UK Government
We work with UK Government to align policy with practical workforce solutions.
UK Government Collaboration
The Energy & Utility Skills Group works across the UK Government to ensure national workforce ambitions are grounded in evidence and deliverable by members and industry. Our role is to provide trusted data, convene employers, and co-design solutions with government departments and agencies. By doing so, we connect national policy with local, regional and UK-wide delivery, ensuring that investment is matched with the right people and skills, and that reform translates ambition into opportunity for individuals, and delivers both growth and resilience for industry.
Clean Energy Jobs Plan
The Government’s Clean Energy Jobs Plan sets out 42 actions across six chapters to deliver the skilled, safe and inclusive workforce required to meet the UK’s clean energy ambitions. Energy & Utility Skills is identified throughout as a key delivery partner, leading national work on workforce demand modelling, attraction pathways, inclusion, occupational profiles and the development of employment routes for prison leavers. The Plan recognises that around 72% of new clean energy jobs will be created in England, with significant growth also projected across Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland, ensuring that every nation benefits from the opportunities of the clean energy transition.
Our involvement builds on the foundations laid through the Clean Energy Action Plan published in December 2024, where we worked with the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero to shape the evidence, analysis and delivery priorities that underpin this new Plan. Energy & Utility Skills played a central role in aligning industry data with government policy, ensuring the ambition for more than 900,000 clean energy jobs by 2030 is backed by credible forecasts and clear implementation routes.
The Plan aligns directly with our Skills Strategy 2025–2030, creating a unified national effort to equip people with the skills, confidence and opportunity to deliver the UK’s clean energy future. It brings together government, members, industry partners and training providers with clear focus and shared purpose to turn ambition into lasting impact.
Clean Power 2030 Forum and Action Plans
Alongside the Strategy, we played a central role in the Clean Power 2030 Supply Chains and Workforce Forum, which focused on immediate delivery challenges. These included addressing shortages in critical occupations, supporting subcontracted labour, and shaping attraction and training activity to accelerate workforce readiness. By embedding employer evidence into the Forum’s Action Plans, we have helped government prioritise action across offshore and onshore wind, solar, batteries and electricity networks.
Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) and Skills England
Through Skills England, now part of DWP, we continue our long-standing relationship previously held with IfATE. The Energy and Utilities Advisory Panel (EUAP), established with our support, provides the sector’s formal voice into apprenticeship and qualification reform. This ensures that national programmes remain relevant to employers, that technical education reflects occupational standards, and that learners have access to high-quality routes into industry roles.
With DWP we are also developing a new national sector entry model. Pilots planned to launch in the second half of 2025 will provide safe and rapid pathways into the industry. Participants will complete accredited safety training and employer-specific training, with guaranteed interviews at the end of the programme. Benefits will be maintained during training, and childcare and travel support will be provided so that barriers to participation are removed. For individuals, this offers a clear and supported route into work. For employers, it opens new and reliable talent pipelines. For government, it strengthens economic participation and reduces claimant dependency.
Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA)
We are working with DEFRA to plan and convene a Water Skills Strategic Group, which embeds workforce priorities into the £104 billion AMP8 investment programme and prepares the sector for regulatory reform. The group will bring together government, employers, contractors and professional bodies to develop a shared evidence base, build attraction campaigns and ensure training and apprenticeships are aligned with future needs. This collaboration ensures that the largest ever investment in the water sector is underpinned by the people and skills required to deliver cleaner rivers, resilient supplies and thousands of jobs across the UK.
Ministry of Justice (MoJ) and HM Prison and Probation Service (HMPPS)
We are working with MoJ and HMPPS to create pathways for prison leavers and probationers to move into skilled roles across energy and utilities. By linking national workforce demand with prison training facilities and probation programmes, this initiative will support rehabilitation, reduce reoffending and provide employers with new sources of motivated talent. Pilots expected in 2026 will test models that can be scaled nationally, providing benefits both to individuals and to the wider economy.
Department for Education (DfE)
We work with DfE to ensure that energy, water, and waste careers are visible and attractive within the education system. Our collaboration includes supporting careers guidance, using occupational profiles to inform educators and learners, and linking qualifications to clear and accessible pathways into sector jobs. By embedding utilities into the wider education and skills narrative, young people are more likely to see these industries as credible, rewarding and long-term destinations for their future.
Deepening our impact
Our work and delivery across the UK Government is centred on our values: to provide credible evidence, convene partnerships and make a positive difference. On behalf of members and industry we will continue to deepen collaboration and to ensure every part of the UK workforce can deliver the essential services of the future. Please contact us to by email, phone, or the online contact form below:
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