• • • SAFETY • • •
LOW-CARBON SKILLS MATTER,
BUT SAFETY AND COMPETENCE
MUST COME FIRST
BY KEITH SANDERSON, HEAD OF EDUCATION AND SKILLS, ECA A
t Electrical Contractors’ Association (ECA), we welcome Skills England’s ambition to strengthen the UK workforce for the
low-carbon transition. We do need more people with the skills to
support the rollout of technologies such as EV charge points, solar PV and battery storage. But if we are serious about growing capacity in the right way, we cannot allow speed to come at the expense of safety, competence or industry- recognised standards. That is why I believe the Government’s new
Apprentice Units must be approached with caution. These short courses are intended to help employers upskill staff quickly in priority areas, including low-carbon technologies. I understand the pressure to move fast. Demand is rising, policy expectations are growing and employers need access to skills that help them respond to market change. But in a safety-critical profession, competence must be the priority. As demand grows for installers who can work
safely on technologies central to the Government’s clean energy ambitions such as EV infrastructure, solar generation and battery storage, the industry’s assessment of what constitutes competence must not be ignored. The public need confidence that the people carrying out this work are properly
trained, assessed and recognised as competent. That is why the distinction between awareness- level training and occupational competence matters so much. For qualified electricians, the mechanisms to
upskill already exist. Qualifications in EV charging, solar PV and battery storage, which are kitemarked as Electrician Plus, provide a practical and recognised way to upskill. In my view, these routes are a more efficient and credible answer than creating parallel offers that risk weakening the link between training and competence. As this product already exists and is recognised by industry under the Electrotechnical Assessment Specification (EAS), I see no reason why the Government could not allow businesses to fund this via their growth and skills levy, as opposed to funding the apprenticeship units, which are not recognised under the EAS. This matters not only for technical standards,
but for the credibility of the wider skills system at a time when the UK is trying to expand its workforce for housing, infrastructure and clean
energy delivery. If funding is to make a real difference, it should reinforce proven, industry-supported routes that can scale up the number of qualified individuals. Further to this, the apprenticeship unit in
electric vehicle charging systems has a minimum delivery requirement of 35 hours in order to complete the course. In comparison, the existing qualification that is recognised as the standard for competence is normally completed within two days of learning, three days less than the apprenticeship unit. So, as well as not providing an accredited qualification, the business faces the prospect of significant downtime in order to complete the learning, which would cost them more in lost income generation than it would to pay for the current accredited qualification commercially. If policymakers want to grow low-carbon skills
at pace, the answer is not to sidestep existing standards, but to work with them. That means helping qualified electricians upskill through recognised routes, while continuing to invest in high-quality apprenticeships that bring new entrants properly into the trade. We need a bigger workforce, but we also need a safer and competent workforce. ECA welcomes the Government’s focus on
clean energy technologies, but calls for greater collaboration and cooperation with industry to ensure a safe and sustainable workforce for the future.
https://www.eca.co.uk
36 ELECTRICAL ENGINEERING • JUNE 2026
electricalengineeringmagazine.co.uk
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