Good news for the construction sector; it has been reported that 90% of those which have applied for the CITB Skills and Training Fund have most recently seen the approval of such applications.
In effect, the fund, offered by the Construction Industry Training Board, offers the opportunity for organisations with below 50 employees to access some £5000 in budget to facilitate the training and development of their respective workforce. The success of those applying for funding has been received as a great success, not solely for those organisations to have applied and succeeded, but also to herald the potential for the budget to offer a much-needed resource to a majority of firms.
From those bids submitted, a total of forty three were accepted out of a total of forty eight bids. Not only does the success of those forty three sit well in providing the scheme to be quite open for organisations to secure funding from, but the level of interest is also noteworthy and highlighted as a great success for the CITB; this then highlights the level of interest held by smaller organisations in ensuring their staff are equipped with proper skill-sets so as best to represent, and grow their business.
Of course, core to opening up the fund to smaller organisations lies within the process itself, with more complex and detailed applications often putting smaller organisations off from pursuing such schemes entirely. In accordance with this notion, CITB’s Head of Economic Analysis and Research, Geeta Nathan, stated: “We have simplified our funding applications for firms of all sizes, and we want even more firms to apply for this fund when the next round opens in mid-April.”
Of those which have applied, and succeeded in securing funding, Insitu Technical Services, a civil engineering practice based out of York has been confirmed to have secured some £5000 for the provision of training and qualification in the arena of Personal Track Safety certification; a move expected to develop new opportunities for the company in the times to come.
