Three members of staff at the training body CITB-ConstructionSkills have had their suspensions lifted after the completion of an inquiry that began last month.

CITB assistant director Eddie Ruthven and two other were suspended on 18 January after CITB management became concerned about the financial reporting of the body’s health and safety testing scheme.

A CITB statement said: ”During an internal investigation into issues surrounding the financial reporting of prepaid vouchers for the health and safety test, three members of staff were suspended, as per CITB-ConstructionSkills protocol.

“This investigation is completed and the suspensions lifted on all three staff members.”

The investigation, which was carried out by the financial director, focused on the scheme established to allow companies to block-book and prepay for the tests, which cost £35 each.

The investigation looked at why 35,000 tests prepaid by companies had not been carried out since 2000. The central issue was whether the income from the tests should be carried over into the next financial year as a liability on the CITB books, because the tests had not been carried out. Income from the tests amounted to more than £1m.

Building reported last week that CITB staff had rallied around Ruthven and the others who had been suspended.

One insider said: “This whole investigation has been an absolute joke. I don’t know why Ruthven had been held as a scapegoat, but the investigation has seen him exonerated.”