Thousands of training courses will be rolled out across England to grow a skilled workforce of heat pump and energy efficiency installers, said the UK government as it announced winners of its Home Decarbonisation Skills Training competition.
“Shining a light on the huge scope for economic growth and job creation in the green energy sector, the £9.2 million funding will offer free and heavily subsidised training opportunities for installers of clean heating and energy efficiency measures.”
The government said the funding will see training providers deliver 8,900 courses at accredited centres across England for prospective heat pump and energy efficiency installers.
“This will add to the rapidly growing number already saving households hundreds of pounds on their energy bills each year by delivering energy efficiency solutions, while helping the UK meet its ambitious carbon emissions commitments.”
Business and Energy minister Lord Callanan said:
“The green energy sector is driving growth and creating jobs right across the country, and this funding will make sure we have enough tradespeople trained up and able to take advantage of these opportunities.
“We are making homes greener and cheaper to keep warm and training thousands more skilled installers will ensure we keep accelerating the pace of creating cleaner and more energy efficient buildings.”
The government is attempting to accelerate the pace of upgrading the energy efficiency of housing with £6 billion funding committed to 2028 in addition to £6.6bn in this parliament. A further £4 billion has been committed through the ECO4 scheme, which is delivering home insulation measures to low income and more vulnerable households, and the £1 billion ECO+ scheme, which will install measures in households who have previously not been able to access support through the Energy Company Obligation scheme.
Improving the energy efficiency of homes is the best long-term method of cutting household energy use and bringing down bills and the government said it believed this funding will be crucial in helping ensure there are enough trained installers to deliver upgrades across the country.
“The funding will provide training for people already working in the heating and plumbing sector who are looking to retrain or grow their existing skills, as well as for those looking to enter and work in the energy efficiency, building retrofit and low carbon heating sectors, building both the overall number and skill levels of trained installers across England.”
Training through the latest round of the Home Decarbonisation Skills Training competition will be delivered until 31 March 2023 and follows the success of the previous round of funding in 2021 when the government invested £6 million, resulting in almost 7,000 training opportunities.
Organisations that have been successful in the latest funding round will provide appropriate installer training that leads to a recognised NVQ qualification or equivalent and Continuing Professional Development-style short courses.
Training opportunities will be provided across England with courses being run at centres in towns and cities from Truro to Newcastle and the Isle of Wight to Cumbria.
