CITB Consensus 2025: Board statement on Levy proposals and progress on CITB reform

Statement by Mark Wakeford, Chair of the NFB, on behalf of the Board of Directors:

The CITB consensus is here again and levy paying members are asked to vote on the proposals put forward by their senior management.  This comes hard on the heels of the 2023 Industry Training Board Review carried out by Mark Farmer and published this year.  Members may recall that the NFB proposed 26 recommendations in their 2021 report “Reconstructing CITB” and we have audited progress against these recommendations.  It is fair to say that there has been less movement on issues rather than more, but some of our key recommendations have been adopted.

NFB is aware that the role of the CITB and challenges that members face in procuring the skills necessary to deliver projects, remains a critical issue.  Our 2021 report was created after significant consultation, which we have been unable to repeat due to the time between publication of the 2023 ITB Report and consensus.  The NFB Board has therefore decided not to take a position on consensus, but to urge members to vote, based on their own business priorities.  We attach our assessment of progress against our 2021 recommendations to support your decisions.

If voting in favour of the Levy proposals, then members should be confident that the CITB processes work in favour of your organisation and your supply chain, or that the progress made in re-prioritising the CITB will continue, to provide you with this confidence.  Feedback from the CITB Board confirms that Trustees are aware of the challenges and are alive to ways to continue improving the CITB.  If voting against, then members should feel that the CITB is not capable of meeting the industry needs and that it fails to provide you as a Levy payer with value for money.

The team at the NFB are on hand to discuss the CITB proposals and any issues that arise from their assessment.  They will continue to advocate for the changes identified in 2021 and keep members informed of their progress.

Download the full NFB audit of CITB’s reform, when measured against the NFB’s ‘Reconstructing CITB’ report published in 2021.