Quality skills for large scale retrofit key for new Government

An industry expert is urging the new government to ensure it includes the development and prioritisation of retrofit training and knowledge as part of its focus on skills.

The call follows the King’s announcement earlier this month of the Skills Bill designed to bring together local and national government, business, skills providers and unions to develop a highly trained workforce.

As the government has also announced plans to build 1.5 million new homes in the next five years and reinstate housebuilding targets for local councils, concern is also being raised around ensuring the decarbonisation of existing housing stock remains a priority.

As such, David Pierpoint, CEO of The Retrofit Academy is urging the government to ensure there is focus on developing the skills for the high-quality retrofitting of 27 million existing homes to make them healthier, warmer and more sustainable. Without this focus, the organisation is concerned that work to improve homes across the UK will lose momentum and the risk of poor quality retrofit will grow.

Speaking on this challenge, David Pierpoint, CEO of The Retrofit Academy, said: “It is fantastic to see the government prioritising the development of a highly skilled workforce in the UK by bringing together businesses, providers, unions, Mayoral Combined Authorities and the national government. For many years we have been working closely with such organisations to make this a reality for retrofit skills and we have been making great strides in doing so, but there remains a significant challenge ahead.

“It is vital that the incoming government continues to fund quality retrofit at scale, including the training required to create the retrofit workforce this requires. We understand the importance of building new homes in providing more people in the UK with a warm and comfortable place to live. However, there are millions of homes that are already available that need upgrading to provide the same, and to help us progress to net zero. As the government have said, collaboration is key to developing the skills to make this a success and we urge them to continue to drive the policy and funding that will make this possible.”

In order to ensure that quality is built into retrofit from the outset, The Retrofit Academy has been developing and delivering leading accredited courses to equip people with the tools that they need to take on roles laid out in the PAS 2035 Standard – the official framework for whole-house retrofit in the UK. By embedding quality into the training process and resources, The Retrofit Academy is hoping to instil the responsibility of getting retrofit carried out to the correct high standard first time and at scale.

David said: “Quality is everything when it comes to retrofit. It has to be carried out to the highest standard first time, with no exceptions or excuses. This means quality should be built in at every level, from the training courses to the continuous development, accreditation processes and work afterwards. This also means that policy and funding should actively promote the best quality retrofit, which is why we are urging the government to make this a priority within its Skills Bill and wider housing policy.”