by Clair Mooney | Oct 24, 2022 | Drylining, Skills
CITB-registered employers can now receive an additional £2,000 on top of the existing grant (£2,500 per year for attendance and £3,500 for achievement) for Dry Lining Apprenticeships that started from 1 April 2022 onwards. This is applicable for employers in each of the home nations.
- £1,000 paid with first quarterly attendance payment (13 weeks),
- £1,000 paid with the final quarterly attendance payment.
Your apprentice must complete 13 weeks of the apprenticeship before there is entitlement to the first £1,000 increase. A maximum drylining increase of £2,000 is payable per apprentice.
In instances where apprentices change employers:
- The first £1,000 grant is paid to the employer with which the apprentice first completes 13 weeks of their apprenticeship.
- The final £1,000 grant is paid to the employer with which the apprentice completes their attendance.
You must use an approved apprenticeship provider that is on the Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers: Download the Register of Apprenticeship Training Providers (RoATP) (education.gov.uk)
How to apply for the Grant
If CITB are your Apprenticeship provider, your dedicated Apprenticeship Officer will help you complete your application correctly. If they receive your application within 20 weeks of the start date of the apprenticeship, they will begin making your grant payments, backdated to this start date. The attendance grant will be paid automatically every 13 weeks.
If CITB are not your apprenticeship provider, you will need to complete an application form. Download and save the 2022-2023 Apprenticeship Attendance Grant application (Excel, 207KB) and ensure you complete all sections before submitting.
Please note: Use Chrome or Firefox to download the application. CITB recommend that you do not use Internet Explorer as you may have problems downloading.
You must provide evidence from your college or training provider that your apprentice is registered onto an approved apprenticeship programme. This evidence must be provided from the college or training provider on either their headed paper or from their email address and it must contain the following information:
- The full name of the apprentice.
- The full apprenticeship standard course title and level including the pathway if applicable.
- The apprentice’s start date with the college or training provider.
Evidence directly from an employer, certificates or unit credit reports are not acceptable evidence.
Send your completed application and supporting evidence as detailed above to Customer.servicesYNET@citb.co.uk.
by Clair Mooney | Oct 21, 2022 | Main News Feed, Skills
There is a new £2.5k Skills and Training Funding opportunity for Employers with CIS only (No PAYE). This is an enhancement to the Skills and Training Funds currently available: Skills and Training Fund funding from £2,500 to £25,000 over a 12‐month period for companies with 250 or fewer employees to train and develop their workforce. Detailed guidance on how to apply is available for both small and micro‐sized and medium‐sized businesses.
To apply for grant, applicants should visit CITB’s website. The requirements specific to each grant type should be checked prior to submitting an application as some grants operate restrictions. If you are unsure please contact Marie Flinter 07799 903103 or email marieflinter@thefis.org
by Clair Mooney | Oct 21, 2022 | Skills
FIS worked with NOCN to create a much needed training qualification for Dryliners working on house building projects. Recent information received from NOCN shows there are 24 Centres approved to deliver with 40 Tutors and 37 Assessors assigned to the qualification. If you are working in house building and need to train new entrant this is a perfect qualification to start their learning journey with.
For more information contact George Swann, FIS Skills and Training Lead on 07553 874838 or take a look at the NOCN web site: Dry Lining (housing)
by Clair Mooney | Oct 21, 2022 | Skills
After coming first in their regional qualifiers over 85 finalists will compete in the finals of SkillBuild 2022. Described as “the UK’s construction’s Olympics”, SkillBuild will be delivered by CITB in conjunction with WorldSkills and will take place at Edinburgh College from 14–17 November 2022.
All eight finalists in the Plastering and Drywall category are from FIS members:
- George Batchelor and Archie Downham – Measom Dryline East Midlands
- Ben Henry, Ashley Carragher, Hugh Treanor and Shaun McKenna – Errigal Contracts Northern Ireland
- Zara Dupont is a student at Leeds College of Building
- From Neath Port Talbot College Sammy Young will compete in the Carpentry category, Paul Mason will compete in Painting and Decorating, Jack Holmes and Jonathan Donaldson are competing in Plastering.
