From August onwards there will be no government funding for the delivery of NVQs but contractors can still register candidates before the end of July and get funding. Wait until after 1st August and you will have to pay for the training yourself. Terry Wright explains.
We all know that FPDC members pay out far too much Levy to CITB for the Grant that they receive but the recently completed 100 per cent Training Rebate has given us all a taste of what could be. Far too few of us have Training Plans and those of us who had them, like Troika, got rid of them when the minimum training time was increased from 30 minutes to three hours deliberately ensuring that the toolbox talks we all did would no longer be grant aided.
The current climate of survival rather than growth means that planned training has been consigned to the dustbin and all that is left is what legislation and the contracts we agree to demand.
So what do we do? We all have to pay the Tax, which is what Levy is, so we should all make an effort to increase the tax rebate that is offered by Grant. Every year the Grant scheme changes and 1st August 2012 will be no different to any other year. Published here are the main changes that will apply from August and you should check them out and make sure that you take full advantage of them.
Looking at the changes,the 15 per cent increase in Attendance Grant should make us all reconsider how we look at Training Plans. Now might be the time where FPDC members consult a Training Provider like GTG Services Limited to do a training needs analysis and produce a training plan acceptable to CITB.
The NVQ achievement grant will be a clear incentive to all of you to qualify your workforce, but after 31st July there will be no government funding for the delivery of NVQs. So what you all need to do is get your staff who qualify for funding before 31st July registered on a scheme to achieve after 1st August. This way not only will you get the NVQ fully funded by the Government but also get an increase of 45 per cent in the achievement grant! But wait until after 1st August you will have to pay for the training yourself and we all know what that means – they will not be trained!
So please act NOW! And if you do not I will try not to say I told you so when you find that it costs you a great deal of money to train your staff and you have no way of getting the costs back after 1st August this year.
