To meet the challenges of net zero, the pace of skilling the workforce needs to speed up;iWest Dunbartonshire Council, written submission; Official Report, NZET Committee, 25 Jan 2022, col 54 (Scottish Financial Enterprise), 22 Mar 2022, cols 27-29 and 32 (Skills Development Scotland; Edinburgh Climate Change Institute; Colleges Scotland)
As part of this, the apprenticeships model should be more fully explored to encourage entry into relevant trades from schools and colleges.iiOfficial Report, NZET Committee, 29 March 2022, cols 5-8 (Scottish and Northern Ireland Plumbing Employers’ Federation, Construction Industry Training Board; Local Authority Building Standards Scotland); 21 June 2022, col 40 (City of Edinburgh Council) (We were pleased to note that the first apprenticeships for Local Authority building standards officers have now come on-stream);iiiOfficial Report, NZET Committee, 29 Mar 2022, col 16 (Local Authority Building Standards Scotland)
Up-skilling in net zero-related skills also needs to be happening at pace within local authorities, which itself requires increased training capacity within local authorities.ivOfficial Report, NZET Committee, 11 Jan 2022, col 43 (Highland Council) We heard views that a collective approach across local authorities may be more efficient than each council taking its own approach, which also risks leaving rural authorities moving at a slower pace than city authorities;vOfficial Report, NZET Committee, 22 Mar 2022, cols 33-34 (Edinburgh Climate Change Institute)
An aspect of these tight labour market conditions is that in areas such as installation of heating systems, tradespersons are being kept busy with "traditional" work and, for many, there is not yet any imperative to switch to more net zero-compatible types of working.