Recommendation 16

HM Government Acknowledged

The Government is working closely with industry to ensure that appropriate high-quality training is available, both for new entrants to the sector and existing heating installers who do not have heat pump experience. This includes coordinated action through the BEIS-led Electrification of Heat Task Group, which is focussed on removing barriers to heat pump deployment at scale. BEIS will continue to work with industry and trade unions to deliver the priority actions identified by this group. By Spring 2022, we will establish the Green Jobs Delivery Group, a commitment in the Net Zero Strategy (NZS), to be the central forum through which government, industry and other key stakeholders work together to ensure that the UK has the workforce needed to deliver a green industrial revolution. The Group will include Ministerial representation and will be co-chaired by an industry representative. With regards to existing heating engineers, the Heat Pump Association launched a new upskilling course in 2021 which can be completed in under a week. Industry has capacity to upskill over 7000 heating installers per year to install heat pumps. This is sufficient to ensure there are enough installers to meet our 2028 deployment target, if training is taken up. In September 2020, the Government also launched a £6 million skills competition which provided nearly 7000 training opportunities for the energy efficiency and low carbon heating supply chains, including training for heat pump installers. The Heat & Buildings Strategy has also given industry further confidence to invest in training capacity. For example, Octopus Energy is investing £10 million in a new training centre in Slough and Ideal Heating has announced a new £1 million training centre will open near Hull in Spring 2022. In January 2022, British Gas announced that they will start offering heat pumps to their customers and have been training their heating engineers accordingly. Centrica, the parent company of British Gas, operating under the brand PH Jones, already installs heat pumps in social housing and aims to install 1000 heat pumps in homes this year. In addition to upskilling the existing workforce, it will also be crucial to ensure that new workers can join this growing sector. The Government is updating the existing apprenticeship framework for heating and plumbing to ensure it offers the right skills. carbon heating, and that young people are able to access the high-paid, high-skilled jobs that will set the UK on a pathway to Net Zero.