Government aims to create 400,000 jobs through UK national green energy plan | Renewable energy

Plumbers, electricians and welders will be in huge demand under a national plan to train people for an extra 400,000 green jobs over the next five years, Ed Miliband has said.

The energy minister has unveiled a new plan to double the number of workers in green industries by 2030, with a particular focus on educating those coming from fossil fuel jobs, school leavers, the unemployed, veterans and ex-offenders.

He said the plan would include measures to ensure companies receiving public grants and contracts create good jobs in the clean energy sector. It will also encourage greater union recognition and collective bargaining in the clean energy sector, including when jobs are offshore.

Miliband’s announcement was welcomed by many unions, from Unite to GMB; Unions have long pressed for a more detailed plan for how people will transition from legacy fossil fuel industries to clean energy in the future.

As part of the plan, 31 occupations will be identified as priorities for recruitment and training; plumbers, heating and ventilation installers will top the list, with an additional 8,000 to 10,000 needed by 2030. Carpenters, electricians and welders are the second most in-demand professions on the list, with an extra 4,000 to 8,500 needed each.

Miliband said the national plan “answers an important question about where the good jobs of the future will come from”.

As well as pointing out to job seekers what kind of green jobs are needed, the energy minister said it would “send a signal to mayors, regional mayors, who have a lot of responsibilities in this area, about where they should point their further education colleges and where the other big opportunities are”.

“This sends a signal to the industry about what the needs will be and how we will meet them.”

Miliband said the promise of hundreds of thousands of new roles in the renewable energy and clean energy sector would show Reform UK was “waging a war on jobs” by challenging the transition to net zero.

“Obviously this is a big fight against the Reformation,” he said. “The reformers said they were going to declare war on clean energy. This is declaring war on these jobs… It’s all part of the culture war initiative, but I actually think they’re not in tune with the British people because I think people understand that we need clean energy, we want jobs.

“We want the bills this could bring to be lower. So let’s have a discussion about what to do as a country. I truly believe we can win this debate.”

It said estimates showed jobs in wind, nuclear and electricity networks had average salaries of more than £50,000, compared with an average of £37,000 in England, and were spread across coastal and post-industrial communities.

Other announcements in the plan include five new technical excellence colleges to help train young people for key roles, with skills pilots in Cheshire, Lincolnshire and Pembrokeshire supported by £2.5 million for new training centres, courses or careers advisers.

There will also be a new program to match veterans with careers in solar panel installation, wind turbine factories and nuclear power plants, and other programs specifically designed for ex-offenders, school leavers and the unemployed.

Government research suggests the 13,700 people who are unemployed have many of the skills needed for key roles in the clean energy sector, such as engineering and skilled trades.

There will also be a focus on improving the skills of existing oil and gas workers, with up to £20 million in total from the UK and Scottish governments to provide tailored career training for thousands of new roles in clean energy.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Well-paid, secure work must be at the heart of any green transition. Unite members will welcome the commitment to 400,000 green jobs with strong collective bargaining rights. The actions set out in this plan are the first steps in what must be an ambitious strategy for concrete jobs, supported by an equally ambitious public investment programme.”

Charlotte Brumpton-Childs, GMB’s national officer, said: “GMB has long been campaigning for a jobs first move. The government is listening and having a jobs plan to support the industrial strategy is exactly what this country needs.”