The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) is investing over £100 million in grants to help train construction workers and provide them with the skills they need. From 1st April 2023, CITB will double its grant rates for short courses to assist businesses in offering more training and support employers in delivering core skills training to their teams amid rising costs.

The grants, which can go up to £240, will be made available to support employers with their training needs, including leadership and management courses. Last year, CITB paid over £15 million in grants for short courses to employers, with Mental Health and Asbestos awareness courses being the most popular.

CITB is also increasing the grant rates for specific supervision and management qualifications. This decision has been made to support individuals impacted by the Industry Accreditation card withdrawal. For Industry Accreditation card holders to continue to work onsite, completing a qualification might be needed, and because of this, grants for supervision and management qualifications will be increased from £600 to £1,250 and £1,500, respectively.

These new rates follow last year's increases, where an additional £2,000 was made available for each dry lining apprentice, and rain screen cladding qualification grants were increased from £600 to £1,000.

CITB's Chief Executive Tim Balcon says that during this challenging time for the economy, the finances of businesses and workers are under pressure. The increased grant rates address rising costs and support employers to secure high-quality training to upskill their workforce.

Balcon added that investing in training can bring a competitive advantage, helping businesses to retain and attract more workers and to ensure they have an upskilled workforce to win new work. The uplift in grants is a response to feedback from employers, who told CITB that increased costs are making it more challenging to invest in the training they need.

This move by CITB highlights the importance of investing in training to ensure that the workforce is equipped with the necessary skills to succeed in the construction industry. With the rising costs of training, it is encouraging to see that CITB is responding to the concerns of employers by increasing grant rates and providing more support to train and helping them to invest in the future of the construction industry.