A Centre for Refubishment Excellence has been opened in Stoke. On the face of it this looks like a great initiative - the country is in desperate need of skilled craftsmen who are capable of properly refurbishing our building stock. I wish it well but worry that this will tackle just the tip of an enormous iceberg while leaving the large, lower-skilled cohort untouched.
When I was involved in up-skilling the domestic heating installation trade ahead of the 2007 Building Regulation changes it was noticeable that those volunteering to spend a day on training and acquiring the new qualification were few and far between. It was a case of preaching to the converted. We only tackled the bulk of the trade (over 30,000 trained in a year) when being accredited became more or less mandatory.
I do worry that the Green Deal will turn out to be a damp squib, and fail to be a catalist for the massive building upgrading that is actually required.
No comments:
Post a Comment