The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) only delivered on three of its 12 key performance indicators in 2019/20.The organisation’s delayed annual report and accounts for the last financial year include results of an employer and stakeholder survey, which informs the performance indicators set by its board.These included a finding that only 26 per cent of the sector sees the CITB as “credible and reputable adding value to the industry”.
Just 22 per cent thought there was a talent pool sufficient to meet industry needs and 25 per cent believe funding is commissioned to target priority areas.It hit its performance targets on young people, influencers and educators becoming familiar with its campaigns and careers, increasing apprenticeship starts in construction in England to more than 22,000, and increasing the diversity of sex and ethnicity among apprentices in England.It fell narrowly below target in three of the other categories.
Amid the COVID-19 crisis, the body postponed the industry consensus vote on its levy that was due to be held last year. A foreword to the report from CITB board chairman Peter Lauener said 74 per cent of employers and stakeholders that took part in the employer and stakeholder survey said the levy should continue to be collected. The question is not among its key performance indicators outlined elsewhere in the report, however.
Due to the crisis, the body has previously said it anticipates it will collect just £73.8m in 2020/21 from its levy, compared to its pre-crisis forecast of £198m. It took £188.2m in 2019/20, when its overall income was £273.77m against expenditure of £283m. Levy collection was suspended from late March until September and a 50 per cent rate cut has been proposed for the next financial year.
The accounts reveal that the CITB took a loan of £10m from its sponsor body the Department for Education after the pandemic hit to support its cashflow in 2020/21.
They also reveal that a total of 600 of its staff were put on the government’s furlough scheme after it began spending its reserves in order to remain operational.
Lauener’s foreword said: “CITB exists to help industry develop world-class skills. In 2019/20, we invested over £133m of the £188m we collect from industry to support the next generation of apprentices, enabling over 27,000 young people to start their careers in construction. We also helped over 15,000 firms grow and develop through our grants system, as well as funding the training of around 245,000 of their employees.
“I am sure employers would be delighted if all this could happen without the levy we raise! But it can’t; we need the levy to make sure that industry has the skills it needs.”The CITB has not yet announced when it will hold another vote on the levy but said in October it would make a decision early this year.In a statement, CITB chief executive, Sarah Beale said: “So much has changed in the past year that it now seems a long time ago. Construction, like all industries, underwent unprecedented upheaval due to the pandemic, and CITB immediately took action to support industry.”She added that it is now focused on “tackling the skills challenges of net zero and Brexit with a new generation of home-grown talent” and said new technology and modern methods of construction will help the industry become “stronger and more sustainable than ever”.
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