CITB Update:  The clock is ticking

Consultation for the 2018 CITB Levy has now ended, and the details will be announced some time next month.

As clients are aware, Hudson Contract believes that the current model for taking a levy fails on two key counts:

• It doesn’t deliver value for money
• It doesn’t have the backing of the construction industry

“Quite simply, small firms are treated unfairly,” says Hudson Contract Managing Director Ian Anfield.  “Small and medium-sized construction companies contribute the lion’s share of the levy, yet they receive the lowest amount of training grants among all who pay it.  At the other end of the scale, construction’s major players seem to do very well.  We are committed to ensuring that access to training and funding is fair for all.”

Are you entitled to supplementary payments?

Meanwhile, if you completed your levy assessment on time (30^th May) you may not realise the CITB is obliged to pay an extra 10% on any grant you are awarded.

“Many small firms fail to claim the extra, because they haven’t been told they can.  By contrast, the major contractors know all about it, and the CITB acknowledges that a relatively small number of large employers are receiving – extra – millions of pounds each year this way,” Ian Anfield says.

Firms that always complete their levy returns on time and make payments as scheduled could even be in for a windfall, as the supplementary payments entitled them to a 10% uplift on last year's grants, 22% on 2014's, and 25% before that. 

Failed to meet the deadline?

The 2017 levy return forms were sent out early and the deadline has now passed.  The unusually quick turnaround was pointed out to the CITB’s acting CEO Sarah Beale, who suggested that small firms that struggled to complete the forms by the deadline, should email levy.grant@citb.co.uk

In the email you need to explain that you have only just received the return form, and whilst you continue to be committed to training, and you are paying the 2016 levy, you need more time to complete the 2017 return. 

Is your name being taken in vain?

In order to get the 2018 Levy Order approved, the CITB needs the support of over 50% of the industry – and if you belong to one of thirteen industry Consensus Federations (CF) listed below it will vote on your behalf.

The CFs have always supported levy proposals in the past, and it seems unlikely they will depart from this practice now.

CFs that vote on behalf of their members are:

• Build UK
• British Woodworking Federation (BWF)
• Civil Engineering Contractors Association (CECA)
• Construction Plant-hire Association (CPA)
• Federation of Master Builders (FMB)
• Hire Association Europe (HAE)
• Home Builders Federation (HBF)
• National Association of Shopfitters (NAS)
• National Federation of Builders (NFB)
• National Federation of Demolition Contractors (NFDC)
• Scottish Building Federation (SBF)
• Scottish Decorators Federation (SDF)
• Scottish Plant Owners Association (SPOA)

What if you belong to a CF but opposed the levy?

Follow these three steps

1. Write to the CITB directly and let them know.  Write to Acting CEO Sarah Beale, CITB, Bircham Newton, Kings Lynn, Norfolk. PE31 6RH.
2. If you have a CITB levy return form to complete and are a member of a trade federation but do not support the levy, write ‘I do not consent to this Consensus Federation voting on my behalf’ or remove the name and replace with ‘None’ in box 1a on the levy return form.
3. You should also write to your Federation and tell them that you oppose the levy.