UK government pledges further funds to Green Deal initiative

A total of £3.5million in funding has been announced today to help train hundreds of people in key green skills ahead of the UK government’s launch of the Green Deal, delivering on the Deputy Prime Minister’s announcement in March last year to create 1,000 Green Deal apprenticeships.

The Green Deal is the government’s flagship energy efficiency scheme aimed at renovating millions of draughty, energy-inefficient homes and office buildings across the UK.

The initiative is expected to kick start around £14 billion of private sector investment over the next decade – with new safeguards to help small family firms as well as big high street names get involved in the Green Deal. The Green Deal could support at least 65,000 insulation and construction jobs by 2015.

“This money will help hundreds of people gear up for the Green Deal and ensure this scheme is a real success on the ground,” said Energy and Climate Change Secretary, Edward Davey. “We have worked hand in hand with industry to get this right and are targeting funding at the areas where there is an urgent need as well as a clear demand. We hope this will encourage businesses across the country to fully prepare their staff for the launch of the Green Deal later this year.”

Trained, skilled professionals in assessing home energy efficiency and installing insulation are crucial for getting the Green Deal off the ground, said the Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC). The DECC will put forward £3 million and one of the leading partners in the Alliance, CITB-ConstructionSkills, will provide a further £500,000 towards the training of insulation installers.

“Today’s announcement represents a significant step towards preparing the construction industry for the Government’s flagship efficiency scheme,” said CITB-ConstructionSkills CEO, Mark Farrar.

“Training shortfalls have been identified as one of the main barriers to the success of the scheme. We have invested funds to tackle training shortages and unlock commercial opportunities for SMEs and we welcome DECC’s commitment to skills and training by doing the same thing. We are now calling on employers and the supply chain to also invest in sustainable skills training for their workforce, so they too can capitalise on the Green Deal.”

In addition, the DECC is also funding a £10 million competition to be launched in early May to support the incorporation of innovative technologies which can achieve significant energy savings in existing non-domestic buildings. Non-domestic buildings, such as schools, shops, offices, hotels, are associated with 18 percent of the UK’s total carbon emissions.

 

Image 01: Dougism | Wikimedai Commons

Image 02: Paul Albertella | Flickr

Image 03: Paul Albertella | Flickr