citb-constructionskills ni summary annual report 2011-2012 › citb › files › 2f ›...

CITB-ConstructionSkills NI Summary Annual Report 2011-2012

Annual Report Summary Document

1

As an Industry Training Board and Sector SkillsCouncil our role is to encourage training withinthe Northern Ireland construction industry and toimprove the skills and productivity of the sector.For the best part of 50 years, we have beenworking with the local industry to meet its skillsand training needs. Now, in the depths of thedownturn, it is essential that we continue tosupport the industry to develop a trained andfully qualified workforce.

In these challenging times, we are workingharder than ever with the industry to maximisethe highest return for its investment ensuring it has the right skills in the right place at the right time.

A well trained and qualified workforce is the bestadvertisement our industry can have. It instillsconfidence in the industry from public and privateclients alike. We want to ensure skills are at theheart of each business, no matter how large orsmall to help them become more stronger andmore successful.

The levy we collect is invested back into theindustry to support employers who train theirworkforce and to help skills development at alllevels in the industry.

Foreword

We strive to provide great value by workingefficiently and effectively in the way we run ourorganisation, and constantly improve ourservices to customers and stakeholders.

We have to know what training the industrywants and needs so we can support them. To achieve this we are working in partnershipwith industry bodies to identify how to help theirmembers survive in the downturn. Comingtogether and sharing our expertise allows us towork more effectively for the good of theindustry to anticipate future skills requirements.Thereby allowing us to forecast the skillsneeded which provides industry with valuedintelligence to help them steer their businessthrough these challenging times.

Working with our industry partners andGovernment we are seeking to to find ways ofensuring we maintain a skilled and qualifiedworkforce both now and in the future, so that we are ready to take advantage of theeconomic upturn when it happens.

Our ambition is for the sector to become worldclass – to be one of the most highly skilled,productive, safe and sustainable industries inthe world.

Barry NeilsonChief Executive

• Last year we returned 89% of levy toregistered employers in direct and indirectbenefits such as grants, employerinformation, guidance and utilisation ofour Mobile Training Unit.

• Indirect services includes research anddevelopment to help industry predictlevels of activity and industry trends,careers promotion, Skillbuild anddelivery of our funded projects.

Giving you Valuefor your Levy

2



3

Levy

• Through legislation CITB-ConstructionSkills NI is required to raise a levy from the localconstruction industry to fund its activities that encourage training. The benefits of the statutorylevy system are about more than just giving money back to the industry in the form of grants.The levy funds a wide range of other activities in addition to the training grants system whichsupport the industry both directly and indirectly eg. Industry training, qualifications, recruitment& careers and research & development.

Direct benefits to levy payers

Indirect benefits to the industry

Contribution to overheads& support costs

Value for Levy 2011/12Direct Benefits 61%Grant 59%Mobile Training Unit & Undergraduate programme 2%

Indirect Benefits 28%Employer Engagement, Standards & Qualifications & Recruitment and Careers 20%Skillbuild 5%Marketing & Advertising 3%

Contribution to overheads & support costs 11%


4

1. Grants• Our grants scheme is designed to encourage

training and assessment in the constructionindustry. Last year we made £1.2millionavailable in direct grant.

• The grant scheme offers support to a widerange of training and qualifications fromapprentices through to the existing workforceincluding management and administration.

• Throughout 2011-2012 650 firms claimedgrant at a total expenditure of £1.3m.

• We closely monitor the uptake and expenditureon grants on a regular basis throughout theyear. CITB-ConstructionSkills NI paid a grant of£1,000 for employers with an apprentice whohas reached their 3rd consecutive year inemployment.

2. Improving skills through training

Industry Training• The provision of a number of training

initiatives continued to be made available tothe industry where it was identified that acomparable alternative did not exist or wasnot practical due to cost or limited numbers.

• The Mobile Training Unit (MTU) provides aconvenient way of meeting trainingrequirements with minimum disruption to thesite. It is a tried and tested way to train anddevelop workers on site.

• The MTU currently travels across theProvince delivering an extensive range ofconstruction related health and safety andbespoke training to operatives, supervisorsand managers. A total of 2669 individualsattended training by means of the MTU or via an onsite venue which represents a smallincrease from last year.

