CITB to give away £86.5m in training grants

The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) is to give away training grants worth more than £86.5m to construction companies for 2003/4 - a 15% rise on last year's funding.

A radical shake up of the grants system, also announced today (Thursday), will enable employers to claim grants more easily and quickly. 

CITB has removed the pre-approval process for short duration courses meaning that waiting times for grants payment will be cut in half. From 1 August employers will be able to claim money back for short duration courses immediately after the course has been completed by sending in a simplified form direct to the CITB grants section. This new process will reduce waiting times for payment for these courses from several months to 30 days.

CITB has also cleared a backlog of claims which has held up the process in previous years meaning all training grants will be halved. 

And the grant to fund apprentice training has increased from £6,000 to £8,400 which means that over £41.9m of the £86m will be available for training new recruits. 

CITB chairman Sir Michael Latham said:  "We have responded to employer feedback by simplifying processes and reducing waiting times. There has never been a better time to train and claim."