Up to 900 contractors could be forced to pay two training levies next year while an industry consultation is carried out by the CITB.
The CITB and officials from the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills have agreed that companies with a payroll of more than £3m will pay into the government’s apprenticeship levy fund as well as the full rate of the CITB’s training levy, from April 2017.
This means contractors will end up paying 1% of their total wage bill, of which 0.5% will go to the government fund and 0.5% to the CITB.
A company with a payroll of £3m would therefore pay £30,000 in annual training levies.
This double levy will last for at least 12 months while the CITB carries out a consultation with the construction sector on the amount firms should contribute to the training body in future.
A new levy arrangement will then be brought into law in the spring of 2018, when the CITB’s Levy Order is signed off by the government.
Speaking to Construction Manager, Steve Radley, director of policy at CITB, said: “Based on our latest levy assessments, we calculate around 900 companies have a wage bill of £3m or more. Some of those are part of the same group however, so if you look at a group level it is about 540 companies.”
