July 16^th2003

CITB ANNOUNCES RADICAL SHAKE-UP OF TRAINING GRANTSTHEY ARE EASIER TO CLAIM AND UP BY 15%

CITB (ConstructionIndustry Training Board) today announced that 86.5 million in training grantsis available to construction companies for 2003/4. This is an extra 11.5million on top of last years funding representing a massive 15% increase. Inaddition, a radical shake up of the grants system will enable employers toclaim grants more easily and quickly.

CITB has removed thepre-approval process for short duration courses meaning that waiting times forgrants payment will be cut in half. From August 1^st 2003 employerswill be able to claim money back for short duration courses immediately afterthe course has been completed by sending in a simplified form direct to theCITB grants section. This new process will reduce waiting times for payment forthese courses from several months to 30 days. In addition, CITB has cleared abacklog of claims which has held up the process in previous years. As a resultprocessing time for all training grants will be halved. Currently after receiptof the grant form at CITB payment will be dispatched within 3-4 weeks.

As well as easierways to claim, there are significant increases to key grants to encourage moreemployers to recruit and train. The grant available to fund apprentice traininghas increased from 6,000 to 8,400 which means that in total, over 41.9million of the 86 million will be available for training new recruits.

The new scheme alsoencourages continual staff development by enabling employers to claim grantsfor training and development plans year on year. In addition, off the jobgrants are now available for one day or more, whereas previously it was twodays or more and companies that commit to Investors in People can claim 2,000plus a further 5,000 when they are accredited.

Changes to planttraining grants have been made in consultation with the plant federations tomaximise the number of plant operators training for their CPCS card. Employerscan now receive grants of between 175 and 450 for new entrants who achievetheir CPCS card.

Over 14,000 companiesapplied for grants last year, however, research by CITB shows that this is only32% of eligible employers. All construction employers who are registered withCITB can claim grants regardless of whether they pay a levy. Figures for 2002show that of those that did not claim grant, 10% of employers were either notaware that they could claim grant or assumed they were ineligible, 8% believedthe process of claiming grant to be too bureaucratic and 45% simply did nottrain. CITB is urging more construction companies to claim grant for trainingwith a direct mail campaign that will be sent to 63,000 employers at the end ofJuly and a national trade press advertising campaign that will run from July21st .

CITB Chairman, SirMichael Latham, said: "We want to get the message out to the industry thatthis money is available to help the entire industry up-skill for the future.Were injecting an extra 11.5 million, the largest ever increase, to helpboost the recruitment and retention of good quality young people and qualifythe workforce. We have responded to employer feedback by simplifying processesand reducing waiting times. There has never been a better time to train andclaim."