CITB Grant Reform Update

CITB Grant Reform Update

As our Grant Reforms develop, we want to update Levy registered employers as soon as possible.

We have discussed the Grant Reform changes previously at employer forums, consultation events and at meetings with Consensus and specialist Federations. As details crystallise, we are keen to ensure your members are kept informed of what is happening as early as possible and can plan accordingly.

Below we outline four key changes that will be of interest to your members.

We are updating our website and contacting customers directly on the changes but would be grateful if you could also forward the following information to your members via your usual communication channels.”

Rates for Apprenticeships remain unchanged for 2018

The current rates that apply to apprenticeships will remain for the grant year starting on 1st April. Details can be found on http://www.citb.co.uk/grant/grants-available-201617/#Apprenticeships

Support for higher Level Apprenticeships commences in September 2017

From September 2017, CITB will support higher level apprenticeships. These will be construction-related, in-scope, and relate to training above NVQ level 3.

Specific criteria to evaluate which apprenticeships are eligible will be released by the end of this August.

The grant rates for Higher Level Apprenticeships will be;

£1,125 pa (paid in quarterly instalments) for attendance (irrespective of actual number of days spent training off the job)
achievement Grant of £3,125
Claiming grant through training plans will stop on 31st March

From 1st April 2018 training grants will be paid only for apprenticeships, vocational qualifications and short duration courses that have defined training outcomes.

This means;

any training plans started since April 2017 will attract grant only for training carried out up to the 31st March 2018
this applies to all training plans that have already started, and any that are still to start
you can still submit a training plan grant claim up to 30th June 2018, but only for training completed by 31st March 2018
Many employers find the training plans useful and so may continue to use them, but CITB will not use them to assess grant. Details of how the new training grant scheme payments will work in practice will be communicated later this year.

Supplementary Grant payments will cease from April 2018

Supplementary Grant payments have been paid to employers in the past for submitting their Levy return on time. We indicated in the consultation events and in a number of other forums our intention to cease paying Supplementary Grant.  This is because it is only supporting a minority of employers and our reforms are designed to reach as wide a pool of employers as possible.

We are confirming that we will cease paying Supplementary Grant from the new grant year starting from 1st April 2018. This includes not paying grant on training that has commenced before this date and is continuing beyond it.

However, where employers have apprentices who have already started before 1st April 2018 and had submitted their Levy Returns on time, we will enhance the rates they are paid for those apprentices by 10% until they complete their training. There will be no enhancement for new apprentices who start from 1st April 2018.

Keeping  informed

For more information go to  http://www.citb.co.uk/grant/update-grant-reform/ .

This includes a number of FAQs on the changes and about Grant Reform.

If you still have questions, speak to your CITB advisor or send questions to levy.grant@citb.co.uk

CITB will be running a series of Employer Advisory Forums across Great Britain in the autumn when they will share more detail on the Grant reforms as well as other service improvements. These forums provide a great opportunity to hear about other developments, meet other employers and put your questions to CITB’s subject matter experts.

Thank you

Kind regards

Lorraine Brearley

Midlands and North Administrator

CITB