Construction Skills, the sector skills council for construction, have presented results to the BWF regarding membership usage of ConstructionSkills grants. These grants are funded through the industry levy payment which is a mandatory fee charged to all companies within the construction industry to support and encourage training. Based on the figure supplied by ConstructionSkills, BWF members are well above average in their grant claims compared with the construction industry as a whole, showing each member’s continued commitment to training in the industry. For every £1 BWF members have paid in levy, on average each is receiving £1.66 back in grant payments. This is 56p more than the industry average which are only seeing a £1.10 return. Since 2006, the Woodworking Industry Training Forum (WITForum) has been promoting training opportunities and benefits to the membership in a bid to encourage the BWF membership to invest in training. The WITForum manager, Dave Campbell, said, ‘It is extremely encouraging to see our member companies truly investing in training through grant support from ConstructionSkills. BWF members were supporting 884 apprentices in 2008, underpinning the construction industry’s investment in apprenticeships. In these challenging times, it is encouraging to see our members leading the way through their continuing support of training’.