You can see the full list of finalists on the WorldSkills website
George Swann FIS Skills and Training Lead said:
If you are an employer and you have an opportunity it is well worth a visit to see what the competition is about.
by Clair Mooney | Oct 13, 2022 | Skills
The Government has commissioned a review of the Shortage Occupations List (SOL) to identify whether other occupations need additional support when recruiting workers from outside the UK. The SOL, which lists the job roles where a worker can be paid 80% of the usual going rate whilst still qualifying for a Skilled Worker visa, will be reviewed to determine whether the current occupations should continue to be included and any new occupations with a RQF level 3 or above qualification should be added. Build UK will be contributing to the review through the reconvened CLC working group on immigration, and it is scheduled to be completed by March 2023 with any changes implemented by autumn 2023.
Under the Points‐Based Immigration System, most workers from outside the UK in construction are ‘skilled workers’ and require a Skilled Worker visa to work in an eligible occupation. Build UK has updated its flowchart providing an overview of the process of employing a worker from outside the UK, as well as its detailed guidance on How to Get a Sponsor Licence and How to Get a Skilled Worker Visa.
by Clair Mooney | Oct 13, 2022 | Skills
Despite concerns about a recession, the industry’s skills shortages have shot up the agenda once again, with ‘People and skills’ identified as one of the four most important strategic priorities in the Construction Leadership Council’s (CLC) new vision and leadership summary published in September.
The CLC has stated that it will focus on people issues within the industry, with a big push on attracting talent and enhancing skills for the future. It is also very keen to ensure that, if construction business insolvencies do start to increase, workers at risk of redundancy are quickly redeployed and not lost to the sector.
The issue of recruiting enough people into the sector isn’t a new one, but it is becoming increasingly urgent. In 2017, it was predicted around 500,000 workers are expected to retire from the industry over the next 10 years which doesn’t leave long to fill this gap.
As well as replacing the exiting skills and experience, the industry also needs to recruit 53,200 additional workers every year to keep pace with the levels of demand, according to the CITB’s Construction Skills Network report, including people with new skills in digitalisation, sustainability and offsite manufacturing.
How can employers attract new people into construction?
While it might sound like a mammoth task, there are lots of ways for employers to attract new people to join the industry.
Apprenticeships, traineeships, graduate jobs, placements and internships, T Level courses, work experience and taster opportunities, and any well supported entry-level jobs, all provide great ways for young people to gain the skills and experience they need to forge a career in construction.
If your organisation is currently offering any opportunities like this, make sure they are added to Talentview Construction (TVC), a free online platform that helps individuals to get started in the construction industry.
This month marks the first anniversary since TVC was launched, supported by CITB industry levy funding and backed by Government.
Over the last 12 months, more than 11,600 early careers vacancies have been added to the site, attracting more than 48,000 views from potential applicants.
How can Talentview Construction help FIS members with recruitment?
By using TVC to support with early-careers recruitment activities, you can:
- Promote information about your business
- Upload unlimited vacancies and training opportunities
- Search for local candidates
- Create saved searches and alerts for people who match your criteria
- Have direct contact with individuals
- Manage the recruitment of numerous positions
- Integrate with existing recruitment systems
The platform can also help you build links with local schools. There are 148 universities, university technical colleges (UTCs), FE colleges and schools across the UK registered on the platform – including the Heart of Yorkshire Education Group, Chesterfield College, South and City College Birmingham, and the United College Group London – all of which will be incorporating student registration onto TVC as part of their 2022/2023 intake.
To help you promote vacancies on Talentview Construction, there is a handy Comms Toolkit which has free videos and social media graphics, as well as text that can be used across websites, newsletters and other comms: https://bit.ly/CTRS-TVC-employers-toolkit
For more information on how TVC can support your organisation with recruitment, visit: www.talentview.org/construction
