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Strategy and Operating Plan 2013

Securing Engineering Construction Skills Now and for the Future

Engineering Construction Industry Training Board Blue Court,

Church Lane, Kings Langley

Hertfordshire, WD4 8JP

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Contents

 

Introduction ............................................................................... 5 

2012 Achievements ................................................................... 6 

Strategy, performance and direction ...................................... 7 

Strategic Pillars ......................................................................... 7 

Objectives .................................................................................. 8 

Delivering the vision ................................................................. 9 

Specific actions for 2013 are: ................................................ 11 

Commercial ............................................................................. 12 

Finance .................................................................................... 13 

Governance and structure ..................................................... 13 

Our People ............................................................................... 14 

Risks & Risk Management ..................................................... 15 

ECITB Activity 2013 ................................................................ 16 

ECITB Expenditure 2011 - 2013 ............................................. 18 

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Introduction This plan sets out the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board’s Operating Plan for 2013. It details the performance expectations and direction of the ECITB, describes the key strategic priorities and the approach to working with employers, providers and stakeholders to build the capacity and capability of the engineering construction workforce. The ECITB has a strong track record of driving performance, widening engagement, innovation and assuring the quality of learning and attainment of skills and competence. Competence is key to the industry’s future performance and sustainability, therefore it is right for the ECITB to focus all of the collective effort of the staff in this area. Competence is the ability to use skills, knowledge and understanding in a particular environment to achieve work objectives in a safe and efficient manner. The ECITB focuses primarily on the competence of individuals, how people work in teams, are supervised and led in the context of engineering construction projects. Safety and being safe underpin all aspects of ECITB standards and training programmes. The tools created by the ECITB on behalf of the industry to support attainment and ongoing assurance of competence are:

Occupational standards that are specific to the engineering construction industry and portable across the sectors it serves.

Training standards for providers and in-house training teams to work to train new entrants and to up skill existing employees.

Apprenticeship frameworks that meet statutory quality standards and qualify for public financial support.

Competence frameworks and training programmes for supervisory skills and project management excellence.

Grant assistance ranging from £100 per delegate day to £10,000 for completion of an apprentice framework.

A provider accreditation and monitoring system to assure quality of training delivery.

A suite of technical tests that is of use in training needs analysis and tracking progress of learning.

A secure and regulated certification and card issuing system to give confidence of the identity, skills and knowledge of people in the ECI workforce.

Schools, college and university careers outreach activity to help to attract applicants to the industry.

New for 2013: an industry wide brokerage system to assist talent in flow and retention.

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2012 Achievements Achievements in 2012, building on previous year’s growth and successes, show that the ECITB’s overall strategy and approach is delivering the results and expectations set by the Board on behalf of the employers and people within the vitally important Engineering Construction Industry. The key milestones were:

Achievement of over 800 apprenticeship starts in 2012, the highest ever.

Increased engagement and customer satisfaction which rose by 3.5% points to 77%.

Establishment of international operations, delivering a platform for growth in 2013 and beyond.

Reaching settlement with the Nuclear Site Licence Companies (SLCs) within the NDA estate, engaging with them and collaborating with other skills bodies in nuclear to establish a single menu of services.

Launch of the advanced supervisor programme and a supervisor competence framework.

Launch of the suite of technical tests and the employer course approval scheme.

Full compliance by the Awarding Body with OfQual’s new General Conditions of Recognition.

All of these underpin the strategy of working with people, employers, providers and stakeholders to secure engineering construction skills now and for the future.

