Under the proposals, the Small Business Levy Exemption threshold for employers with wage bills of less than £80,000 is set to be raised to £120,000 – removing 5,000 smaller businesses from paying the CITB Levy next year. They can continue to claim CITB grants and support for their training and skills development, however.

CITB’s proposal to raise the threshold came out of discussions earlier this year with industry leaders, stakeholders and a cross section of construction employers on industry priorities and funding. Views from employers have been built into CITB’s Levy Proposals for the 2021 Levy Order and Strategic Plan 2021-25, which have now been submitted to the Department for Education (DfE) for consideration.

The consultation showed that 85% of employers supported an option to increase the Levy exemption threshold. Approximately 35,000 employers are already exempt from paying Levy under the current system, with the proposed threshold increase taking this up to 40,000.

CITB is also confirming its proposals to halve levy rates in 2021-22, cutting next year’s Levy bills by 50%. The proposed rates are PAYE @ 0.175% and Net CIS @ 0.625%.

The CITB Strategic Plan, to be published later this month, looks at how CITB can best support the industry through to 2025 and how it will be funded.

Steve Radley, CITB policy director, said: “Taking 5,000 of the smaller employers out of Levy payment is another measure to help deliver on our priority to help employers stabilise and then return to growth.

“We are pleased to confirm that we have submitted proposals to halve Levy rates for next year. Later this month we will publish our Strategic Plan that will set out how we plan to invest the Levy to support the recovery.”