Training Group rallying member support as axe hangs over CITB.
The National Demolition Training Group (NDTG), the specialist training arm of the National Federation of Demolition Contractors (NFDC), is rallying members to support calls to retain the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB).
The CITB is currently facing its triennial consensus vote which it needs to win to allow it to continue collecting levy cash from contractors.
But the CITB – a key provider of grant funding to the NDTG – has come in for intense criticism recently, particularly from Balfour Beatty group chief executive Leo Quinn.
He attacked the skills body for failing to train enough workers, being too big, bureaucratic and unaccountable. “Currently, the CITB occupies a pivotal role in providing all of us in the sector with the skilled workers we need. Bluntly, the present skills shortage shows it hasn’t been doing this for some time. The Levy paid into the CITB – let alone its other income – provides it with a budget comparable to a good-sized public company. But while PLCs are subject to rigorous corporate governance, CITB has a fundamental governance weakness: it is not closely and regularly accountable to the industry it exists to serve. Given that CITB raises £200 million a year via the Levy, the lack of detail in the information it has provided to date is truly concerning.”
DemolitionNews understands that a round-robin email has been circulated to all NFDC members, encouraging them to demonstrate their support for the retention of the CITB and – thereby – to retain the grant funding the NDTG currently enjoys.
Voting for the consensus closes tomorrow. The results are scheduled to be published in October.
