Howard Button is concerned about the future of training

A message from Howard Button, CEO of the NFDC:

The CITB meeting on 16th December 2015, focused on predicted changes following the implementation of the Government’s Apprentice Levy announced in the Autumn Statement, with a levy of 0.5% being charged on firm’s payroll exceeding £3 million.

The predicted effect on CITB income is a reduction of a massive £32 million. The change, due for introduction in April 2017, leaves many questions unanswered for CITB and more importantly for BIS.

Various options were tabled by CITB to compensate for the predicted £32 million shortfall from 2017, with several industry hybrid levy options tabled; all of which naturally resulted in cuts to the training board income.

Thankfully, not many NFDC member companies are directly affected by the Government charge, however the general knock-on affect to CITB grants may well be catastrophic for the industry in general, despite CITB advising that grants would still be available.

Simple maths however, tells us that you can only play with the funds you have.

Howard will be monitoring the situation carefully over the coming months and reporting any developments as they arise.

Source: NFDC