A petition has been launched by workers at the Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) calling on the organisation to U-turn on plans to outsource its industry training and back office functions.

Unite the Union are collecting signatures for the petition at the organisation's Bircham Newtown headquarters in north Norfolk, Erith (south London), Thurmaston (East Midlands), Inchinnan (Renfrewshire, Scotland) and Bridgend (Wales).

The CITB is planning to sell its National Training College at Bircham Newton as well as its other training colleges and to outsource its specialist training, as part of a major business reform plan by the organisation. Overall, the CITB aims to reduce its employee staff roll from 1,370 to 484 by 2020.

With no private provider yet found to take over CITB's training provisions, Unite said if no one is found then the courses are set to close and vital skills will be lost.

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The union is also encouraging the industry to write directly to the CITB opposing their proposals. In March, it emerged the organisation had not consulted industry members before announcing that they were no longer going to provide training directly, while there had been no demand from the construction industry for direct provision to cease.

Unite regional co-ordinating officer, Mark Robinson, said the new CITB Chairman Peter Lauener is a "self-declared champion of apprentices".

As the previous head of the Education and Skills Funding Agency, in the past Mr Lauener has highlighted the need for an increase in construction apprenticeships

Mr Robinson said: "It is essential that the plans for his organisation to end specialist apprentice training is reversed.

"Unite will be collecting names on our petition to underline the depth of feeling against the CITB's plans to ensure that these plans to sell-off these vital services are properly examined and reversed."

Continuing, Mr Robinson said plans to shut down a a number of key offices, including the head office in Bircham Newton, Norfolk, could be "severely damaging not only to the hundreds of people facing redundancy or a long trip to work everyday but also to industry having to work with less experienced staff".

"It is essential that the construction industry makes its voice heard and directly opposes the CITB's plans to end direct training which has no benefit for them," he concluded.

(LM/MH)