Low Cost Retrofit Training Launch

LAUNCHING NEW low cost retrofit training the government says it will attract a new wave of low-carbon heating and insulation installers to retrofit homes and buildings.

The Home Decarbonisation Skills Training scheme is being launched to incentivise new and existing tradespeople to train in the green sector.

The scheme is offering up to 8,000 discounted training spaces from this September. It is open to new and current installers to develop the skills and knowledge to retrofit homes and install insulation.

A further 4,000 people will get £500 towards training to install and maintain heat networks through the Heat Training Grant.

Low Carbon Heating Technician Apprenticeship

The new Low Carbon Heating Technician Apprenticeship will train people to install low-carbon heating systems to support delivery of the expanded Boiler Upgrade Scheme.

The Boiler Upgrade Scheme offers a newly increased grant of up to £7,500 to replace older gas-fired boilers with energy-efficient electric heat pumps costing around £12,000. The government has offered roughly 30,000 vouchers a year since May 2022. However, in practice only 14,800 vouchers were used in the 18 months to September 2023.

The government set a target for all homes to install heat pumps when boilers need replacing from 2035. That’s still in place, but there are now exemptions that will apply to about 20% of properties, leaving a loophole.

Home Decarbonisation Skills Training Scheme

Under the £8.85 million Home Decarbonisation Skills Training scheme, free or low-cost courses will be available through training providers, such as colleges and accreditation providers in England.

Training installers aims to help build the capacity of the supply chain and upskill individuals to NVQ or equivalent, and through short courses.

Training, which will be delivered until 31 March 2024, will be focused on 2 packages.

• Retrofit assessor and retrofit coordinator: provision and delivery of training to PAS 2035 standards
• Insulation: provision and delivery of training to National Occupation Standards or higher in the installation of domestic insulation measures

Heat Training Grant

Under the £5 million Heat Training Grant, 5 new training providers will train new heat network professionals.

The provider are:

• Building Engineering Services Association (BESA) Academy
• Sycous Limited
• Chirpy Heating
• Herts Energy Academy
• Chartered Institute of Building Services Engineers (CIBSE)

The scheme will provide £500 off the cost of training per person, which usually costs between £500 and £600 to complete.

Courses will be available to trainees from October 2023 to April 2024.

The Low Carbon Heating Technician apprenticeship will be available across England and are designed by industry experts. Places for a Low Carbon Heating Technician apprenticeship can be found through the Apprenticeship training courses finder.

Retrofit Training

Jennifer Coupland, Chief Executive of the Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education (IFATE), which designed the new training programme, said: “Low carbon heating will be vital with supporting our nation’s drive to net zero by 2050. It’s no good making these leaps in technology if we don’t have thousands of people out there trained up to fit and maintain the pumps and other equipment.”

The government says trainees for the heating sector will gain sustainable long term career opportunities.

The training schemes announced today aim to encourage people to train for green jobs. However, frequent changes to environmental policies mean individuals and companies can be cautious about investing in training for jobs which depend on changeable government policies, as was the case with the Green Homes Grant.

INDUSTRY COMMENT

Why Now?

Melanie Waters, Managing Director, Trade-Up, said, “Rishi Sunak’s net zero statement revealed a relaxation of the phaseout target for the installation of gas boilers, alongside new exemptions. This is despite the latest industry figures revealing that the British public is increasingly rallying behind environmental progress, with record numbers of solar panels and heat pumps installed in the first half of 2023.

“Government grants have been pivotal in allowing the British public to transition to heat pumps – and the increase in these grants from £5,000 to £7,500 will be valuable in helping to make sustainable heating systems a mainstream option. Now is not the time to pause – with huge progress already made, we need certainty about the future of net zero policies.

“The announcement begs the question – why is the Government relaxing its commitments now? The construction industry has already begun to invest heavily in green technologies and up-skilling talent. The push to make homes more energy efficient calls for around 52,000 additional workers across the UK home improvements and repairs sector by 2032, according to Checkatrade’s UK Trade Skills Index 2023. While no minor feat, this also presents a huge opportunity to up-skill the existing workforce, re-skill talent from other industries, and create attractive, rewarding and future-proof career options.

“Net zero will be a significant driver of positive change, and we cannot achieve progress by taking one step forward and two steps back.”

>>Read more about training in the news