Nottingham gets almost £1m to train workers to fit out homes with energy saving measures

The Government’s Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) has awarded Nottingham and the wider region up to £900,000 for a skills pilot.

Some of the funding will go towards the development of a plan to train workers in Nottingham and the East Midlands in how to retrofit homes and make them more energy efficient.

Retrofitting involves installing better insulation, ventilation, solar panels and heat pumps to bring down the size of the carbon footprint needed to run it.

Nottingham City Homes was the first housing association in the UK to pilot net zero retrofits back in 2017 and hundreds of social houses have since been retrofitted.

The money will be delegated to the Midlands Net Zero Hub, hosted by the city council.

The Midlands Net Zero Hub is funded by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero as part of the Government’s clean growth strategy.

It is one of five local net zero hubs in England.

Net Zero Hubs aim to facilitate investment into de-carbonisation projects, increasing the number, quality and scale of projects being delivered across the regions they are based.

Council delegated decision documents say up to £760,000 will be used to ‘award grant funding, as appropriate, to public sector partners who collaborate with the Midlands Net Zero Hub on the regional skills pilot project, alongside procuring additional support where required’.

Partners will help train heating installers and construction workers so they can gain relevant skills for the future.

Colleges and education establishments may also be given funding to help provide courses to students.

Documents add: “This funding will be managed by the Midlands Net Zero Hub, enabling skills training provision across the region in support of the low carbon economy.

“The hub is well-placed to do this, and it will generate revenue for the council and create jobs across the region.

“This work also aligns with the D2N2 Local Enterprise Partnership’s energy strategy and developing local industrial strategy, supporting the skills agenda that will enable green growth.

“Furthermore, it will support the supply chain development that is needed to meet the council’s carbon neutral 2028 ambitions.”