An initial consultation on levy proposals runs from 1st March to 11th April 2021.
Once feedback on the draft levy proposals has been gathered, the official consensus exercise will take place from 14th June to Sunday 15th August.
The legislation that allows the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) to impose a levy on the industry requires that it undertakes wide consultation every three years 鈥� to see whether the construction industry is happy to continue putting聽 money into a collective pot, whether there is still a consensus in support of the CITB. In the old days, the CITB carried out industry training; these days it just administers the money.
The triennial consensus was due in 2020. The process started and questionnaires went out but then came lockdown and necessary follow-up interviews were cancelled. Instead, emergency powers were invoked and the secretary of state renewed the levy order regardless.
CITB chief executive Sarah Beale said: 鈥淔rom your feedback we know now is the right time to proceed with running consensus. We鈥檙e looking forward to talking with businesses from across the sector to understand their views, and explaining how we鈥檒l use their money to provide the training and the skills that the industry needs.鈥�
Richard Beresford, chief executive of the National Federation of Builders, said: 鈥淲e鈥檝e been calling for consensus to go ahead for some time now and expressed our great dismay when it was postponed the first time. Now members will have the chance to hold CITB to account, examine their plans and proposals for levy in the future and have their say. The consensus process is an essential part of ensuring the industry has confidence in CITB鈥檚 ability to deliver the skills our industry so desperately needs. We welcome the confirmation that consensus will go ahead and will do all we can to ensure as many members engage in this process as possible.鈥�
Levy registered employers can take part in the initial consultation from Monday 1st March to Sunday 11th April at . Employers can register for virtual events at .
For details of the consensus process itself, see: .
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