Enrolment and Achievements  2011 

Achieved 

2012  Original Target 

2012  Actual 

%  Achieved 

2013  Objective

Apprenticeships   583 581 849 146%  623

Skills & Technical   4,006 5,886      6,269  107%  14,178

Management & Professional   5,245 3,256      4,860  149%  14,453

Regional Discretionary Grant Learners   9,317 3,745      6,754  180%  2,148

Awards & Qualifications   3,681 4,200      4,852  116%  4,000

Sub total   22,832 17,668 23,584 133%  35,402

Safety Passports   42,130 45,000 40,291 90%  42,000

ECITB IHSP           38,000

ECITB Other International products           3,500

Total   64,962 62,668 63,875 102%  118,902

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Strategy, performance and direction Research in 2012 has revealed that employers and stakeholders across the industry are much more confident of there being significant growth in activity over the next 10-20 years. Estimates vary and much is dependent on the Government’s incentives and support for the power industry, including nuclear and renewables. However, what is certain is that much of the country’s energy and processing industries need to be replaced or upgraded. There has been a consistent view for the last few years that as many as 60,000 people are needed to replace retirees and meet expansion demand. The skill mix is diverse, from traditional craft skills to advanced engineering and project management. Therefore a diverse portfolio of services will continue to be maintained to support employers in securing the skills they need now and in the future. There is also a broad consensus that the investment rate in training is lagging behind the demand and that much more needs to be done. The ECITB will continue to support employers to access public skills investment and to influence Government to support an industry-wide initiative that has the potential to increase output, especially of apprentices. In 2012 the ECITB carried out a review of its apprenticeships and apprenticeship delivery. The aim is to ensure that apprenticeships are easily accessible and that the standard of delivery remains high. The review highlighted the potential for increased efficiency. The improvements put forward will be developed further and implemented during 2013 but will not have material impact until 2014/15. Strategic Pillars The ECITB’s approach is built on three strategic pillars. This has already delivered success and will remain at the core of how the ECITB focuses its effort at National, Regional and Programme levels. They are:

• helping to attract talented people to the industry, with schools, college and university outreach programmes;

• setting industry-wide training and occupational standards, designing programmes and assuring the quality of training delivery to develop new entrants and existing employees;

• designing, implementing and regulating qualifications to qualify people and employers, recognising their skills and assuring safety and competence.

This integrated approach, supported by the relatively high levels of organisation and collaboration amongst employers is a key strength of the industry. Employers remain at the centre of policy making, prioritising how the funds raised by the training levy and from commercial activities are invested, whether directly in the form of training grants or designing standards and services to assure competence. Being flexible and allowing regional employers and/or sectoral groups to respond to meet specific needs is a key part of delivering the strategy and will remain so. The aim is to continue to learn, adapt and develop to move towards the goal of securing engineering construction skills now and for the future. This will require innovation, new values and culture so that everyone inside the ECITB is aligned and clear of what must be done and is fulfilled by their personal, team, organisation and, importantly, industry achievements.

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Objectives

Attract, Develop, Qualify

People

Establish and deliver an integrated marketing and 

communications plan that reaches into schools, colleges, universities, other industries and the existing workforce  

Ensure that the ECITB service offer is 

understood. Promote pathways, 

employability, qualifications and 

industry opportunities

Give individual recognition of 

competence through the award of 

qualifications in the new QCF/SCQF to give 

portability and employability

Establish a lifetime learner management system to support individuals on entry and during career progression in the 

industry

Employers

Engage with employers and stakeholders to secure regional 

training & placement plans

Ensure an effective advice and brokerage service for providers and employers to 

maximise volume and drive efficiency of 

delivery

Provide financial assistance for in‐scope employers and lever matched funding from  public and out of scope 

sources

Assist  employers to develop their systems 

for competence assurance and 

recognise achievement against defined 

standards including the signing up to the new Skills and Training 

Charter

Providers

Establish licensed regional provider 

network against the regional demand 

profile

Assist providers to market ECITB 

programmes to attract more candidates from out of scope and get cost reductions for in 

scope learners

Support providers to build their capacity and capability, creating a strong brand that is 

recognised and valued

Broaden the international delivery network of providers and increase volume of  

learners

Stakeholders

Establish the partnerships and 

working relationships  necessary to secure ECI and ECITB’s position at the forefront of delivering 

engineering projects

Ensure BIS, DECC, UKCES, Skills Funding Agency, National 

Apprenticeship Service, SSCs, academies and 

emerging LEPs understand and 

support the ECITB’s services

Bring clients and operators into the ECITB Forums and discussion groups to widen exposure and create alignment

Build relationships with employer associations  

where ECI has a significant stake, 

including NIA and RUK to ensure they 

recognise and support ECI and ECITB

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Delivering the vision The key strategic priorities for the ECITB in the coming years are to build the capacity and capability of the workforce to meet the needs of;

Power generation new build (including nuclear, renewable and conventional power) Nuclear decommissioning Offshore oil and gas decommissioning

These projects are in addition to the existing renewal, and repair and maintenance work that is on-going. It is estimated that an additional 60,000 people will need to enter the industry over the next 10 years to meet the demand. A highly skilled and competent workforce will be required to undertake and complete these projects successfully. 20,000 of these will need to be apprentices, 20,000 will need to come into the industry from allied sectors and 20,000 will need to be professional engineers and other graduates. There will be a need across all disciplines, but particular priorities will be;

Advanced Welding Construction Management Technical Leadership Supervisory Management Project Management, particularly

project planning Project Control

Design and Draughting Front-End Engineering Design (FEED) To help build ECITB’s performance and capacity to better support the industry, staff will continue to be focussed around the five core processes. These are:

Employer engagement to position employers at the heart of everything we do.

Identify skills needs and priorities, so that we can focus on value adding work that has maximum impact and benefit to employers.

Engage with providers and stakeholders to ensure that training is designed and delivered to meet employer requirements and that the volume is increased.

Deliver effective products and services that are valued and respected.

Evaluate and improve to keep everything fit for purpose and performing well.

