The new CITB strategic plan has been announced with details covering the industry’s training and upskilling for the next five years.
The post CITB strategic plan launched to cover next four years appeared first on Planning, Building & Construction Today. 
The plan covers the Construction Industry Training Board’s approach to supporting the skills and training requirements
The strategic plan covers aspects such as investment in skills and training development, and what will be needed to address various issues including the skills gap.
The plan will help the construction industry to meet current and future demands.
The CITB strategic plan emphasises the importance of collaboration
The key objectives outlined in the plan are:
- Inspire and enable diverse and skilled people into construction by increasing new entrants into the industry through various routes. To achieve this, CITB will promote construction careers to over 5 million potential new entrants and develop new materials and campaigns showcasing construction as an exciting career option.
- Develop a skills and training system to meet current and future needs by simplifying it and making it more response. Additionally, CITB aims to increase capability and capacity in construction training provision and develop alternative routes to competence and ensure high-quality training is available.
- Support the industry to train, develop, and retain its workforce by leading the development of an industry-agreed definition of competence for every construction occupation. CITB will offer flexible and funded options for employers to upskill their workforce and enhance productivity through better practices in quality control, project management, leadership, and digital skills.
These objectives have been put in place to support the government’s goals to construct 1.5m new homes by 2029.
As part of the plan, CITB have also announced that they will review granting and funding incentives for employers, making recruitment for commercially attractive and viable, while also investing more resources to tackle the challenge of recruiting and training via the New Entrant Support Team.
CITB have also announced that capability and capacity in construction training provision will also be increased to attempt to improve retention and achievement rates for industry learners.
Investment rates for different aspects have been announced
The new plan is allocating:
- £554m to inspire and enable diverse and skilled people into construction.
- £315m to support the industry to train, develop and retain its workforce.
- £137m to develop a skills and training system to meet current and future needs.
- £143m to run the business, including grant and levy administration.
The plan aims to support over 15,000 entrants into employment through additional routes, deliver a 5% increase in employer confidence around availability and quality of training, and support over 35,000 employers with upskilling training and engagement of over 5,000 new employers in training.
Tim Balcon, CEO of CITB, said: “Everything we do at CITB is about meeting the skills and training needs of the industry, and this Strategic Plan provides the framework with which we aim to achieve this over the next four years. Since our last Strategic Plan 2021-25, we’ve supported over 78,000 apprentices, by providing over £188m in apprenticeship grants. We’ve also provided over £37m in funding to support micro and SME employers, the lifeblood of our industry.
“We’ve consulted with over 1,000 employers to develop our Strategic Plan 2025–29. It’s vital that Levy-registered employers can see this Plan ahead of Consensus – the proposed Levy rates are expected to generate an income of around £239m per annum over the 2026–29 period. Supplemented by our commercial revenue streams, this will be used to continue supporting construction employers with their skills and training needs.
“We look forward to working with industry, training providers, and national governments to address their skills and training challenges and ensure the skills and training system is simple and accessible for everyone.”
The strategic plan can be read in full here.
The post CITB strategic plan launched to cover next four years appeared first on Planning, Building & Construction Today.
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