FACT

75% of employers think the Levy/Grant system is importantfor maintaining the level and quality of training within theindustry as a whole. (Employer Tracking Survey 2012)

• The scaffolding programme provided trainingand assessment for 54 individuals through theConstruction Industry Scaffolders RecordScheme (CISRS) Part 1, Part 2 and AdvancedScaffolding courses. 12 operatives achievedeither NVQ level 2 or NVQ Level 3 through thescheme allowing resulting in the award of theirindustry recognised scaffolder card. CITB-ConstructionSkills NI remains the onlyresource able to provide the ConstructionIndustry Scaffolders Record Scheme (CISRS)in Northern Ireland.

• During the training year 66 constructionundergraduates from the local Universities or Further Education establishments attendedthe 10-day Undergraduate DevelopmentProgramme (UDP). The aim of the programmeis to develop skills which employers arelooking for in new entrants coming into the industry.

What have we beendoing for you?


5

Training interventions• A programme of training interventions were

incorporated into the annual Grants Schemefor 2011-2012. These interventions weretargeted at areas identified by the industryrepresentative bodies as critical to employersin dealing with the current economic climate.

• Training was completed by 289 individualsfrom over 160 employers in a range of areas including NVQ’s, Green Construction,Performance Improvement, StrategicPlanning, Estimating and Completing PQQ’s that win. Key partners included TheFederation of Master Builders, ConstrucitonEmployers Federation and Northern RegionalCollege.

• The Federation of Master Builders (FMB) hasprovided various training courses specificallyfor the SME construction sector in Northern

Ireland. This training has beensupported by CITB-ConstructionSkills NI. One exampleis the Tendering & Procurementprogramme which wasdeveloped to assist SMEconstruction companies withtendering and procurement.The 2 day programmeincluded an introductionto tendering andprocurement principles,the pre-qualificationprocess, submittingtenders and bids andmanaging the constructioncontract. It gaveattendees the necessaryskills to successfully bidfor and secureconstruction work.

FACT

63% of employers had funded orarranged training or development forany staff in the last 12 months, muchhigher than Great Britain (43%). (Employer Tracking Survey 2012)


6

Qualifications

• The CITB-ConstructionSkills NI EmployerForum is the consultation body who advises onstandards issues that affect the NorthernIreland construction industry. The views of theEmployer Forum on standards issues are fedback to the ConstructionSkills Standards &Qualifications Strategic Committee (S&QSC) inGB and its sub-committees, ensuring theNorthern Ireland view is represented atnational level.

• As the recognised body on skills for theconstruction industry CITB-ConstructionSkillsNI developed a Construction QualificationStrategy and Home Nation Action Plans whichsupport the development of industry traininginto Qualification Credit Framework (QCF) units.This helps ensure qualifications are developedthat meet the needs of industry and thatadequate training and qualification provision isavailable.

• New publications were developed for theQualification and Credit Framework foremployers and training providers.

• National Occupational Standards (NOS)were reviewed for Loft Insulation, Cavity WallInsulation, Draught Proofing, DampProofing, Wood Preserving, External WallInsulation and Wall Tie Replacement. Byhaving these discussions in Northern Irelandit helps us meet Government commitmentsfor the development and maintenance ofrobust and up-to-date NOS that will supportconstruction and the people that seek toenter in to it or already work within it.

• Occupational Health and Safety Guides forScaffolding and Insulation Installers weredeveloped and published and the verypopular Health & Safety Blueprint wasreviewed and updated. The occupationalguides, of which there are now nineavailable, and the H&S Blueprint poster arevery popular publications which the industryhave found useful and have adopted.

FACT

100 Employers were askedabout their awareness of the Qualifying the ExistingWorkforce programme, 52%were aware, rising to 80%among employers with 50+ staff.(Employer Tracking Survey 2012)

• The ‘Qualifying the Existing Workforce’project was launched in June 2012.Theproject is a joint initiative by the Departmentfor Employment and Learning (DEL), CITB-ConstructionSkills NI and the Joint Councilfor the Building & Civil Engineering Industryand funding was received to qualify 500currently unqualified, experienced, employedconstruction workers to NVQ Level 2,helping to increase productivity and meetthe industry’s skills challenge.


