Minutes of HCTA General Meeting
Wednesday 7th June at Basingstoke Country Hotel.
1.
Welcome & Apologies – Julia Coak (JC)
JC welcomed everyone in attending. Apologies had been received from Vick Lucas, Reside Constrction; Kevin Edginton, K & K Décor; Tony Jack, Hughes & Salvidge; Amanda Ash, Parson Ash.
Attendees list – HCTA
Julia Coak , Chair (Lynx Forecourts)
Eileen Bird, Training Officer
Estell Guest, Treasurer
Kelly Marsh, Brymor Construction
Steve Hale, Parchow Groundworks
Jacqueline Mansfield, Wendage Pollution Control
CITB Liz Steele, Shirley Ratcliffe & Mark Pope,
Speaker Dave Evans, Act Sustainably
Members David Shaw, Blanchard Wells
Paul Broderick, Blaze Construction
Justine Duffin, Brymor
Mandy Phelps & Mike Foster, Building Tecnics Kirsty Northcote, Champion Group
Gary Mann, Comserv UK
Andrea Parker, Dyer & Butler
Lori Noble, Hughes & Salvidge
Laura Woolhead, Kier Highways Services
Su Watt & Jason Woodward , PTC
Janet Hutchinson, R & W Civil Eng
Michelle Hartley, R W Armstrong
Ray Sims & Mark Hurkett, Raymond Brown
Peter Jenks, Richardson Decorating
Sarah Groves, Selwoods
George Langdown, Southern Concrete
Maggie Stefaniak & Tina Craciun, Trant
Matt Alexander, Welbro Project Mgmt
Note – Planned Agenda order was not followed completely. The order below follows the order of the day.
2.
HCTA Update
Eileen proceeded to give a brief update from HCTA:-
There was nothing outstanding from the last meeting. More to follow on Apprenticeships in the main Agenda.
The HCTA Web site is now live at www.hcta.org.uk Drew Westcott was due to attend to help us launch this. Eileen to show the site later.
Bank Account – The new HCTA Bank Account is now operational and there are no outstanding Invoices with old bank details. Could all members please ensure that payments are made (via BACS or by cheque) to Hampshire Construction Training Association (HCTA) at the Barclays Account.
Subsidy & Training Update – To date we have supported 60 separate employer attendances and have subsidised training by just over £8,500. This has been allocated to only 21 members, so many have not yet used anything, whereas 4 members have used their entire initial allocation. Having made the decision to block access to the extra training fund to members who do not send in their quarterly returns for the next quarter, the committee may look to re-allocate some money to other members.
Membership – One new member company has joined since the last meeting and Eileen has 3 potential members to see.
Meeting Venues – Because of the increased number of attendance at meetings, we have started to look for different venues. Feedback on Basingstoke Country Hotel would be appreciated.
3.
CITB Update
Liz Steele gave a general update and covered items requested by Eileen:-
Levy Offer – CITB is in Purdah because of the election so certain things cannot be discussed. However, the consultation on levy is coming to an end and an announcement should be made w/c 19th June.
CITB has had direct contact with employers via 24 events; 12 advisor forums; 79 federation meetings; 2 webinars and via the dashboard on the web site. Liz gave the % responses by country and by size of business. The overall situation was that most employers (approx 70%) found the offer of a reduction of payment on PAYE to 0.35% from 0.5% to be average or above average (good and/or excellent). Full details are on one of the attachments.
The next steps in this will be to finalise an offer ready for a vote later in the year. The final offer will be communicated by mail to all registered employers later in the year, with the consensus process running 3rd July -21st September, a result being known in late October and the sign off by the Secretary of State in 2018. The list of Consensus Federations who will vote can be seen on our web site. 6,000 non-federated employers who are levy payers will also be contacted by telephone by an independent Organisation for their vote.
Future Grant Scheme – Liz confirmed that 7 Pathfinder Groups have been set up around the country. These are made up of employers who are in discussions about the value and content of a future operating model for CITB grant, a directory of Individuals qualifications and a Training register.
The ‘local’ group has 3 HCTA members on it, two large employers, Selwoods (represented by Sarah Groves); Dyer & Butler (represented by Andrea Parker) and one small employer, Wendage Pollution Control (represented by Jacqueline Mansfield).
CSCS Helpline – Liz had contacted Garry Mortimer of CITB who confirmed that CSCS has had an increased demand on its helpline because of the change for CRO cards. He advised that there has been some recruitment and training should now be completed to alleviate the problems.
HCTA members were encouraged to use the “Tell us what you think” link on the CITB web site to record problems complete with specifics of day, time etc on this and any other issues.
LEP Update – The Enterprise M3 LEP which covers North Hampshire and New Forest areas has started to show some interest in producing a Construction Skills Strategy, but they have said that Construction is not a priority for them.
Solent LEP’s Construction group meet 3 times per year with sub groups working on areas highlighted in their Construction Skills Strategy in addition to these dates. This has led to the Solent Groundwork Project which has 14 employers involved with Fareham college producing a plan for an Apprenticeship to Include a Groundworks NVQ and plant training in Ride on Roller and Forward Tipping Dumper with a possibility of NRSWA and other items too. Development and funding work for this is on-going with bids for funds from CITB and Solent
LEP in progress.
For the first year, the 14 members (9 of which are HCTA member companies) have all made commitments to employ apprentices and to trial the new course. After that it should be available for new starters from all employers interested.
At this point Eileen also mentioned that there is the possibility of a Plant Operative Apprentieship which is being discussed between Eastleigh College and Trade Assessments, but it is still not beyond discussion about funding.
Skills and Training Fund The next window for bids from the Skills and Training fund opens on 17th July. Liz explained that this is the fund available to individual, smaller employers and that the funds are available on a first come first served basis, so anyone looking to apply should consider doing so sooner rather than later. Eileen has some guidelines for this.
