. Retrieved 24 April 2013.
  2. Explanatory Note to The Industrial Training (Construction Board) Order 1964 (Amendment) Order 1992
  3. The Independent; 19 March 2009; The rise of the quangocracy
  4. "Ministerial Departments - Department of Education". UK Government. Retrieved 1 November 2016.
  5. Coventry Evening Telegraph, 14 October 2003, New Sector Skills Council ; National Construction Week
  6. CITB, http://www.citb.co.uk/national-construction-college/national-construction-college-campuses/
  7. Welcome back, CITB, The Construction Index, Monday, 18 March 2013 (accessed: 18 March 2013).
  8. Prior, Grant (9 June 2016). "CITB funds used to train house sales teams". Construction Enquirer. Retrieved 9 June 2016.
  9. Wilson, Robyn (17 October 2016). "Farmer Review: Construction industry must 'Modernise or Die'". Construction News. Retrieved 3 November 2018.
  10. Prior, Grant (26 May 2017). "CITB to sell awarding body". Construction Enquirer. Retrieved 26 May 2017.
  11. "Paul Morrell to advise major review of industrial training boards". Gov.uk. Retrieved 9 January 2017.
  12. "House-builders vote against CITB levy renewal". The Construction Index. 2 October 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  13. Simpson, Jack (28 September 2017). "Build UK votes to back CITB". Construction News. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  14. "Building Support: the review of the Industry Training Boards" (PDF). DfE. Department for Education. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
  15. Prior, Grant (15 November 2017). "CITB to cut costs by stopping training". Construction Enquirer. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  16. "Construction Industry Training Board 'to shed jobs'". BBC News. BBC. 15 November 2017. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  17. Withers, Paul (17 November 2017). "CITB set for massive shake-up with 750 staff under threat". Building. Retrieved 17 November 2017.
  18. Tute, Ryan (17 April 2018). "CITB reveals business plan which will see 800 jobs axed". Infrastructure Intelligence. Retrieved 19 April 2018.
  19. Prior, Grant (29 November 2018). "CITB outsources 337 staff and sells plant card scheme". Construction Enquirer. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  20. "CITB board accused of shafting 300 employees". The Construction Index. 14 December 2018. Retrieved 14 December 2018.
  21. "New tenants at Peterborough City Council's Fletton Quays offices". Peterborough Telegraph. 27 March 2020. Retrieved 2 March 2020.
  22. Lorenzato-Lloyd, Alice (24 February 2020). "CITB strikes deal to sell Bircham Newton home". Building. Retrieved 24 February 2020.
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