Ed Miliband said there would be huge demand for plumbers, electricians and welders as part of a national plan to train people for an extra 400,000 green jobs in the next five years.
The Energy Minister unveiled a new plan to double workers in green industries by 2030, with a particular focus on training those coming from fossil fuel jobs, school leavers, the unemployed, veterans and ex-offenders.
He said the plan will include measures to ensure that companies that receive public grants and contracts need to create good jobs in the clean energy sector. It will also encourage greater recognition of trade unions and collective bargaining in the clean energy sector, including when jobs are offshore.
Miliband’s announcement was welcomed by trade unions, from Unite to GMB, which have long been pressing for a more detailed plan for how people will transition from legacy fossil fuel industries to the clean energy industries of the future.
As part of the plan, 31 occupations will be identified as priorities for employment and training, with plumbers and heating and ventilation installers at the top of the list with an additional 8,000 to 10,000 occupations needed by 2030. Carpenters, electricians and welders are second in demand on the list, with an additional 4,000 to 8,500 occupations each needed.
Miliband said the national plan “answers a key question about where good jobs will come from in the future”.
As well as informing job seekers what kind of green jobs are in demand, the Energy Secretary said it “will send a signal to mayors and regional mayors, who have a lot of responsibilities in this area about where they need to direct further education colleges and others where the big opportunities are.”
“It sends a signal to the industry, which has been saying…figure out what the needs are and how we’re going to meet them.”
Miliband said the promise of hundreds of thousands of new roles in the renewable and clean energy sector would show UK Reform was “waging a war on jobs” by challenging the transition to net zero.
“This is clearly a huge fight with reform,” he said. “Reformers said they were going to wage war on clean energy. Well, this is waging war on these jobs… This is all part of their attempt to wage a culture war, but I actually think they are out of tune with the British people because I think people realize that we need, that we want jobs from clean energy.
“We want lower bills that you can bring in. So let’s argue as a state about what we’re going to do. I’m really confident that we can win that argument.”
He said estimates show that jobs in wind, nuclear and electricity networks all advertise average salaries of more than £50,000, compared to the UK average of £37,000, and are spread across coastal and post-industrial communities.
Other announcements in the plan include five new Colleges of Technical Excellence that will help train young people for key roles, while supporting skilled pilots in Cheshire, Lincolnshire and Pembrokeshire with £2.5 million for new training centres, courses or careers advisers.
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There will also be a new program to match veterans with jobs in solar panel installers, wind turbine factories and nuclear power plants, with other schemes tailored to ex-offenders, school leavers and the unemployed.
Government research indicates that the 13,700 people who were unemployed possessed many of the skills required for key roles in the clean energy sector, such as engineering and skilled trades.
There will also be a focus on upskilling existing oil and gas workers, who will benefit from up to £20 million in total from the UK and Scottish governments to provide tailored apprenticeships for thousands of new clean energy roles.
Sharon Graham, General Secretary of Unite, said: “Safe, well-paid work must be at the heart of any green transition. Union members will welcome the commitment to create 400,000 green jobs with strong collective bargaining rights. The actions set out in this plan are first steps in what must be an ambitious strategy for tangible jobs, supported by an equally ambitious program of public investment.”
Charlotte Brompton Childs, national officer at GMB, said: “GMB has long campaigned for a jobs-first shift. The government is listening and having a jobs plan to support the industrial strategy is exactly what this country needs.”