4.
Apprenticeships
– Mark Pope, on of CITB’s Apprenticeship Officers was in attendance to provide information and answer questions on Apprenticeships. There were also hand-outs (see attachments).
Mark started by explaining that the main change in Apprenticeships (apart from the Government Levy which is now being paid by all employers with a PAYE bill of over £3 million) is that employers are now responsible for all or some payment for training.
The full amount being chargeable to those paying government levy. See also Qa below.
10% for employers with over 50 employees but with a PAYE bill under £3 million and
£0 – 10% for employers with less than 50 employees.
The range is complicated, but if the apprentice is 16-19 years of age, or older and with a care plan in place the training is free and small employers receive a £1,000 bonus from government.
The CITB grant and conditions remains the same. (Government Levy payers will receive interim increase to assist all as individually explained).
The large employers must have a signed contract with each provider they intend to work with, including CITB where appropriate – they will launch their new paperwork next week. CITB may have a few new colleges locally with whom they are currently in negotiations.
A problem may arise where courses are run as day release – the new arrangements state that 20% of training must be done off the job and day release, because of holidays may not cover this. The off the job training must be in the skill part of the prospectus so some e-learning packages are being produced, or some block attendances may be required.
Course costs were on a handout. These are based on the existing/old framework rates. The new standards, even if ready will not be started until 2018 so all start together. When these are released there may be an increase in costs.
The new standards must all include a form of end test which is proving difficult to finalise in some Construction Qualifications.
The Questions which had been sent in were as follows:-
Qa. With the New Government Apprenticeship Scheme, are there any age restrictions?
A. If the training is being paid for in full (i.e by an employer paying government levy) there is no restriction.
However, for those who are paying 10% and therefore receiving assistance with funding, this will be limited for 19+ age group and will be on a first come first served basis.
Qb. If we are an Apprenticeship Gvt Levy payer and are paying the full cost of training, what happens when our fund runs out?
A. When an employers funds have run out they will pay the 10%. The details of how this will work are as yet unclear as government will be topping up the fund each month.
Qc. In respect of the Construction and Civil Engineering Groundwork Apprenticeship being set up in Hampshire with Fareham College and CITB involvement, is HCTA joined up in its thinking?
A. HCTA is fully aware of this project and Eileen has attended one or two of the meetings held by the employers involved, CITB and Fareham college. We have spoken of it at our meetings and will continue to do so. However, because of the spread of our membership, geographically and by trade, it is not practical for us to do more than this.
Qd. With the availability of CITB accredited training centres able to provide apprentice training in Construction Operations becoming very limited. It seems that contractors will need to play a greater role in self delivery of its training needs. What can CITB do to help make this possible?
A. CITB has been working hard to identify needs, in particular through Construction Skills Strategies as has happened in Solent area. It then works with colleges and employers to confirm demand and potential availability.
The funds which are now available outside the standard grant scheme may also help with providing some assistance for contractors to support the training they do.
5.
Speaker
– Dave Evans of Act Sustainably gave a presentation summarising the 5 ‘mega trends’ which should be considered in ‘future proofing’ businesses.
The talk linked into the new ISO14001 standard which now expects companies to consider Internal and External Influences and the needs of Interested Parties. It also requires integration of Environmental Considerations into all business processes, to consider life cycle perspective and have greater commitment from leadership
Dave has developed courses specifically aimed at Construction Industry.
The presentation was very well received and it was suggested from the floor after Dave left that HCTA should arrange for a 3 day course to be run in Hampshire. Dates and venues are being considered.
A similar presentation was give to IOW Group and was videoed. Eileen has asked if this could be shown on the Act Sustainably Twitter Feed.
Presentation Slides and handouts are attached.
A question arose from the floor about CITB’s SEATS course. Eileen advised that the Seats course is aimed at site staff and operatives and covers Environmental issues, raising awareness, whereas the Act Sustainably course is aimed at Management and covers Sustainability at a business and strategic level.
6.
2017 KPI’s and Targets
Eileen asked by the attendees for an indication about their involvement in Q2 targets and recorded the following:-
Work Experience – Parchow, P M C & Trant
Career Events – R W Armstrog
NVQ Achievements – Blaze, R & W, Wendage, Trant, Parchow & Raymond Brown.
Apprentice starts – Brymor, Trant, Champions & PTC
Pathfinder Group Involvement – as recorded in minutes.
Further details will be sought at the end of the month.
7.
HCTA Web site
Eileen showed the HCTA web site on the screen.
Eileen explained that the main reason for developing a web site is to have a web presence, but that the member area will hold news items and the meeting minutes so that these do not always have to be emailed.
All members will be sent a user log-in during the next 2 weeks. It was agreed that this should be the Company name. One person in the company will receive an email which will give a computer-generated password which can then be personalised.
Eileen would be grateful for feedback and any items of news and, if/when members are comfortable to do so, they should send over a PDF version of their company logo and a link to their company web site for inclusion.
It was suggested that there should be a chance to show current vacancies within the group membership.
8.
Any Other Business & Date of Next Meeting
Liz shared the provisional dates for local CITB grant scheme briefings:-
8th August – Cams Hall, Fareham
9th August – Marwell, nr Winchester
10th August – Liphook area (hopefully Bordon)
Jacqueline asked about the potential Apprenticeship being considered by NATTA. This will apparently be an in-house arrangement initially in partnership with Guilford college.
The college set-up at Bordon was also queried. This is a satellite part of Basingstoke College and is looking to start Maintenance Operations and Carpentry & Joinery.
The next meeting is to be held on Wednesday 13th September at Marriott Hotel, Portsmouth (Chichester Suite)