TTA receives Qualifying the Workforce Funding

**rab glasgow** · 10-01-2012

The Tile Association (TTA) has been awarded funding of up to £75,000 by Construction Skills to further qualify the workforce within the industry.
The 'Qualifying the Workforce Funding' is available from Construction Skills to Trade Associations and Unions that represent a directly employed workforce of over 5,000 people, or with an ability to influence a larger non-employed workforce.
Construction Skills, the Sector Skills Council and Industry Training Board for the construction industry, work both with and for the construction industry, to deliver a safe, professional and fully qualified UK construction workforce. The aim of the Qualifying the Workforce Funding is to support organisations in their aims to have a suitably qualified workforce to meet the needs of the industry.
To this end, TTA successfully applied for funding this year and was awarded up to £75,000 over the next 12 months.
TTA will be using the funding to support its members in the tile fixing and retail sectors by giving members who have an employee achieve either a level 2 or higher NVQ in Wall & Floor Tiling or the new Tile Retail Diploma (due to be launched in the New Year) £450 per employee.
Although some companies maybe too far away from a college that offers tiling to send an apprentice to, employers can still claim CSkills grants for carrying out in-house training of an apprentice via a Specialist Training Programme agreed with Construction Skills.
The Tile Association is also offering £2000 in funding to Tile Fixing members who successfully employ an apprentice who completes their apprenticeship and achieve an NVQ level 2. The £2000 is paid over the 2 year period and is in addition to the funding the employer can receive from Construction Skills.