Labour's heat pump plans under threat amid 'serious' shortage of skilled workers

A shortage of skilled workers threatens to undermine the Labour Government’s drive for carbon-free home heating, a new report warns.

Ministers unveiled its £15billion Warm Homes Plan this year, which is aimed at bringing down energy bills and ensuring more homes have clean heating, in line with Net Zero targets. The scheme is predicted to unlock £38billion of investment by 2030.

Analysts further expect, by 2035, the heat pump sector alone could support 140,000 jobs and provide a £22.5billion boost to the economy. But a new report from Energy UK, the trade body representing Britain’s energy industry, warns a “serious” workforce shortfall could hold back the rollout of energy efficiency measures and low-carbon heating technologies.

These include heat pumps – clean alternatives to gas boilers – and heat networks – systems where multiple buildings or homes are heated from a single source. The workforce will need to grow rapidly to meet these needs, the report says, but insufficient numbers are entering the sector to replace those who will soon be approaching retirement.

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“In short, the existing workforce lacks the capacity to deliver the transition at the pace and scale which will be required,” the Clean Heat: Jobs and Skills for the Future report says. Nevertheless, this means there is a “huge opportunity” to offer well-paid and rewarding roles to the one million youngsters currently not in employment, education or training, it finds.

The report is positive about the potential of clean heating, saying: “Electrifying heat will bring economic benefits across the country, creating opportunities and jobs for both the existing workforce and next generation. These will span different technologies, offering rewarding and well-paid careers.”

However, it identifies two key problems. In the near-term, the expertise of the existing heating workforce needs to be harnessed, with retraining to allow them to pursue new career paths into low-carbon heating.

In the longer term, the sector hinges on attracting a new generation to jobs in clean heat. Yet the report warns that existing policies to support training and workforce development "tend to not match the scale of the need."

It finds there are “complex entry routes, a gap in awareness and a lack of sufficient funding for training costs”, all of which pose a “serious threat” to developing a flow of skilled talent. The report points out that there are currently an estimated 8,650 trained heat pump installers.

The Warm Homes Plan anticipates 450,000 heat pump installations every year from 2030, requiring more than 40,000 trained installers – a five-fold increase. Policies to support investment in skills “tend not to match the scale of need”, the Energy UK report finds, pointing out there is an “unspoken expectation” businesses should cover the majority of training costs if viable.

While larger companies can shoulder these costs, smaller firms face greater hurdles. The apprenticeship system, for new entrants into the sector, is also failing “to meet the needs of industry”, the report warns.

Some colleges lack the staff and equipment to deliver appropriate training and “even businesses that do run successful apprenticeship programmes struggle to recruit apprenticeships, due to a lack of awareness of the clean heat sector in certain areas of the country”. Businesses also need to be convinced there will be demand for the skills long past 2030, it says.

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It warns: “The biggest barrier to growing supply chain capacity is the ‘chicken and egg’ dilemma, where companies will only invest in recruitment and training to deliver new technologies. And new entrants will only choose to train in skills for the clean heat sector, if there is a clear and long-term pipeline or demand stretching beyond 2030 for these technologies.”

Attracting the workforce to meet Government aims “will require targeted efforts from both industry and Government”, it says, adding: “Clean heat is a pressing case study for the consequences of investment in skills and training not keeping pace with evolving growth sectors.”

It recommends a package of measures to boost skills and training. These include low-cost retraining loans, more work experience opportunities, improvements to the education system, and greater investment in colleges, training facilities and supply chain capabilities.

Rachel Cary, Head of Industrial Strategy at Energy UK, said: “The Warm Homes Plan is a chance to bring down bills, strengthen our energy security, and create thousands of jobs across the UK, but it all rests on a skilled workforce to deliver it. Unless we act now, a skills shortage risks being a bottleneck to delivery.

“But this is also a huge opportunity. More than a million young people are not in employment, education or training, but with the right support, the transition to clean energy can bring a diverse range of good, well-paid jobs while lowering bills and boosting growth. It’s important that those already working in traditional heating technologies are supported with the training they need, as well as attracting new entrants.

“Strong collaboration between industry and Government will be needed to remove the barriers to retraining, expand access to training and work experience. And provide clear routes into energy careers.”

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero said the Warm Homes Plan was expected to support up to 240,000 jobs. Its Heat Training Grant had already supported more than 11,000 courses.

A spokesman said: “Our £15billion Warm Homes Plan is the biggest public investment in home upgrades in British history, lowering bills for millions of households and creating thousands of skilled, future-proofed jobs in energy efficiency and clean heating by 2030. The Heat Pump Training Grant, backed with £7million Government funding a year, helps people retrain to become a heat pump installer or heat network professional – in some cases for free. We’ve also established the Warm Homes Plan Workforce Taskforce, working with trade unions and industry to build the next generation of skilled trade workers.”

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