Permanent Secretary for Department for Work & Pensions visits Solar Park to find out more about successful job training programme

The success of a new initiative to retrain people seeking employment to fill the skills gap in the solar industry installation sector has been celebrated as an example of good practice with a visit by the Permanent Secretary, Department for Work and Pensions and other senior civil servants.

Sir Peter Schofield met with Oliver Symons, Moulton College Principal & Chief Executive, Vernon Williams, Skills Coach as well as representatives from GenCarbon at a large solar park and spoke to successful graduates from the Sector-based Work Academy Programme (SWAP) in Solar Installation.

The course is the only one of its kind in the country and was developed in partnership with Northamptonshire-based firm GenCarbon and JobCentre Plus. Over a three-week period, the course delivers practical, hands-on instruction on the installation of solar panels, alongside health and safety and teamwork skills. Many of the local job seekers completing the course have since secured full-time employment with GenCarbon.

Also in attendance at the visit were:

• Cassie Conway - DWP, Senior Employer Lead for Leicestershire & Northamptonshire
• Jak Jones - DWP, Employer Adviser for Northampton
• Ashley Ibbett - Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ), Director General for Energy Infrastructure
• Tammy Fevrier - DWP, Deputy Director – Sector, Skills, Place and Progression
• Laura Moig - Group Director North & East Midlands, Department for Work and Pensions

We were delighted to be able to showcase the success of our Solar SWAP with the DWP last week. The programme is a great example of collaboration with businesses and the JobCentre Plus to develop bespoke training courses to fill specific skills gaps.

Project profile within the United Nations

The success of the training programme has also been highlighted during a recent SDG Local Solutions series, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) held a webinar to explore how municipalities are promoting training and skills development in the renewable energy sector world-wide. The project was discussed alongside another case study from Mexico City as an example of best practice.

More information about the SDG Local Solutions Green Energy Local Skills webinar

Project expansion to Leicestershire

The training programme is now being used as the blueprint for a new initiative within Leicestershire. More information available here.