ECITB levy approved by parliament: funding, exemptions and skills impact for engineers
Reviewed by Joe Ashwell
First reported on The Construction Index
30 Second Briefing
Parliament has approved the Engineering Construction Industry Training Board’s 2026 Industrial Training Levy Order, maintaining levy rates at 0.33% of off-site payroll and 1.2% of on-site payroll, expected to raise £137.9m for 2026–28 and support an estimated additional 40,000 workers. Employers with off-site wage bills under £1m and on-site wage bills under £275,000 remain exempt but still eligible for ECITB training grants, preserving support for SMEs. The levy will be collected in 2027–29, with a separate decision on a proposed ECITB–CITB merger due later this year.
Technical Brief
- Statutory Instrument “Industrial Training Levy (ECITB) Order 2026” has been affirmed by both Houses, unopposed.
- Levy applies to engineering construction wage bills relating to 2026–28 but is payable in 2027–29.
- Employers remain exempt if off-site annual wage bill is under £1m, or on-site under £275,000.
- Exempt employers that are in-scope to ECITB still qualify for ECITB-funded training grants.
- Ministers explicitly link levy-funded skills to delivery of major energy and industrial infrastructure across Great Britain.
- Government statements tie ECITB’s role to clean energy, energy security and wider economic growth objectives.
- Industry consultation in November saw engineering construction companies “overwhelmingly” back the proposed levy structure.
Our Take
The ECITB levy framework for 2026–2028 underpins skills initiatives already flagged in our coverage, such as the forecast 47% rise in welding demand and associated upskilling programmes, signalling that levy payers in Great Britain will be funding very specific capacity gaps rather than generic training.
The linkage to the Energy Transition Skills Hub and ECITB-backed schemes like Aurora’s “Military to Wind” pilot suggests that, for UK engineering contractors, a material share of levy-funded training is likely to be steered towards low‑carbon and offshore wind skills, which may influence workforce planning on major energy and infrastructure projects from 2026 onwards.
Prepared by collating external sources, AI-assisted tools, and Geomechanics.io’s proprietary mining database, then reviewed for technical accuracy & edited by our geotechnical team.
Related Articles
Related Industries & Products
Construction
Quality control software for construction companies with material testing, batch tracking, and compliance management.
Mining
Geotechnical software solutions for mining operations including CMRR analysis, hydrogeological testing, and data management.
QCDB-io
Comprehensive quality control database for manufacturing, tunnelling, and civil construction with UCS testing, PSD analysis, and grout mix design management.