AUDIO NEWS: Contractors will have to create apprentice opportunities and firms let down by CITB

Contractors on £20bn School Rebuilding Programme will have to create apprentice opportunities, firms feel let down by CITB says Exeter MP and apprentice returns to work after serious car accident

Contractors tendering for school building projects will now have to show how they’re providing opportunities to apprentices and T-level students.

The government wants to create 13,000 job placements as part of its decade-long, £20 billion School Rebuilding Programme.

It hopes that a long-term funding guarantee will enable builders to plan and invest in training.

Around 90% of training opportunities will be offered within a 30-mile radius of the schools being built.

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Construction firms feel “ignored and let down by” the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) claimed Labour MP Steve Race, this week.

In a debate in parliament, the MP for Exeter said the changes to funding for certain groups made some businesses “feel sidelined and disillusioned.”

He went on to warn that without the funding, vital local training networks and knowledge will be lost.

In November and December last year, the CITB embarked on a series of controversial funding cuts designed to favour its newer programmes such as its Employee Networks and the New Entrant Support Team (NEST).

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An electrical apprentice has returned to work after a serious car crash left him with a serious brain injury and in a coma for three weeks.

Charlie Gray paid tribute to the NHS staff at the Specialist Rehabilitation Unit at the Bellfield Centre in Scotland that helped him re-learn practical skills and eventually return to his apprenticeship.

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