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The ECITB will continue to build capacity amongst training providers and employers with increasing availability of learning material and licensing of providers (and employers) to deliver our programmes. Our simplified grant structure is designed to better capture the individuals undertaking learning and to streamline the grant payment process. Together, these will continue to improve accessibility and reduce bureaucracy. Focus will also be given to developing more partnerships with providers and stakeholders to increase the use of ECITB programmes across the supply chain. Specific goals have been set within each region and nationally to enlist more providers and to get more learners into the system on ECITB frameworks. An increasing number of these will be funded by out of scope employers, indirectly building the skills pool for the industry as a whole. Unlocking training places across all programmes is a never ending challenge but is particularly important for apprentices and other (craft/technician) work based learners. The flexibility in our training programmes gives both large and small companies modular options including, free training, grant support and assured delivery by our network of approved providers.

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Specific actions for 2013 are:

Develop and maintain the industry’s National Occupational Standards (NOS), which cover the functions and activities in all the major disciplines and complete the review of the NOS started in 2012 and revise as appropriate.

Develop and maintain training and qualification standards based on the NOS that products and services can be built on.

Complete the writing of the new Technical Training Standards and start and complete the writing of H&S and Supervisory/Management Training Standards.

Carry out necessary revisions to existing CCNSG programmes and develop new Foundation CCNSG programme and develop improved assessment tools for CCNSG.

For supervision, develop Charge Hand programme, revise SMTD and implement Advanced Supervisor Programme across the industry.

Use Employer Course Approval Scheme to approve company’s own provision alongside the provider approval process which will be updated for courses based on new Training Standards.

Develop and maintain nationally accredited and regulated vocational, competence based qualifications, and deliver these through a network of approved and quality assured assessment centres.

Develop and implement new qualification in Welding Supervision, Advanced Welding and Moving Loads

Develop and maintain competency frameworks for industry to use as tools to direct their own training and development activities.

Deliver a wide variety of school based careers events to inform and educate school children and their teachers about the Engineering Construction Industry including:- the Schools Road Show and sponsoring two Smallpeice Trust Residential Engineering Construction Experience Workshops.

Attend, on behalf of the industry, a wide ranging number of careers events, to inform and educate people about the industry; The Big Bang, All Energy, Offshore Europe, The Skills Show NEC, Skills London, Glasgow and Aberdeen.

Maintain the web-based Career Progression Route Map, that aids existing workers or potential new recruits to see what careers are on offer and what training and qualifications are required and available for entry and progression.

Collect, analyse and present Labour Market Information and Sector Based Information for the industry to use in manpower planning and in identifying future skill needs.

Further develop Technical Test system and develop new knowledge only system for use in recruitment screening, identifying training needs and recognising technical competence (capability).

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Commercial There are several services provided by the ECITB that generate profit that is reinvested in additional training. The approach has developed into a successful business model that is based around licensing and accreditation of training providers, consultancy on establishing training systems, particularly with international customers, testing and assessment of competence and certification services. Our success in the domestic and international markets is built on quality of delivery, the ECITB’s reputation and association with UK Government. These and our governance model that captures industry expertise to define training and qualification standards give a unique selling proposition that differentiates the ECITB from potential competition and are keys to current and future commercial success. The short term goal is delivery of 38,000 ECITB International safety passports and Technical Tests in 2013 in UAE, Qatar, Bahrain, KSA, Oman, Kuwait, Indonesia and Azerbaijan. The medium to long term goal is the deployment of ECITB’s competence based systems that utilise;

ECITB Technical Training programmes and standards ECITB Technical Tests ECITB specified frameworks ECITB competency cards ECITB web accessed database

In the short term, this system will be used by the ~50 Emirates Steel apprentices that started on ECITB frameworks on 18th November 2012, with a view to spreading it to the whole Emirates Steel work force in 2013, 14 and 15. Emirates Steel will then be the case study to assist the ECITB in promoting this scheme throughout the Middle East initially, and other parts of the world later. Given that this scheme relies upon a three year reaccreditation process, similar to the ECITB IHSP, it is designed for long term growth and sustainability.

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Finance Delivering excellent value for money will continue to be central to our approach. The ECITB’s regional teams are responsible for the accuracy of employer and learner records, thereby ensuring real-time analysis and reporting. This will enable timely and better informed decision making. A detailed financial analysis of the ECITB’s activities over the period 2013 to 2018 shows that the anticipated demand in 2013 can be met. However, in order to comply with current reserves and commitment policies, additional income must be generated over the period to avoid reductions in training support in future years. Governance and structure Governance and control remains the responsibility of the Main Board, Management Board for day to day oversight of activity, Audit Committee, the Forums and Regional Chairs’ group. The Qualifications and Awards Committee is well established, overseeing all ECITB qualifications and awards.

