Report to Government highlights Skills Academy role in microgeneration skills
The final report prepared by the Energy Efficiency Partnership for Homes, has said that The National Skills Academy for Environmental Technologies will have a “key role” in delivering current and consistent training opportunities for the building services engineering industry.
The Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) Microgeneration Strategy Consultation report concludes that “there is no need to create a new workforce to meet microgeneration installation targets” and that the existing building services industry can meet future green technology demands with the right training.
SummitSkills, the Sector Skills Council for the Building Services Engineering (BSE) sector is thoroughly committed to upskilling the building services workforce through the creation of the National Skills Academy for Environmental Technologies.
The Skills Academy will play a key role in transforming the ability of businesses in the sector to access the training and skills they will need to meet future increased demand for the installation of renewable and environmental technologies in the UK.
These technologies are a key area of growth for the BSE sector and link directly to the green economy ambitions of the UK. The report further shows the need for BSE workforce upskilling to meet the “rising demand”. With the Government’s commitment to reducing the UKs carbon footprint highlighted in the recent Comprehensive Spending Review, SummitSkills’ commitment to training in low carbon technologies will help position the UK at the forefront of the transition to a low carbon economy.
Nigel Hollett, Head of Environmental Technologies at SummitSkills said: “Upskilling the existing workforce to meet the future increased demand for green technologies is vital, and we are pleased that the DECC Microgeneration Strategy Consultation has acknowledged this need in the report.
“Ensuring the relevant skills training is undertaken across the sector is a fundamental issue to enable environmental technologies to develop and progress further across the UK and we will continue our work supporting the sector in this field.”