The Construction Industry Training Board (CITB) has announced that 337 staff will have their jobs outsourced next year.

Workers undertaking roles including: human resources, finance, procurement, technology and change (corporate performance), apprenticeship processing, and some customer operations roles will be transferred to Shared Service Connected Ltd (SSCL) in February 2019.

There has been no confirmation of where the work will be based.

Construction union Unite has condemned the plans as the "beginning of the end of the CITB".

-- Advertisement --

Unite regional co-ordinating officer Mark Robinson said: "Unite will ensure that our members affected by the outsourcing announcement have their terms and conditions fully protected.

"However, this announcement effectively marks the beginning of the end of the organisation. It is deeply troubling that CITB is determined to surrender control of key functions, such as HR and finance.

"Unite will also be strongly making the case to both the CITB and SSCL that workers need to be based in their current vicinity, which for the majority of the affected workforce means close to the current Bircham Newton headquarters. Most of the affected workforce live locally and will be unable and unwilling to move further afield.

"For the remaining workers huge uncertainty remains as a year after the CITB announced its plans the board still has not revealed a new headquarters.

"Meanwhile, while they have said that the CITB will no longer provide direct training, the silence has been deafening on announcing who will undertake this work."

(CM/MH)