THE CONSTRUCTION Industry Training Board (CITB) has secured more than £1m of funding to support the construction sector in the North-East.

The grant, provided by the Government Office for the North-East from European Social Funding, will be used for construction training and improving the competitiveness of companies.

The money will be used to support the Qualifying the Workforce initiative through on-site assessment and training, encouraging craft workers to gain recognition at NVQ Levels two and three.

It will also support the training of assessors and provide individuals with the skills to evidence work-based learning.

Another drive will be to promote lifelong learning and increase industry competitiveness by helping companies to develop training plan, potentially leading to Investors in people accreditation.

Working with the Small Business Service, Business Link and the North-East Chamber of Commerce, and other construction training groups, the CITB will undertake a needs analysis for the industry.

CITB's chief executive, Peter Lobban said: "Attracting funds to help the industry is a top priority for the CITB.

"This £1m is yet another example of the way the CITB brings large amounts of extra funding into the industry in a way which individual construction companies can not do on their own."