7

3. Communicating effectively with employers

• Throughout 2011/2012 CITB-ConstructionSkills NI held 24 EmployerInformation Events throughout NorthernIreland, attended by 171 employers. Additionalinformation sessions were provided by HM Revenue & Customs and the EqualityCommission at some of these events.

• Five Business Improvement Seminars wereheld throughout the year, in partnership with avariety of organisations, and covering a rangeof topics including tendering, NEC 3 contracts,sustainability and surviving in the recession.

• Advice and guidance was provided foremployers in terms of identifying managementand leadership training needs and identifyingtraining grants and programmes available toaddress these. This advice was developed,published and distributed to all 3300 registeredin-scope employers.

• PublicRelationsactivities weretailored toNorthern Irelandaudiences throughout theyear and generated 246 pressclippings and three broadcast mediapieces giving a total PR value of £137,432 thiscontributed to 80% of employers being awareof our services.

• The Marketing Communication Strategy was reviewed and updated throughout the year and a series of policies including E-Communications, Media Relations and Crisis Management were developed andimplemented to support the overall strategy.

• A series of publications were printed anddistributed and a series of editorials wereplaced in the trade press keeping employers upto date on industry performance and promotetraining events.

• Our combined marketing activity resulted indirectly communicating with registeredemployers on average every 3 days.

FACT

98% of employers had heard or seen information aboutCITB-ConstructionSkills NI in the last 12 months.(Employer Tracking Survey 2012).

8


FACT

66% of employers were aware that CITB-ConstructionSkills NIhas been running a series of employer information events.91% of attendees felt the events gave them the informationthey expected or needed.(Employer Tracking Survey 2012)

E-Business

• CITB-ConstructionSkills NI is committed toincreasing its use of technology to improve theeffectiveness and efficiency of our processes.During the year we established a Facebookpage and continued to promote our websiteand encourage employers to claim grant online.

• We continued to offer additional levels of grantsupport for grant applications made on lineusing our web site with the result that over37% of grant claims made by employer aremade on line. We engaged with employersusing SMS text messages to advise them ofemployer engagement events and grantsavailable. Also over 45% of our invoices arepaid electronically.

• The Careers page of the CITB-ConstructionSkills NI website was significantlyredesigned and is regularly updated with thelatest information and factsheets available forpotential new entrants. During the year wedeveloped a Qualifying the Existing Workforcecandidate online registration and monitoringtool which was made available to QEWassessment centres via our website. Additionalenabling work was also completed to allow forsimilar additional tools to be developed in thefuture.

9


Stakeholder Engagement

• CITB-ConstructionSkills NI contributed to thedevelopment and delivery of theConstructionSkills Strategic Plan to address thekey priorities of; Improving Productivity and Up-skilling for Low Carbon as well as respondingto employer needs regarding Leadershipdevelopment; Recruiting new entrants;Engaging with Employers and Working withEducation & Training providers.

• The CITB-ConstructionSkills NI Employer forumwhich represents 11 organisations from theconstruction sector.

Recruitment and careers

• CITB-ConstructionSkills NI continued topromote construction as a career choice,advising of the varying roles available from craftoccupations through to professional services.During the year 14 careers events wereattended throughout NI providing engagementwith Careers Teachers, Careers Advisers, andover 3,000 potential new entrants.

• Throughout the year 12 constructionambassadors responded to 14 ad-hocrequests for school and college visits allowingthem to engage directly with potential newentrants, discuss career paths and share theirexperiences of working in the today’sconstruction industry.

• We worked with the DEL Skills Advisers andCollege Placement Officers to ensure they wereup to date and aware of, the products andservices available to registered constructionemployers throughout NI from CITB-ConstructionSkills NI.

10

• A booklet of 13 case studies of employersundertaking training and illustrating personalconstruction career paths was developed anddistributed at employer engagement andcareer’s events.

• Student numbers for the GCSE in constructionhave increased from 100 students registered in2005 to 671 being registered in 2012. CITB-ConstructionSkills NI continued to support theGCSE in Construction through bursaries for thetop scoring candidates. Following researchwith GCSE Construction providers we havebegun development of a text book to supportthe Construction GCSE. The text book will beavailable in September 2013.

