Funding of around £3.5m is to be available to help train hundreds of people in key green skills ahead of the official Green Deal to be launched later this year. This is claimed to be ‘delivery’ of the Deputy Prime Minister’s promise last March (2011) to create 1,000 Green Deal apprenticeships.
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. This scheme will support an estimated 65,000 jobs by 2015.
Trained, skilled professionals who can assess home energy efficiency and install insulation are crucial to get Green Deal successfully off the ground. This is why money for training will go a long way to help the UK prepare for the launch.
The Department of Energy and Climate Change (DECC) has been working closely with the Green Deal Skills Alliance to ensure support goes where it is most needed. DECC is putting forward £3m and one of the leading partners in the Alliance, CITB-ConstructionSkills, will provide a further £500,000 towards the training of insulation installers.
Secretary for Energy and Climate Change, Edward Davey, said: “This money will help hundreds of people gear up for the Green Deal and ensure the scheme is a real success on the ground. 
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.”
Neil Marshall, chief executive of the National Insulation Association, which a member of the NHIC, said: “We have been working closely with Government on plans to significantly ramp up solid wall insulation volumes under the Green Deal and ECO and identified the need for support for skills and training at an early stage. We therefore welcome DECCs commitment and the new funding that is being made available to help gear up for the launch of the Green Deal.”
More information: www.decc.gov.uk