Mission and plans

Major players in the UK construction industry have published a plan to help brace the sector for tighter migration controls after Brexit.

Building After Brexit: An Action Plan for Industry identifies the need for construction to adopt a twin-track strategy: growing investment in the domestic workforce and driving up productivity, while working with Government to agree how to maintain access to migrant workers to give it the breathing space to adapt.

Published by a pan-industry group the action plan details specific steps the construction industry, government and CITB must take to lessen the impact of Brexit, based on extensive research undertaken since the EU referendum.

Recommendations include:

• Attract talent by raising apprenticeship starts and completions, creating pathways into construction for under-represented groups and providing better work experience opportunities.

• Retain the workforce by supporting older workers to stay in the industry, upskilling the existing workforce and offering improved mental health support.

• Be productive by developing a Future Skills Strategy to identify the skills required to modernise the industry, drive digitalisation forward and boost investment in modern methods of construction.

Building After Brexit: An Action Plan For Industry is a product of work from the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), Construction Leadership Council (CLC), the Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA), Construction Products Association (CPA), Federation of Master Builders (FMB) and the Home Builders Federation (HBF).

Download Building After Brexit: An Action Plan for Industry report (PDF 1.05MB)

In April CITB launched a new business plan (PDF, 552KB) that sets out its reform agenda for the next three years. The business plan follows on from the independent ITB review and consultations to reach consensus and a new Levy order for 2018.

Read our business plan 

• CITB business plan 2018-21 (PDF, 552KB)
• CITB cynllun busnes 2018-21 (PDF, 548KB)

Our 360 publication examines the progress we've made towards achieving our Business Plan. 
Read the latest edition.

In 2017, CITB conducted one of its largest ever industry consultation exercises and learned what UK construction wants from a modern training body:

• A streamlined organisation
• Renewed governance, increased transparency on outcomes and greater accountability regarding their achievement
• An effective, sustainable business model
• Better value for levy payers and a reformed grants scheme
• Modernisation to boost productivity and careers in the industry
• A sustainable, high quality training and development market.

Throughout the Consensus process we heard further strong messages from Federations and employers that they want to see these reforms happen and quickly.

The independent ITB review represented the final piece in the roadmap towards our future model, and CITB fully supports its vision for a modern training body. Our vision, outlined in the business plan underlines what many of you told us, and identifies how our reforms will support a range of priorities including improved productivity, modernisation and the Industrial Strategy. 

Construction is facing a number of challenges including changes in migration, an aging workforce and a period of economic rebalancing accompanied by increases in workloads – including some key large scale infrastructure projects. But we also need to look towards the future and how industry can deliver projects more effectively using new methods of construction.

A modern workforce needs a modern fit-for-purpose training organisation and that is what we are committed to delivering.

Our agenda for change sets out six key outcomes we will deliver in the next twelve months to tackle our sector’s skills issues.

We will:

Be responsive: By reforming our Grants Scheme, making payments easier and more accessible and using our resources to support a sustainable, responsive and high quality training and development market.

Be innovative: By working closely with industry to develop new and better ways to meet its needs.

Be influential: By building engaging, dynamic partnerships that help industry to attract, train and retain its future workforce.

Be accountable: Through national campaigns, transparent strategic planning and a new outcomes focus.

Be representative: Through strong partnerships, renewed governance and improved accountability.

Be relevant: By modernising, changing the way we dobusiness and providing the support that our industry needs. CITB will build an evidence base, creating a high-quality standards framework, advocating, engaging and influencing to ensure training provision.