The Department for Education recently published the Government’s response to the ITB Review, which was conducted by Mark Farmer in 2023 and finalised last year.

The report stresses the vital need for the work of the Industrial Training Boards (ITBs) within the construction and engineering construction industries and concludes that the ITB levy-grant model should be retained.

The report that the role of the ITBs should be strengthened and calls on them to do more.

Tim Balcon, CEO of CITB said: “Importantly, the report recognises the significant skills challenges facing the construction and engineering industries and the vital role that the ITBs play in helping address these. Further, it asserts that the best way of doing so is to retain the ITB model and industry-specific levies.

“Grant funding for apprenticeships and new entrants is vital, with more than two-thirds of apprenticeship starts in the construction industry being employed by companies of fewer than 50 employees.

“We are already well advanced in improving our engagement with employers and learners, such as the nationwide rollout of our Employer Networks and the significant improvements at our National Construction Colleges.

“Additionally, we’re addressing many of the areas identified within the report through our strategic plan. We are working with industry and all our partners to develop a training and skills system that works now and in the future. A system that supports industry in training its workforce and helps bring skilled and diverse workers into industry.

“We already work in close collaboration with ECITB on some key areas and we will expand this into a more formal collaboration where it offers value to the sector.

“We must move at pace to work together to tackle the joint needs of industry without the delay and disruption that legislative or structural changes would surely bring and that would inevitably be detrimental to industry success. We need to be laser-focused on addressing industry needs by providing standardised levels of competence, alternative routes into industry and making it easier and cheaper to access high-quality training.”

Andrew Hockey, CEO of the ECITB, said: “The report highlights the value that both the ECITB and CITB make to our respective industries. It cites the ECITB’s work on Connected Competence, our programmes to grow new entrants and our Regional Skills Hub initiative as good examples of what needs to be done, and what can be scaled up.

“We welcome closer collaboration with the CITB, particularly in the area of infrastructure skills where there is the most commonality between the ITBs’ respective footprints.

“As the review acknowledges, there is significant benefit in both ITBs collaborating more closely on infrastructure; nuclear new build being a clear example where workers in both civil construction and the engineering construction industry (ECI) work alongside each other.

“We are already working with the CITB and partners on strategic skills planning for Sizewell C with a view to developing whole-career training pathways and interventions that span both the civil and ECI phases of that project.

“Formalising this approach for nuclear and other key infrastructure projects – such as those centred around the decarbonisation of the UK’s industrial clusters – will be highly beneficial and should strengthen delivery and impact.

“We have started the process of scoping the recommendations and developing plans to implement them, which will involve consultation with industry and government. We are already addressing many of the structural skills challenges highlighted by the review and will further build upon these as we develop our new strategy, which will be published later this year.”