CITB Grants and Funding

CITB Grants and Funding... What is the difference and how can you apply.

The CITB’s core purpose is to support the construction industry to maintain health and safety standards on construction sites and ensure the right skills are available for the industry. This is achieved by the CITB collecting a levy from all eligible construction companies that fall within the scope of the CITB Levy order. This is then redistributed throughout the construction industry by funding training, qualifications, apprenticeships, and through advice and guidance.

Currently over 56% of ARCA Full Contracting Members pay the CITB Levy. If you are one of these members then the following information is for you.

Grants

The Grant Scheme principles are: w Encourage training specifically related to the construction industry. w Alignment to CITB’s Scope Order. w Focus grants to support employers training their workforce to industry-agreed standards, so that skills achieved are universally recognised and portable. w Support all Levy-registered employers and their full sub-contractor workforce, delivering skills across the whole supply chain. w Use targeted funding to support industry priorities, and enhance support for the areas where the need is greatest. w Prioritise investment in areas where there is a long-term commitment and return on investment.

Who can apply for a grant?

ARCA members registered with CITB for levy purposes, can claim grants and funding provided they have sent a correctly completed Levy Return to CITB by 30th November each year. Small employers that don’t need to pay the levy, but are registered, can still apply for grants.

Grants are paid to the employer who has supported an employee to complete training or to gain qualifications.

How do grants work?

Grants are for training and qualifications completed in the Grants Scheme year (1st April to 31st March of the next year).

ARCA members registered with CITB, who complete employee training through ARCA, will be paid the CITB grant directly into their bank account. This is because ARCA is a registered ‘Approved Training Organisation’ with CITB, and can therefore upload the details (some details required from members) on members behalf to CITB directly through the Association’s portal.

Asbestos training courses eligible for grants are new and refresher courses for Operatives, Supervisors and Licensed Contract Managers.

Other grants, for example when an employee achieves an NVQ, will need to be claimed by the employer after the candidate has successfully completed the qualification. Usually, through the submission of evidence of certification and/or invoicing.

How to apply?

Each grant has slightly different rules. Information on how to apply for the individual grants is available on the CITB web site.

When is a grant payment received?

If succcessful, grant payments are usually made by bank transfer within four weeks of ARCA uploading the information.

To check if CITB has your correct bank details, please contact CITB directly or visit your CITB portal.

CITB Skills and Training Fund

The Skills and Training Fund is an additional incentive for employers registered with the CITB regarding the levy, to support the cost of introducing new training to help businesses improve. The aim of the Skills and Training Fund is to provide direct investment into construction businesses, to support a wide range of training or activities which help to develop either construction skills or management skills. From 2020, it also supports a wider range of activity, with a greater emphasis on innovation, and management and leadership training.

So for eligible ARCA Full Contracting Members this funding is available towards qualifications/NVQs, and training for asbestos removal operatives, supervisors and managers.

Who can apply for funding?

A business can apply if: w CITB registered w 1-250 directly employed staff on the payroll w any previous project paid for by the Skills and Training Fund has been signed off as complete.

Note that only one application for funding can be made every 12 months.

How much can a business apply for?

The funding available is banded on how many direct employees the CITB registered employer has: w 1 to 49 directly employed staff can receive up to £5,000. w 50 to 74 directly employed staff can receive up to £7,500. w 75 to 99 directly employed staff can receive up to £10,000. w 100 to 149 directly employed staff can receive up to £15,000. w 150 to 199 directly employed staff can receive up to £20,000. w 200 to 250 directly employed staff can receive up to £25,000. How to apply?

Firstly, ARCA recommends attending a one hour ARCA briefing, held on the first Tuesday of every month at 10am, where Satish Patel, ARCA Training Manager, will go through in detail the application process.

Please note, 2020/21 saw a significant reduction in the budget available to support this fund, so it was only possible to support the top scoring applications each month.

What can be applied for?

Businesses can apply for a wide range of training, providing that it is either construction-specific or to develop management, leadership or supervisory skills, this includes: w CITB standardised training (grant eligible), if it is new to the business and forms part of a larger training programme w Other training, including ‘in house’ training delivered by an appropriately qualified trainer w Types of ‘people development activity’ specifically aimed at developing skills or knowledge e.g. mentoring w Development of training resources designed to meet very specific business needs w Help for businesses to understand and plan their training needs (through accredited business development, not consultancy) Note that all funded activity must be new to the business.

Other skills development can be considered, also development of learning resources for the individual company, that are not already available in the market.

Registered with the CITB? Don’t miss out on grants and funding to support your business. Talk to ARCA.

Information on CITB Grants and Funding is avialable in the support section at www.arca.org.uk, and dates for Briefings on the CITB application process are available on page 10.