Green Deal training ‘shortfall’ plugged with £3.5m fund

A “shortfall” in the number of people with the skills needed to carry out the Green Deal is being plugged with the launch of a growth fund worth £3.5million, it […]

A “shortfall” in the number of people with the skills needed to carry out the Green Deal is being plugged with the launch of a growth fund worth £3.5million, it was announced today.

The Department of Energy and Climate Change said the funds will help to train people to both assess home energy efficiency and install insulation.

Apprentices will be taught the key skills needed for the Green Deal, the energy efficiency scheme which will offer up-front loans to people to renovate their homes and office buildings.

DECC is putting forward £3 million and one of the leading partners in the Green Deal Skills Alliance, the builders’ training body CITB-ConstructionSkills, will provide a further £500,000.

Mark Farrar, CITB-ConstructionSkills’ CEO said: “Training shortfalls have been identified as one of the main barriers to the success of the scheme. We have invested funds to tackle training shortages and unlock commercial opportunities for SMEs and we welcome DECC’s commitment to skills and training by doing the same thing.

“We are now calling on employers and the supply chain to also invest in sustainable skills training for their workforce, so they too can capitalise on the Green Deal.”

Energy and Climate Change Secretary Ed Davey said: “We have worked hand in hand with industry to get this right and are targeting funding at the areas where there is an urgent need as well as a clear demand. We hope this will encourage businesses across the country to fully prepare their staff for the launch of the Green Deal later this year.”

DECC is also funding a £10m competition to be launched in early May to support new technologies which can make significant energy savings in existing non-domestic buildings such as schools, shops, offices and hotels. Figures suggest these are associated with 18% of the UK’s total carbon emissions.

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