Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps the Government is taking to ensure there are enough engineers being trained to service renewable heating systems and energy efficient homes.

In September 2020 the Government launched a £6million skills competition to provide training opportunities for the energy-efficiency and low-carbon heating supply chains. These programmes provided free or subsidised courses covering a wide range of skills and certifications across both energy efficiency and clean heat measures for individuals with existing skills and those new to the sector.

The Government is also investing £1.6billion through the National Skills Fund in the next three years, on top of the £375million already committed in financial year 2021-22. This includes investment of up to £550million to significantly expand Skills Bootcamps, which provide adults in England with in-demand skills in a range of areas. The Government has recently opened a new round of procurement for delivery of the next wave of Skills Bootcamps, which closes for bids on 28 February. This round includes funding for green skills, which could include the installing and servicing of heat pumps or energy efficiency measures.