CITB Consensus and the Construction Industry Levy

In order for CITB to raise a Levy it has to consult with the construction industry and present the results to government.  It has to gain the support of industry about the proposals for the next Levy Order, how much to collect and how the levy will be distributed as grant and funding payments to support employers.  CITB must show that it has this support every three years.  Once Consensus is achieved, a Levy Order may be made by the Secretary of State to authorise CITB to collect a Levy from construction employers so it can invest in the skills and training the industry needs.

CITB Webinar Update
Join us on 14 May at 11:30am to hear directly from CITB on Consensus, and what CITB is doing to support the finishes and interiors sector.
The CITB Consensus is underway, and to help assist members in their decision making process, we have arranged a webinar with CITB to talk through the process. The webinar will also discuss specific support that is being offered to the finishes and interiors sector along with an overview of how CITB is supporting industry.

We will be joined by Michael Lennox (Senior Customer Engagement Manager) and David MacLeod (Customer Engagement Manager). Time will be allowed for you to put any questions you have directly to CITB.

Why is this important?
Each consensus gives individual employers an opportunity to provide their opinion on the activities of CITB.  As a collective the finishes and interiors sector ‘voice’ can influence the role and actions of CITB, the more employers that submit responses to the survey the stronger the sectors voice will be.  FIS members that are CITB registered can complete the survey here.

How is Consensus achieved?
The Industrial Training legislation requires CITB to take “reasonable steps” to satisfy the Secretary of State that the Levy Proposals are necessary to encourage adequate training in the industry.  The Industrial Training Levy (Reasonable Steps) Regulations 2008 set out what these “reasonable steps” are.  Prior to Consensus, CITB works with members of the industry to formulate the Levy Proposals after which CITB consults upon the Levy Proposals with “Prescribed Organisations” (previously referred to as Consensus Federations) and a sample of employers not represented by Prescribed Organisations (“unrepresented persons”).  As an employer if you are not a member of an Employer Representative Body CITB will contact a sample directly to survey views and opinions.

Prescribed Organisations
The role of the Prescribed Organisations is to present the Levy Proposals to their Levy paying members and seek their views on them.  Responses are collated and the prescribed organisation then decides whether it supports the Levy Proposals or not on behalf of its Levy paying members.  There are 14 federations that CITB currently seek the views of as part of the Consensus process, FIS is one of these organisations and prior to reporting to CITB the results of the current survey will be considered by the FIS Skills Board.

List of Prescribed Organisations  In addition, Build UK represent 34 trade bodies: Build UK members

How is Consensus calculated?
CITB uses a set of Consensus Rules to calculate Consensus as follows:

  1. The most recently assessed Levy Return is used as the basis for the calculation.
  2. Only those employers considered likely to be liable to pay Levy under the Levy Proposals are in scope for calculation.
  3. Employers not ‘positively’ identified, including employers who are members of a Prescribed Organisation (i.e. previously known as Consensus Federations) or employers categorised as ‘Don’t know’ and ‘Unknown’, will be included in the list of non-represented employers.
  4. Establishments listed on the Levy register shall be treated as part of their Levy parent registration.
  5. The views of employers who are members of two or more Prescribed Organisations will be split and their views and Levy value will be split equally between the Prescribed Organisations to which they belong.
  6. Where a Prescribed Organisation consists of two or more sub-organisations, the sub-organisation’s members will be counted as part of the parent organisation. However, where a sub-organisation is a Prescribed Organisation in its own right, the members of that sub-organisation will be counted as part of the sub-organisation.

CITB Levy Proposals 2022 to 2025
CITB has now published its Levy Proposals for 2022‐2025, which would see Levy rates return to 0.35% for PAYE staff and 1.25% for CIS subcontractors for the next three years.  A number of temporary measures introduced in the 2021 Levy Order would be maintained, including the increase in the Levy Exemption Threshold to £120,000 and the 50% reduction in Levy rates for employers with wage bills between £120,000 and £400,000.  In line with CITB’s Consensus process, FIS has started formal consultation with Levy‐paying members on the proposals from 1 June – 6 August and we are looking for a 100% response from our 293 CITB registered members.

All Levy‐registered employers should have received their 2021 Levy Return, and FIS members are reminded to list they are a member of FIS when completing and returning it to CITB by the deadline of Wednesday 30 June.