The NFB proposes creating a new construction careers body, curbing the powers of the CITB and reducing it to a sector skills council.
The federation said that it wants to “spark an industry and government-wide debate about the future of CITB”.
The paper, called Reconstructing CITB, says that the training levy should be paid direct to HM Revenue & Customs, and funding allocated by the Department for Education.
It also says that CITB should be stripped of careers promotion responsibilities and that it should stop all of its lobbying activities, which should be left to trade associations and the Construction Leadership Council, it says.
During the recent CITB Consensus 2021 process, National Federation of Builders’ members registered a small-margin ‘yes’ vote to continue with the CITB levy, indicating overall support for a training levy. But there have long been rumblings of discontent and frustration.
Herman Kok, company secretary of Lindum Group and chair of the NFB major contractors’ skills and training subgroup, says of the Consensus process: “Many of us felt we were not asked the questions that really mattered or needed to be asked, fuelling the common perception of the disconnect which exists between the CITB and the industry.”
He writes in the foreword to the NFB paper: “Our fear is that, without significant and fundamental change, at a time when our industry needs it most, we will again be burdened by a taxation in the form of a levy (in part used to fund non-levy paying bodies) which does very little to address the current skills need, promote the engagement with schools and colleges or the career events and promotion we need to solve the skills shortages into the future.
“As far as the grant system is concerned, for too long it has operated as an inefficient, bureaucratic ‘escrow account’ with construction companies paying money into the pot and having to employ staff to help them reclaim their deposits on production of relevant certificates as proof that the employees have engaged in a training activity. Where is the added value in such a system?
“What our industry needs is the encouragement to explore new methods of construction, embrace zero carbon projects and be able to access relevant training, to not only be ‘on message’ but to drive the green sustainable agenda which will dominate the next decade.”
NFB chief executive Richard Beresford said: “As a member-led organisation we have lobbied for years for the CITB to reform from within. Our members have finally come to the conclusion that is no longer a viable option and that CITB needs a fundamental reorganisation. Only the government will be able to deliver that, so we are launching this paper to spark a serious and wide-ranging debate about how we mobilise to get this done. I’m calling on all those who pay CITB levy to join us in this fight. It’s time to reconstruct CITB.”
CITB chief executive Tim Balcon said: “Having a strong working relationship with all construction employers and their member organisations is very important to CITB. We were pleased that NFB members supported the levy in the recent consensus process and look forward to building on that positive result. As with all of our stakeholders, I look forward to discussing with NFB the current and future skills needs of construction employers of Great Britain.”
The report, Reconstructing CITB, The NFB View of CITB: A New Way Forward for Skills and Training Deliver, is available on the NFB website.
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