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Industry Update from Chief Executive Barry Neilson

There is no doubt COVID-19 and the lockdown has changed the way we all work and live and that we are adapting as we progress to the recovery stage.

CITB NI, like our GB counterparts are looking at how we respond to the current crisis and support, guide and help the industry navigate it and look ahead at the recovery that is to come.  Not surprisingly, our focus is on how we work with industry to maintain and continue to develop a skilled workforce.

CITB NI is a separate entity to CITB GB in terms of how we operate and are governed. One significant difference is financial resources.  Over the past 10 years we have implemented a policy of broadening the base on which levy is paid, ensuring all who are eligible to pay levy do so and at the correct level.  The aim in spreading the levy burden is to reduce the level of levy for all.  Over this period, we have steadily reduced the levy rate (even through the financial crisis), using what reserves we had to support the industry and reduce the levy burden.

As the industry started to recover some of the reserves used in the financial crisis were recovered and CITB NI continued in its course to reduce the levy rate.  The rate was reduced in the 2018-2019 year to the present level of 0.55% (from 0.6%).  The current situation means that we are unable to review this rate at the moment due to an expected contraction of the workforce and therefore the resources available to CITB NI.

In discussions with our Sponsoring Department, DfE, it is intended to maintain the current levy rate for the 2020-2021 year.  This will likely mean a reduction in CITB NI finances, but we are confident that our reserves will allow us to continue to support the industry at the same levels as in the previous year.

It should be noted that in the current year, CITB NI increased the daily Grant rate, the support for Apprentices and introduced new grants to support those who have to travel outside NI to undertake training and qualifications. This year we have spent £880,000 on direct grants to employers and £187,000 to deliver training in partnership with other industry bodies. 

CITB NI is legally bound via legislation to collect the levy and whilst we were able to adapt the payment schedules at the height of lockdown, we do not have the financial reserves, nor the legal power, to reduce the amount of levy collected over a prolonged period of time.

CITB NI is doing everything we can to support, help and guide the NI construction industry through the Covid-19 pandemic.  Since lockdown we have worked hard to help local employers and employees as much as we can in terms of grants, levy, skills support and training. During this time we have:

 
CITB NI continues to listen and work with the industry as we finalise the grant scheme for the 2020/21 year.  We will continue to work with Government, contractors, professional and trade bodies to support training initiatives and skills development for the overall benefit of the industry so that as we move forward together into recovery and beyond, we can help develop a stronger industry. 

We are currently exploring what measures can be put in place to support the continued development of the next generation of skilled workforce especially as the industry struggles to recover from the current crisis, and the “aftershock” that will no doubt follow.

It is essential, more so than ever, that we ensure we have the right people with the right skills in place for our industry. CITB NI will rise to that challenge, as it has done in the past, in partnership with the employers we are here to support.

Click here to see Barry discussing this on video link