The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) has announced changes to its Employer Networks funding system ahead of the new financial year.
CITB’s Employer Networks budget has been set at £11.5m for 2026-27, and access to the programme has been altered so only micro, small, and medium-sized employers can use it.
As part of the reforms, large employers will have access to a new Large Employer Fund and they will no longer be able to use Employer Networks.
CITB said this is designed to be more flexible for large employers and provides £18,000 per annum to spend on any in-scope training.
The changes, CITB added, are in response to increased demand for its services.
From April, micro to medium employers – those employing between 1 and 249 people – can book training through Employer Networks at 50% match funding or at a fixed contribution for health and safety courses.
A new annual cap per employer, according to the size of their business, has also been introduced. Under the new rules:
- Micro employers (1-9 employees) can claim up to £1,500 per annum.
- Small employers (10-49 employees) can claim up £2,000 per annum.
- Medium employers (50-249 employees) can claim up £4,500 per annum.
The changes follow a series of cuts to grants for short courses announced last year.
Tim Balcon, CEO at CITB, said: “We appreciate that the decisions we have had to make have been disruptive for the industry.
“However, the premise for these changes is that we’re engaging more employers and seeing increased demand – we’ve seen a 36% increase in employer engagement. But we need to balance this with the same amount of levy.
“Consequently, the way funding is accessed must change in order for us to support more employers with new entrants and competence training.”
