Training & Development Plans

…are you making the most of CITB-ConstructionSkills Grants and your workers?

• T&D Plan Overview (including advantages and disadvantages of a T&D plan)
• T&D Plan Criteria (including criteria which must be met and links to spreadsheet)
• Completing Your Plan (including what do to if your plan changes)
• How To Claim

 

T&D Plan Overview

What is a training & development plan (T&D plan)?

It is the plan that you submit to ConstructionSkills, which outlines the training that you think your employees will be undertaking during the year. For details of current training plan grant, click on the grant scheme link at the top of the right-hand column.

What are the advantages of having a T&D plan?

To make you think about your employee development – developing a T&D plan will give you a better picture of the current skill levels and strengths within your company.

To give you clear, measurable objectives for your workforce development – well trained workers are safer, better skilled, work faster, make fewer mistakes and are often more motivated.

To make claiming ConstructionSkills Grant simpler, and more inclusive – having a T&D plan enables you to claim grant for almost any training which benefits your business.

• Training for all staff (from secretaries to operatives)
• Training in all subjects (from Abrasive Wheels to Excel)
• Training activities which are over 30 minutes

Basically, if a training activity is going to be good for your company, ConstructionSkills will help to pay for it.

By producing a training plan, you will receive a lump sum per annum (based on the number of employees). In addition, you can claim grant for each 6 hours of training carried out.

What are the disadvantages of having a T&D plan?

You will need to spend some time thinking about the year ahead – but pre-planning will help with cash flow and budgeting, and help address any skills shortages.

You need to think about how you are going to record the training that is completed. If you don’t keep a record, you can’t support the claim. While getting a system in place will take time and effort – once up and running, you will reap the rewards.

And don't forget, you can claim grant for lots more training events, including half-day courses that are not approved for Short-Duration claims (e.g. mobile towers), and training for all employees (not just construction staff).

 

 

T&D Plan Criteria

There are various criteria which must be met for Training and Development Plan grant to be available:

1. You must have completed a Levy Return for the current year.
2. Your plan needs to meet the definition of training and the criteria set down within the grant scheme rules. The ConstructionSkills website sets out the criteria for ‘Supported Training’ and ‘Training that is not Supported’.
3. Your plan needs to be submitted to ConstructionSkills on form TP1a/TP2a and approved within strict deadlines – clicking on the links below will open an Excel workbook:
   › TP1a/TP2a – Large Company T&D Plan (for up to 200 employees)
   › TP1a/TP2a – Medium Company T&D Plan (for up to 50 employees)
   › TP1a/TP2a – Small Company T&D Plan (for up to 25 employees)

Use the tabs at the bottom of the spreadsheet to move between the different sheets, which include:

• Completion Instructions
• Contact Information
• Planning and Record Sheet
• Initial Claim Form
• First Interim Claim Form
• Second Interim Claim Form
• Final Claim
• Increase Request
• Evidence Requirements

› Example training plan

If you are not certain where to start, or would like some help in putting your plan together call the Group Training Officer, or your local ConstructionSkills Company Development Advisers and they will arrange to visit you at a convenient time and place, and can help you identify training needs and develop a T&D plan. This service is free to NCTG member companies.

 

 

Completing Your Plan?

1. Complete the Planning and Record Sheet – listing the names of all your staff and labour-only subcontractors within your plan and identifying the training they require during the year.

• Tool Box Talks must each be individually itemised before the plan can be approved.
• Identify all training actively being carried out, even if they are claimed through other grant references within the Grants Scheme – just put 0 in the hours
• Allocate a category of training to each course and training session listed on your Plan using the drop down list.
• If you are planning to take on new staff list them as ‘A N Other’ until you know their names

2. Complete the initial claim form

3. Email the spreadsheet to your Company Development Adviser.

Once your initial claim (TP1/TP1A) has been accepted ConstructionSkills will pay the full per capita grant (B101).

What should you do if your training plan changes?

You can apply to increase the number of days covered by your plan if, for example, you take on a new contract unexpectedly and need more training. You can do this at any time until the end of the 11th month of your plan.

Complete the 'Increase Request' page of your Training Plan or email your Company Development Adviser with your request. Your CDA may require further information to make a decision. If your request is accepted you will be asked to update your plan with the approved number of training days.

If you replace a member of your workforce whose training is included in your initial claim you may utilise the training days allocated to the previous employee for your new recruits.

 

 

How To Claim?

Under a Training Plan you can claim at three stages in the year of your plan – 4 months and/or 8 months (interim claims), and a final claim must be submitted at the end of your plan.

ConstructionSkills will send you reminder letters at 3 months and 7 months. You may then claim for any training days which you have completed. If you do not return the claim forms no interim payment will be made. Your interim claims must be received by ConstructionSkills within a maximum of 30 days from the claim date or they will be rejected.

ConstructionSkills will send you a reminder letter after 11 months confirming that your final claim is due. The final payment of training day grant (B102) will be made on the actual number of training days completed throughout the year of your Plan, less any days which have been paid at the 4 month and 8 month interim periods.

You must have evidence in place to substantiate your claim. Your plan may be audited at any time by a verifier so you must keep evidence of the training for which you have claimed grant. You will need to retain this evidence for 3 years.

You must email your final claim to your local ConstructionSkills office within a maximum of 30 days from the end date of your plan or you will not receive any grant.

For more details on how to claim, visit the ConstructionSkills website.

 

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