A new skills alliance has been launched by the Government, to ensure that the UK has a fully trained workforce in place to implement its Green Deal energy efficiency scheme in homes and businesses.

The Green Deal Skills Alliance (GDSA) officially opened for business this month, with a remit of tackling the skills shortage in companies hoping to deliver Green Deal support.

A recent report by the Royal Academy of Engineers, on options for heating buildings in a low carbon economy, warns that the lack of necessary skills amongst plumbers, heating engineers and insulation installers is going to be a major challenge in meeting the Green Deal’s targets.

With £1.4 million in Government funding, the new GDSA will offer training and accreditation to employees working in the retrofit and construction sectors, over a period of two years.

'The right training'

The Alliance was formed last year, as a partnership between three Sector Skills Councils: Asset Skills, ConstructionSkills and SummitSkills.

Energy and climate change minister, Greg Barker, hopes it will help people to "get the right training and qualifications they will need in order to gain work under the Green Deal".

It will also launch a series of events to guide firms through the "mass of information" they will need to be aware of, in order to exploit these new opportunities.

The Government estimates that 65,000 jobs could be created over the next two years through the Green Deal retrofit programme, which launches in October 2012, with the aim of insulating 14 million homes and businesses by 2020. Currently, almost half of all UK carbon emissions come from heated buildings.

Green Deal feedback

The official consultation on proposals for implementing the Green Deal and the associated Energy Company Obligation (ECO) scheme later this year closed a week ago, on 18 January.

Approximately 600 responses were received, including major reports by bodies such as the Confederation of British Industry (CBI) and the Green Alliance, both of which highlighted areas of concern.

The CBI has suggested a number of substantial changes to the existing proposals, such as using the £200 million earmarked for the Green Deal to fund a simple voucher scheme instead, similar to the one used under the previous government’s Boiler Scrappage Scheme.

Meanwhile the Green Alliance has concluded that, although there is considerable community-level support for the Green Deal, there are a number of barriers to overcome before it can be deployed effectively, such as low levels of public trust in energy companies that will deliver the scheme.

For example, it believes that greater incentives will be needed to encourage widespread uptake, despite the Government promising to ensure that Green Deal loan repayments are always lower than the energy bill savings made through the energy efficiency improvements.

The Property and Energy Professionals Association (PEPA), a trade body representing providers of Energy Performance Certificates and Display Energy Certificates, has also called for a 'staged introduction' of the scheme, to ensure its long-term success.

The Government will now consider the responses before releasing its findings and launching a further consultation, later this year.

Posted under General Interest on 25 January 2012