The Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) has submitted its response to the government’s consultation on a proposed merger between the construction and engineering industry training boards (CITB and ECITB), which closed on 14 June.

In its response, CIOB questioned the effectiveness of CITB in its current form, given the ongoing skills shortage, and warned against treating organisational restructuring as a solution to longstanding skills challenges. It also called for the organisation to place greater focus on its core purpose of collecting and distributing the training levy, rather than the wider leadership role it has expanded into.

CIOB has also called for:

• Transparency over the alternatives to the proposed merger, including what they were and why they were considered to be less favourable. CIOB has also raised concerns about the time and cost of the proposed merger, which it says will inevitably distract from CITB’s core activities, while matters such as staffing, roles and responsibilities, finances and governance of the new body are addressed.
• Better representation of SMEs on the CITB board. SMEs account for the majority of the UK construction industry and are most negatively impacted when CITB suddenly limits or stops funding with little or no warning or consultation.
• The introduction of an increased partnership model for professional bodies to improve consistency on funding decisions and fill knowledge gaps, particularly on the management side of the construction industry, which CIOB says is often overlooked in favour of trade-based roles.
• A return to CITB’s core function of levy collection and distribution. CIOB says CITB’s review of National Occupational Standards (NOS) and its focus on writing suitable pathways in the construction industry as per its 2024-2028 strategy are examples of resource-intensive activities which could be carried out by other organisations.
• A review of the amount of money CITB collects via the levy, which it spends on activities such as events and marketing, as well as its growing staff base, which now exceeds 800 people.
• Greater government scrutiny of CITB or the merged body. CIOB noted the annual priority letters, previously issued to CITB by the government, stopped being sent or stopped being made public in 2023-24. CIOB argues there is merit in reinstating the letters or introducing an equivalent mechanism to ensure greater accountability, clearer strategic direction and stronger alignment with national skills priorities.

“Regardless of whether a merger goes ahead, it’s clear to me changes need to be made so focus can urgently be shifted back to the training board’s core function.”

Dr Victoria Hills

Issues with recruitment

CIOB CEO Dr Victoria Hills said: “With an ever-growing skills gap in our industry and the lack of diversity among those working in construction, the argument can be made that CITB is failing to achieve its strategic purpose. Ultimately, in its own words, CITB exists to ‘ensure a skilled, competent and inclusive construction workforce’, yet it can be argued this isn’t being achieved when you look at their own data, which year on year talks about hundreds of thousands of new entrants being needed in the coming years.

“Issues with recruitment have persisted for many CIOB members, and given that SMEs make up over 99% of the construction industry, it is essential that they are listened to and supported. Several of our members who run SMEs have told me many of the CITB’s funding decisions appear to be at odds with its missions, and they don’t feel they get value for money from the levy they have to pay. This is very concerning.

“Regardless of whether a merger goes ahead, it’s clear to me changes need to be made so focus can urgently be shifted back to the training board’s core function, namely the collection and distribution of the levy to support companies of all sizes to recruit, train and upskill the construction workforce of today and the future.”