The measures are part of the CITB’s Skills Stability Plan
2020-21, which aims to protect apprenticeships and provide direct funding to
employers to adopt new ways of working in the wake of covid-19.
Employers will continue to have a payment holiday on the
Levy until September and then up to a full year to pay the 2020/21 levy, followed
by a cut in the 2021/22 Levy. The CITB said this would mean employers will pay
18 months’ Levy out of 24, making an overall saving of 25% across two years.
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The changes will see CITB’s forecast Levy income drop by
£166m across two financial years. CITB is also cutting costs and using its
reserves to support employers’ skills needs.
CITB also pledged to support workers who have lost their
jobs or seen their apprenticeship disrupted by matching them with a new
employer, including through exploring a talent retention scheme. Current year
two and three apprentices are already being supported to complete their
programmes through up-front grant payments, training materials being made
available online and support from apprenticeship officers to allow learning to
continue remotely.
Meanwhile, direct funding for employers has been prioritised
through the Skills and Training Funds, with £8m earmarked for small and micro
businesses, £3.5m for medium-sized businesses, with a £3m Leadership and
Management Fund for large firms.
CITB chief executive Sarah Beale said: “This represents a
radical plan of action that balances the need for a reduction in the Levy at
this time, alongside vital investment in the skills needed by employers now and
in the future.
“It is the result of hundreds of conversations with
employers across the length and breadth of Britain and I’m confident it meets
the sector’s immediate needs. We are committed to making the Levy work hard to
protect apprenticeships and support hard-pressed employers as they equip themselves
for the challenges and opportunities ahead.”
CITB will now seek the views of industry employers and
federations about the development of a new strategic plan, covering 2021-23,
with the plan expected to be published in September.
Beale added: “We have spoken to employers and federations
and most have suggested that they want us to focus full-time on helping the
industry meet the challenges posed by covid. We have confirmed with the
Department for Education that we will not run the usual consensus process and
instead we will speak to employers and industry groups to seek their views on
our plans for next year.
“We will continue to be responsive and collaborative, working closely with the sector and government to return the industry to growth. We will listen to industry and respond to its priorities and give every employer the confidence that we wish to understand and learn from their concerns and ambitions.”
Mark Reynolds, Mace Group chief executive and skills workstream lead at the Construction Leadership Council (CLC), said: “Our industry has come together to develop an effective plan to come back from the effects of covid-19, as detailed in the CLC’s Roadmap to Recovery document. CITB’s Skills Stability Plan builds on this work and clearly outlines how they will play their part in delivering the skills we need. We very much support efforts made by the CITB to substantially reduce the Levy. It is right that Consensus is delayed so we can work together to make sure that our recovery, still in its early stages, is as strong as possible.”
