On Wednesday 14th May, the ESNZ Committee will
question joint DESNZ and DBT minister on the Government's strategy to
address what has been described in evidence as a national “skills
crisis”. In this final session of the Workforce planning to
deliver clean, secure energy inquiry, the Committee will
examine the impact of skills shortfalls on the energy transition
and plans to decarbonise buildings across the UK.
While estimates vary on the skills needed and jobs that could be
created, the UK requires a rapid and lasting transformation of
the construction sector: industry-wide investment in skills,
far-reaching skills reform, and an ‘unprecedented' recruitment
and upskilling drive.
Upgrading existing buildings to reduce energy demand would
require a 13% increase in the current workforce. A well-organised
home retrofit programme in England could create over 400,000
direct jobs and 500,000 indirect jobs by 2030. By 2050, this
could rise to more than 1.2 million direct jobs and 1.5 million
indirect jobs.
To meet the target of 50GW of offshore wind, the current offshore
wind workforce of 32,000 must increase to more than 100,000 by
2030. Large numbers of workers will need to be trained or
retrained.
One of the key themes emerging in the inquiry is the need for a
national workforce strategy, particularly to meet major housing
and infrastructure needs. However, significant questions remain
about who will fund and deliver professional skills training.
Co-ordinating this at local and regional level, across the wide
range of sectors involved—while the Government's target timeline
continues to tick down—is a major challenge. The Committee will
explore how far the Government understands the scale of these
risks and what approaches it is developing. Can it create whole
“green career” pathways, from education and skills training
through to the workplace?
As in many sectors, there is a difficult balance to strike
between the urgent need to fill roles and skills gaps in the
short term—often with overseas labour as the only immediate
option—and the need to build a sustainable domestic skills base,
particularly in the construction and retrofit sectors.
On Tuesday 13 May from
3:00pm:
-
MP, Minister of State at
Department for Energy Security and Net Zero
- Hugo Jones, Deputy Director for Green Growth at Department
for Energy Security and Net Zero