Research and Development

• During the year we undertook a number ofsurveys and consultations with industry viaour committees and forums to inform ourunderstanding of the need of the NorthernIreland construction industry.

• Work continued as part of the ConstructionSkills Network (CSN) to produce accurateand up-to-date Labour Market Intelligence(LMI) for the Northern Ireland constructionindustry.

• We completed a further eight surveysincorporating the Employer Tracking Survey,employer attitudes and motivations tolearning and training, workforce mobility,survey of employment by occupation,UKCES Sector Skills Assessment,Stakeholder satisfaction and Productivity inthe construction sector.



11

FACT

59% of employers weresatisfied with the overall serviceCITB-ConstructionSkills NIprovides to the industry. (Employer Tracking Survey 2012).


12

• CITB-ConstructionSkills NI were awarded asecond phase of funding of £239,800 from theHeritage Lottery Fund through their ‘Skills forthe Future’ programme, making a total of£480,100 available to fund a programme tohelp address skills shortages in the repair andmaintenance of traditional buildings.

• The output of the programme will be 19placements being up-skilled in the knowledgeand understanding of traditional building skillsand working towards a heritage qualification,10 college lecturers attending a three weekTraining the Trainers up-skilling programme and4 Ambassador/mentors acting as advocatesfor the project and promoting traditionalbuilding skills.

• The full programme will be delivered byDecember 2014.

• A two day specialist course ‘Get theKnowledge to Work on Traditional PaintedDecoration & Wallcoverings’ was developedand delivered in partnership with the Painting &Decorating Association and the National Trust.

• The programme was designed for crafts peoplewho regularly work on repair, maintenance,refurbishment and re-decoration of pre-1919buildings. The programme was delivered at theNational Trust’s Mount Stewart and CastleWard properties which provided excellentopportunities to view the type and standard ofwork required. Successful participants wereawarded the Level 3 Award in UnderstandingRepair & Maintenance of Traditional (Pre-1919)Buildings.

Essential Skills

• Essential Skills ICT Level 1 resource packswere developed and distributed throughout theyear. This completes the suite of tensubstantial trainer support publications to covernumeracy, literacy and IT Skills whose contentis tailored to construction students withseparate publications available for experiencedworkers.

Implementation of Skills for SustainableConstruction Strategy

• A number of activities were delivered as part ofthe Skills for Sustainable Construction strategy.The Employer Investment Fund Phase 1 projectwas delivered including a Green DealConnections event to advise Northern Ireland employers of the potential businessopportunities arising from the delivery of Green Deal in GB.

• CITB-ConstructionSkills NI contributed to thesuccessful funding bid to UKCES for the

4. Sustaining traditional building skills in northern ireland project

Other Ongoing Projects

(Continued Over)


13

Employer Investment Fund Phase 2 – The LowCarbon Challenge project. Delivery of the NIelements commenced in partnership withCITB-ConstructionSkills (GB), AssetSkills andSummitSkills. The aim of the project is tosupport the UK Government’s Green DealInitiative with the focus of the project being onbuilding capacity within local supply chains andtraining provider networks.

• A successful application was made for €71,688of European funding from the Leonardoprogramme. The funding will allow 30 NIconstruction workers to attend a two weektraining programme in Germany to learn aboutsustainable construction methods.

• The training programme was developed inpartnership with a German training centre andwill be delivered by them during 2013.

FACT

58% of employers surveyed had taken steps toreduce their carbon emissions (Employer PanelConsultation 2012). (Employer Tracking Survey 2012).

• In addition, a range of seminars on the subjectsof sustainable construction, resource efficiencyand waste management were delivered inpartnership with other organisations.

• A 3-day Green Deal Pilot Training Programmewas delivered in Northern Ireland to supportemployers in preparing for the Green Deal in GB.

CITB-ConstructionSkills, CIC andCITB-ConstructionSkills Northern Ireland areworking as ConstructionSkills, the Sector Skills Council for Construction

CITB-ConstructionSkills NINutts Corner Training Centre17 Dundrod RoadCrumlin BT29 4SR

Tel: 028 9082 5466Fax: 028 9082 5693Email: [email protected]

citb-constructionskills ni summary annual report 2011-2012 › citb › files › 2f ›...

Documents