Calls for new UK green skills programme
The Green Alliance has released a new policy insight calling for the UK Government to develop a green skills programme to help deliver on its net-zero and levelling up agendas.
The report finds that:
- Every major sector in the UK needs to close a significant skills gap to enable them to reach net-zero.
- The sectors with the most pressing emissions reductions by 2030 face the most immediate skills shortages, including housing and transport.
- Eighty per cent of the current workforce will still be active in 2030. As well as attracting new green entrants, there should be a focus on transferring existing skills and retraining for the green economy.
The Alliance's recommendations include:
- A UK-wide body and framework for green jobs, to match supply and demand regionally and across sectors, with local skills plans that reflect local dynamics.
- A super-deduction for training, providing 130 per cent tax relief for investment in employees’ green skills.
- New green courses, using the new framework to understand the landscape of the future workforce.
- Environmental modules in other courses as the new skill requirements are not confined to green jobs.
- A public facing campaign to increase knowledge about green skills and their benefits, complementing efforts by industry.
- Support for workers while they retrain, in the form of loans, grants or maintenance payments.
The full report is available to download.
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