Improved dialogue has occurred with the principal associations, ECIA, OCA and BCECA, on needs and concerns and will continue to be built on. The staff structure and resource level is felt to be broadly correct, with evolution and rebalancing to achieve clearer accountability for employer engagement, provider engagement, strategic engagement, international and domestic commercial activities.

Chief 

Executive

Director of Finance 

Director of Regional 

Operations

Director of Development & 

Quality

Commercial Director

Sector Manager

Nuclear

ECITB MAIN BOARD

National Strategy, Policy, Plans and Performance

Employers, Clients, Trades Unions, Associations, Regional Chairs

Audit Committee

Finance, control, probity

Regional Forums

Engagement & delivery

Management Board

Planning & performance

Qualifications & Awards 

Committee

Qualification design & regulation

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Our People People are the ECITB’s most important asset It is essential that everyone is competent. We want everyone to be highly skilled and have the knowledge and understanding required to carry out their roles effectively, efficiently and safely, ensuring a high level of performance.

We have over 90 people working across England, Scotland, Wales and internationally. Our ethos of Value, Reputation and Teamwork guides how we do business and how we work together.

Value – we shall always aim to provide value to our customers and to show that we value the commitment of all.

Reputation – ensuring quality and excellence and behaving with professionalism

Teamwork – both internally and in partnership to deliver better services

By making sure that our people feel valued, have suitable learning and development opportunities, and are rewarded for their contribution to our business, we will retain a motivated workforce.

This involves creating an open dialogue and listening to our people.

The ECITB has five key areas that form the basis of our people strategy:

Talent and resource management – ensuring we have both talented and engaged people who contribute to future business objectives and are part of their own career development.

Rewarding and recognising performance – continuing to work towards an effective performance management and recognition programme that drives a high-performance culture and complements the longer term business objectives.

Organisational effectiveness – ensuring that our structures, people processes and policies meet both current and future business needs.

Developing high performance – continuing to promote a learning culture where our people understand the part they play in the company’s success and the interventions available to help each and every employee succeed.

Leadership and capability – developing outstanding leadership throughout the organisation to encourage all employees to want to succeed.

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Risks & Risk Management The risk awareness and management processes are well established and reinforced periodically to all staff in the ECITB. Entering 2013 the risk profile of the ECITB is centred on:

Meeting increasing employer expectations against the backdrop of them rising faster than ECITB income allows;

Engaging with employers in a strategic debate about the training needs for the future and the appropriate rate of levy to support them.

Improving control of grant and training expenditure and making the link between operational KPIs and financial liabilities.

Building provider capacity and assuring quality of training delivery.

Delivering improvements and efficiencies in apprenticeship delivery as identified in the 2012 review as well as evaluating options. Options such as skill enhancement centres and becoming an apprentice training agency to reduce the risk associated with apprentice recruitment for employers, especially SMEs are to be considered

Maintaining ECITB’s capacity and capability to deliver at the same time as prioritising resources to support growth in training.

Valuing and retaining the ECITB’s core resource – it’s people.

Maximising the impact of the wealth of positive work already done by the ECITB through effective communication generally and via specific campaigns.

Securing the ECITB’s position in the skills landscape and achieving recognition of the operating model in the eyes of policy influencers in government and industry at large;

Securing control of, or at least more direct influence on, public skills investment for the industry.

The strategic work in positioning of the ECITB at the centre of “Securing Engineering Construction skills now and for the future” will continue unabated. Ongoing relationships and dialogue with BIS, UKCES, Sector Skills Councils and Skills Academies are necessary to maintain a distinct position in the skills delivery network. The ECITB will continue to work with the Welsh Assembly Government and Scottish Government to ensure sufficient resources are allocated to these devolved nations

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ECITB Activity 2013

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ECITB Expenditure 2011 - 2013

2011 2012 2013

Actual Actual Budget

Levy Income 18,093 23,778 24,693

Commercial Income 1,353 1,783 2,232

Other Income 1,107 950 946

Total Income 20,554 26,511 27,871

Regional Operational Costs 2,912 2,663 3,046

Careers 109 114 81

Regional Discretionary Grant 2,487 1,771 1,020

Apprenticeships 7,338 7,626 9,974

Skills & Technical 1,818 3,191 5,348

Management & Professional 3,330 3,031 5,133

Qualification Grants 553 1,064 1,057

Other Training Grants 0 5,583 0

EOS 1,800

Commercial Expenditure 955 1,000 1,281

Central Executive 711 674 835

Governance 159 139 151

Development & Quality Directorate 1,116 1,351 1,341

Finance & Legal Directorate 1,331 1,288 1,408

Extra Ordinary Items (632) (60) 0

Total Expenditure 22,187 29,435 32,474

Surplus/(Deficit) (1,633) (2,924) (4,603)