Sellafield training row
Last updated 11:32, Friday, 04 April 2008
A LEGAL row has blown up between Sellafield Ltd and the UK’s engineering industry training organisation (ECITB).
The nuclear company is declining to pay a levy or tax for every one of its 10,000 employees.
David Edwards, chief executive of the ECITB, said: “I can confirm that Sellafield Ltd (formerly BNG Sellafield Ltd) has lodged an appeal with the industrial tribunal against the training levy.”
The ECITB is a cross-sectoral skills body that operates with statutory powers to raise a training levy on establishments that carry out engineering construction activity. It is governed by a network of employer-led forums in every region, feeding into a main board of employers, employer associations, trades unions, other stakeholders and government.
There are 500 organisations nationally that are in-scope to the ECITB, large and small, together employing around 100,000 professional engineers, craft and technician personnel.
These are involved in the design, project management, construction, installation, repair, maintenance and dismantling of processing facilities, such as those at Sellafield, on power stations, refineries and chemical plant and the like.
Last year around £12.8m was raised from the training levy.
Mr Edwards said: “Apprenticeships are just one of our programmes which also include safety training and systems, adult re-skilling, supervisor and high level project management programmes. Altogether around 60,000 people per year benefit from ECITB programmes.
“We are active in all of these areas at Sellafield and the north west generally and have also sponsored the development and delivery of safety training for personnel on the Sellafield site. We have also committed to work with the National Skills Academy Nuclear.”
It is understood Sellafield is arguing that it is not a construction business, and on-site contractors already pay the appropriate levies.
