CITB income tops the £200m mark

CITB-ConstructionSkills' income topped the £200m mark for the first time last year.
Total income for the year to 31 December 2004 rose by 16% from £185m to a record £216m, with the levy income rising by a similar percentage from £107m to £123m.
Total CITB spending during 2004 rose to £214m. This brought a £248,000 surplus compared with the previous year's £4m deficit.
Training board grants last year also amounted to a record £97m - again 16% up on the previous year.
Other highlights of 2004 included a continuing strong growth in the On-Site Assessment and Training (OSAT) programme. More than 30,000 operatives registered for an NVQ Level 2 or higher qualification under the OSAT scheme. This represented a 12% increase over the previous year.
Membership of the CSCS skills card certification scheme also passed the 700,000 mark.
Levy income has been buoyed by 10 years of sustained industry growth. Total employment is reckoned to have increased by about a third during that period. And the training board is anticipating a continuing upward trend in output, leading to a demand for a further 500,000 new entrants to the industry by 2010.
Additional income included £47m of public funding towards the CITB's managing agency activities. Here, higher college fees helped push spending some £7m above income.
Similarly, spending on the OSAT programme at £37m exceeded grant income by a further £7m, underlining the board's arguments for substantial extra public spending if it is to meet the demand for a fully qualified workforce.
In a foreword to the CITB's draft annual report, chairman Sir Michael Latham concluded: "Both as an industry training board and as a sector skills council, it is vital that we retain the support of employers.
"The strong input we have received in 2004 from employers across the board gives me real hope that we can look forward to another successful year in 2005."