The construction industry’s main training body, the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB), could shed ‘hundreds of jobs’, union officials warn, amid plans to shut offices as reported by the BBC on 15 November 2017.
The BBC writes:
The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) is planning to shut its offices and college at Bircham Newton, Norfolk, by the end of 2019. The CITB, which is funded by a levy on building firms, will no longer carry out specialist in-house training. The CITB would not comment on the extent of any job losses. In future, the body will oversee training by external private sector providers.
Unite national officer Jerry Swain said the plans were a ‘hammer blow for the construction industry and for the workers at the CITB’.
In a statement Sarah Beale, CITB chief executive, said: ‘Construction needs to modernise and CITB is no exception. I’m confident in our commitment to becoming a more representative, accountable and reliable ‘levy in, skills out’ organisation.’ She added: ‘We are doing everything we can to minimise the impact on people here’ but would not comment on the extent of any job losses. The firm employs about 600 staff in Norfolk and 1,400 in total nationwide.
