Among its 17 key recommendations, the 211-page report concludes that the industry training board model should be retain but that “its strategic priorities, core capabilities and activity require wholesale transformation” to address the “fundamental workforce resilience challenges”.
The ITBs’ levy-grant system should also be retained but, again, ‘modernised and refocused’: “Smart KPI should be developed, aimed at maximising output from levy spend with more balanced accountability between industry and government,” the report says.
Most radically, perhaps, the report recommends that the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) and Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB) “should be merged into a single rebranded body tasked with improving workforce resiliency through a single combined strategy”.
The Minister of State for Skills, Jacquie Smith (now Baroness Smith of Malvern), supported many of the recommendations laid out in the report, including that the ITB model should be retained, but rejected the idea of a merger.
She said the government’s position is that while there are significant benefits to greater alignment and collaboration between the two ITBs, there are currently no plans to legislate to create a single body.
A steering group will be set up to consider implementation of all of Farmer’s recommendations.
CITB chief executive Tim Balcon said: “Importantly, the report recognises the significant skills challenges facing the construction and engineering industries and the vital role that the ITBs play in helping address these. Further, it asserts that the best way of doing so is to retain the ITB model and industry-specific levies.
“Grant funding for apprenticeships and new entrants is vital, with more than two-thirds of apprenticeship starts in the construction industry being employed by companies of fewer than 50 employees.