THE Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) has announced changes to the funding system ahead of the new financial year.
Coming in response to increased demand for its services, a new large employer fund has also been introduced with CITB’s employer networks budget being set at £11.5 million for the 2026-27 financial year.
Access to the programme has also been altered so that only micro, small, and medium-sized employers can utilise it. Large employers will now have access to a large employer fund.
From April, micro to medium employers – those that employ between 1 to 249 employees – will be able to book training through employer networks at 50% match funding or at a fixed contribution for health and safety courses.
Additionally, a new annual cap per employer, according to the size of their business, has also been introduced:
Micro employers (1 – 9 employees) can claim up to £1,500 per annum
Small employers (10 – 49 employees) can claim up £2,000 per annum
Medium employers (50 – 249 employees) can claim up £4,500 per annum
Also from April, large employers will no longer have access to employer networks and will now have their own separate fund, the large employer fund. This is designed to be more flexible for large employers and provides £18,000 to spend on any in-scope training. Large employers will need to share a copy of their training plan with CITB before applying for funding.
Employer networks and the large employer fund cover just a small part of CITB’s wider offer to industry, which also includes short course grants, apprenticeship grants, travel to train, qualification grants, and the industry impact fund.
CITB’s wider work – including competence frameworks, competence pathways, sector plans, national construction colleges, and careers activity through Go Construct and Go Construct STEM ambassadors – continues as normal. In addition, its local new entrant support teams (NEST) and wider advisory services remain available to support employers to identify the best options for their workforce.
Tim Balcon, CEO at CITB, said, “We appreciate that the decisions we have had to make have been disruptive for the industry. However, the premise for these changes is that we’re engaging more employers and seeing increased demand – we’ve seen a 36% increase in employer engagement. But we need to balance this with the same amount of Levy. Consequently, the way funding is accessed must change in order for us to support more employers with new entrants and competence training.”
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