The Labour MP Michael Clapham is set to table a written question in parliament to skills minister Ivan Lewis over the finances of the industry's troubled skills identification card scheme CSCS.

Clapham, an MP for Barnsley who is sponsored by union UCATT, is expected to ask which major contractors have been paid by CITB-ConstructionSkills to promote the CSCS and if so, how much they have been paid.

The question is seen as the first attempt by the unions to have the issues surrounding the power struggle at the CSCS aired in the broader political arena. The CSCS management board is made up of employer bodies and trade unions.

精东影视 revealed this month that the CSCS, which is administered by CITB-ConstructionSkills, is more than 拢5m in debt and that only 8.5% of all craft workers hold a card. A leaked CITB report to its finance committee, also revealed that payments had been made to firms to promote the scheme.

A leaked report assessing CSCS by an independent consultant revealed that a 鈥渃ulture of mistrust鈥� existed between some members of the CSCS management board and of CITB-ConstructionSkills.