THE Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) has announced new dates for its Consensus process, with the procedure now set to start on March 17 and continue until May 9, 2025.
The organisation said the five-week move allows for publication of the ITB review – now anticipated in early 2025 – to enable CITB to give consideration to the review’s recommendations.
Although the ITB review does not directly impact on the levy proposals or Consensus, CITB explained that it wants to ‘ensure alignment’ with the review’s outcomes within its upcoming 2025-29 Strategic Plan. Consequently, publication of the Strategic Plan will follow publication of the ITB review.
Usually undertaken every three years, Consensus is the process through which CITB seeks levy-paying employers’ views and agreement on its plans for generating the levy and the skills and training this will deliver. CITB’s core focus for the 2026-29 draft levy proposals being consulted on is to ensure the levy exemption and reduction thresholds remain ‘current and appropriate’.
During Consensus, CITB consults at least 11,000 levy-paying employers. In March 2019, nearly 30,000 employers were liable to pay a levy.
Tim Balcon, chief executive of CITB, said, “We believe it’s important that, as a body that is led and accountable to industry, we give employers a full picture of how we intend to support the industry over the life of the Strategic Plan and accompanying Levy Order. The publication date of the ITB review is not yet confirmed by the department for education, meaning we cannot yet confirm the publication date of CITB’s Strategic Plan. Consequently, we have revised the start date of Consensus to ensure employers are well informed going into the Consensus process.”
