Source · Select Committees · Energy Security and Net Zero Committee
Recommendation 17
17
Acknowledged
Expand and formalise 'try-before-you-buy' training opportunities to improve employment conversion rates.
Recommendation
We further recommend that Government expand and formalise ‘try-before- you-buy’ training opportunities to improve conversion rates from training into employment. Evidence received indicates that up to 70% of individuals starting construction-related FE qualifications do not complete or do not enter the sector, with FE students often lacking structured opportunities to translate classroom learning into on-site experience. SMEs, which form the backbone of the construction and retrofit supply chain, frequently operate on short-term contracts and cannot absorb the risk of taking on inexperienced trainees without support. We heard clear examples of effective early-exposure models, such as on-site skills hubs, employer- supported placements, and programmes like B4Box and the Vaillant SME apprenticeship initiative, that reduce barriers for both learners and employers. The Government should therefore expand these practical entry pathways across clean heat, low-carbon construction, and retrofit, ensuring funded, flexible, short-duration placements are available nationwide. (Recommendation, Paragraph 76)
Government response summary AI-generated
The Department is working across government and with industry through the Construction Skills Mission Board to develop and deliver a skills action plan, provide funding for heat pump training, and launched the Low Carbon Heating Technician Apprenticeship.
Summary of the government's response below — read the verbatim text to verify.
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government · verbatim extract
Acknowledged
The government agrees with this recommendation. Skills England and the Office for Clean Energy Jobs will continue to work with industry to ensure occupational standards meet evolving practices and we make best use of the range of training options available, for example apprenticeships, apprenticeship units, shorter-duration apprenticeships, foundation apprenticeships, T Levels and HTQs, to plug these gaps. As outlined in the Warm Homes Plan, the government, in its review of the PAS standard will consider how competence is defined for PAS retrofit roles to ensure the approach followed is aligned to the dutyholder and competency regime set out under the Building Safety Act 2022 and the construction industry’s wider approach to competence. This action will enable government to work with the sector to develop clearer competence frameworks for retrofit roles that can support the skills system in developing more robust training standards and pathways that align to evolving practices. Furthermore, the Department is working across government and with industry to avoid unnecessary competition for skilled workers and maximise the benefits of investment across sectors. This includes working collaboratively with other government departments, industry training boards and industry on skills and training pathways to ensure they can address skills shortages and are suitable for new innovations and working practices.
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