Training board wants to shake off Treasury shackles

With the results of the government's five-yearly review of training boards due within the next month, the engineering construction board is believed to be pressing for a change in its legal status which would free it from Treasury financial controls.

Consultancy A G Kearney was appointed this year to investigate the operations of the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board (ECITB) and consider options for change.

Employer submissions to the consultants focussed on two priorities. They sought to retain a statutory levy; and to increase the supply of skilled labour by 50%.

The employers also sought a major overhaul of the ECITB's corporate governance and management structure. This was regarded as essential if the training board was to become less bureaucratic and more responsive to industry needs.

While the employers want to keep the statutory levy, they equally consider that there is a case for re-examining the board's status as a "non-departmental public body". In other words, they want to free it from the Treasury controls that generally accompany the statutory levy.

Other plans include a greater emphasis on a regionally based delivery of training and an increase in the status and effectiveness of site supervision.

David Cowan, president of the Engineering Construction Employers Association, commented: "There is a need for change throughout the ECITB so that it can deliver the necessary training and value-added support services that our industry requires and do so at value-for-money costs."