Industry cannot cope with renewables
The UK building services industry does not have the right level of skills to cope with any significant stimulation of the renewables market, according to training and education experts.
Professor Tony Thomas of London South Bank University (LSBU) told a gathering of industry leaders, academics and training providers that the use of renewable power was lagging 40 per cent behind the Government's target, which is why it was inclined towards greater use of nuclear energy.
"The sector's engagement with skills competence in environmental and renewable energy technologies remains very low," said Professor Thomas, who was delivering his inaugural lecture as Professor of Work-Based Learning at LSBU.
He referred to research carried out by Dr Mike Hammond of the sector skills council SummitSkills, which has highlighted large gaps in renewables training across the UK.
"Most contractors wait for market development or government intervention before considering investing in renewables and low carbon training," added Professor Thomas. "Failure to engage in the renewable market will damage the industry's profitability and encourage foreign competition to enter the market. We will fall further behind foreign competitors as our craft operatives become less skilled compared with their overseas counterparts."
Surge
Any further surge in demand from clients for renewable and low carbon solutions could not be met by the current level of skills in the building services sector, he explained, but fewer than 50 per cent of employers are prepared to release students for college-based training.
Dr Hammond added that if the industry did not cope with rising demand it would encourage ‘rogue traders’ to enter this market including people who would offer sub-standard training to “unsuspecting contractors”.
“We must also support training providers in regions with a growing renewables market so they will not be overwhelmed if the market takes off,” he said.
Professor Thomas explained it was vital to expand and develop sector-specific work-based training. “The availability of virtual learning environments makes it easier for us to deliver work-related programmes that meet the needs of employers and which employees can apply directly to their working lives.”
However, he added that a lack of quality leadership and management training was also holding the sector back and damaging its productivity. He claimed that 80 per cent of all in-house management training courses were of little value to the companies that commission them.
“The plethora of courses and providers causes confusion and makes the problem worse.”
HVCA President Gareth Vaughan commented that this was the key to the whole renewables problem. “If we can get the right management and leadership skills, we will be able to cope more easily when new technologies come along.”
Fundamental review
However, the Further and Higher Education sectors are not good at delivering this kind of training, according to Rao Bhamidimarri, executive dean of the Faculty of Engineering, Science and the Built Environment at LSBU.
“Our focus has always been on technical skills and we can’t solve that imbalance without a closer relationship with industry,” he said. “We need a fundamental review of our science and technology curriculum, but we also must not abandon our role in leading technological developments.”
Professor Bhamidimarri said that engineers should be given broader skills training so they could deal with new technologies as they emerge.
“We don’t know what the challenges of the next 20 years will be,” he added. “But things are changing fast so we know engineers will have to be adaptable.
*By 2025 China will overtake Europe in the proportion of adults with higher level qualifications. By 2040 it will overtake the USA and by 2048, India will overtake the UK.