Government must end ‘disjointed’ green skills support

UK100 has urged the government to “end the mess” of “disjointed” green jobs and skills support by creating a new “locally-led national strategy”.

In a new report, the organisation said the current employer-led approach overlooks the important role of local authorities in coordinating efforts and cannot deliver the skills necessary to meet net zero targets at the required pace and scale.

The network of local authorities said there is “no single organisation with overarching responsibility to coordinate skills development nationally or locally”, whilst “the market moves too slowly to drive employer demand for future skills.”

“Many employers, particularly small and medium-sized businesses, are either too focussed on immediate business needs, not confident that there will be sufficient demand in the nascent market, or simply cannot afford to invest in training,” the report added.

By contrast, local authorities are “well placed” to fulfil this role, with “unique knowledge and expertise” as well as the trust of the public.

UK100 said there are numerous example of local authorities facilitating collaborative partnerships between businesses, providers and communities, but there is “no mechanism for rolling out a consistent programme of place-based approaches across the country to scale efforts rapidly.”

It raised concerns that without “a clear strategic direction,” green jobs and skills risk “becoming concentrated in some regions while others are more likely to suffer from greater job losses.

“This is one of the reasons that local authorities have a fundamental role to play in the development and deployment of green skills – to ensure that appropriate place-based skills – and the demand for them – are identified and supported across every geographical area.”

UK100 called for the creation of a Skills for Net Zero delivery framework, incorporating both local national action, as well as long-term budget for local authorities to commission education and training so they can plan ahead. It said there should be less reliance on bids for short-term competitive funds so they can learn share knowledge and learning, replicate successes and scale up.

The organisation also called for dedicated funding for green procurement by local authorities to “encourage local businesses and suppliers to correct the lag in supply chains, help kickstart markets and unlock local employer demand for skills.”

The report said home energy efficiency is key area for action this regard, being essential to both achieving net zero and tackling the cost-of-living crisis but suffering from “acute skill shortages”. It therefore called for a national strategy for home energy efficiency that includes skills development is led by local authorities.

Alongside the report, UK100 released the results of a poll of its members, comprising local authorities with strong climate ambitions. Of the officials, leaders and councillors surveyed, 97% agreed that local skills development is a priority for delivery net zero, whilst all respondents agreed that they need “more support from government to unlock net zero jobs and skills in our region.”

One official from a local authority in the East of England commented: “The grant applications for retrofit are an industry in themselves. They want so much detail, and it requires the input of so much time from numerous people there is no time left to do our day job. I cannot imagine how many people are employed by BEIS to review these enormous applications.

“If we do not win any money, we will have spent at least six weeks’ full time work – which is a waste. Imagine what we could do to progress other projects with that time. They need to allocate funding, give sensible clear guidance, and then have an auditor to work with all the projects to ensure fraud is prevented and quality projects are delivered. The key message is: trust your local authorities.”

UK100 chief executive Polly Billington said: “This briefing makes it clear that there is an endemic problem in the way net zero jobs and skills support is made available to local authorities.

“Local leaders are ambitious. They want to innovate, and they want to speed up delivery on net zero which can create jobs, save residents money and support the local economy. But they’re hamstrung by a patchwork of disjointed skills programmes that don’t help them or the workforce deliver what is needed.

“And, as the polling shows, they’re frustrated by the short-term, resource-heavy competitive funding projects available. The UK is in desperate need of a unified Skills for Net Zero Framework for delivery, developed by the government in partnership with local leaders, that puts an end to the mess of short-term, overlapping and competing skills funding pots.”

With regards to energy efficiency, she added: “At the same time, the polling shows ambitious local leaders are keen to deliver a nationwide energy efficiency drive to upgrade social housing properties in order to help support some of their most vulnerable communities through the energy and cost-of-living crises. We again call on the government to end the wait and insulate.”