A first Budget is an opportunity for any new government to show where its priorities lie. This one put energy firmly in the spotlight, with announcements on household bills, industrial electricity costs, grid infrastructure, clean power and emerging technologies alongside measures focused specifically on apprenticeships, jobs and skills.
Energy and Utility Skills Group welcomes investment in the infrastructure that will underpin the UK’s energy future. Turning that investment into delivery requires skills, competence and workforce planning to be built into projects from the outset.
Infrastructure can only be built, connected, operated and maintained if the sector has access to people with the right skills and competencies. And where investment creates additional workforce demand, employers need effective routes to attract and develop the people who will meet it.
From apprenticeships on major infrastructure projects to Great British Grid, hydrogen, CCUS and low-carbon heat, we look at the announcements through a skills and workforce lens.
Apprenticeships and routes into infrastructure careers
The Budget includes measures specifically intended to increase apprenticeship opportunities and support young people into employment.
Large government construction and infrastructure projects will be required to have apprentices account for at least 3% of their workforce. A new National Procurement Policy Statement, expected in March 2027, will also place greater emphasis on skills opportunities and pathways for young people.
The Government is also providing £100 million over 2027/28 and 2028/29 to extend Mayoral Apprenticeship Brokerage Pilots to all 14 existing Mayoral Strategic Authorities in England. These services are intended to connect young people with apprenticeship vacancies while helping employers, particularly SMEs, create opportunities.
From 1 April 2027, the apprentice minimum wage will rise to £8.31 an hour and the National Living Wage for workers aged 21 and over to £13.21. The apprentice rate applies to apprentices under 19 and those aged 19 or over in their first year; older apprentices who have completed that year must receive at least the minimum wage for their age. Employers need to account for the applicable pay rates alongside training, supervision and support costs when planning sustainable apprenticeship opportunities.
Further support includes a £2,000 payment for non-levy-paying employers taking on eligible young apprentices and a £3,000 Youth Jobs Grant for businesses hiring eligible unemployed young people.
The Government will also restore the Union Learning Fund in England, with a programme budget of £15 million a year from 2027/28 for union-led projects supporting workers to retrain and develop their skills. Alongside routes for new entrants, this provides a further opportunity to support the existing workforce as technologies and occupational requirements change.
We welcome measures that create more routes into energy and utilities, putting the citizen at the centre of policy design. Success should be measured not only by apprenticeship starts, but by completion and progression into competent employment. Employers and training providers need to plan together so that opportunities are backed by training capacity, workplace supervision and support, including for SMEs.
Grid investment and the workforce needed to deliver it
Energy infrastructure is another significant theme within the Budget. The Government plans to develop Great British Grid to accelerate electricity network development and improve grid connections, alongside wider reforms to the institutions governing the energy system.
The Government has also said that new clean power projects will be procured where they reduce bills overall and can connect to the grid.
For the sector, the relationship between generation and network capacity reinforces the importance of workforce planning across the whole electricity system. Developing new generation is only one part of the delivery challenge. Projects also depend on people capable of designing, building, connecting, operating and maintaining the infrastructure that supports them.
Workforce planning needs to be part of grid and clean power development from the outset. Employers need a coordinated view of the people and competencies required across generation and networks, aligned with project timescales. Our Workforce Demand Estimates can support those decisions, helping employers plan recruitment and development against anticipated demand.
130,000 jobs linked to National Wealth Fund investment
The Government says investment through the National Wealth Fund will create or support a further 130,000 jobs across the UK by 2030, including in clean energy, alongside sectors such as advanced manufacturing, AI and defence.
The prospect of additional employment is welcome, but headline job numbers are only the starting point for skills planning. Employers and providers need to understand which occupations will be required, where and when, and distinguish new roles from the development of existing employees. That detail is what allows investment ambitions to translate into practical training and recruitment plans.
Hydrogen and carbon capture, utilisation and storage (CCUS)
The Government will no longer introduce the planned Gas Shipper Obligation to fund hydrogen support through energy bills. Instead, hydrogen projects will be funded directly by government where it chooses to proceed and where projects meet affordability and value-for-money requirements.
The Budget also prioritises more mature carbon capture, utilisation and storage and hydrogen projects, including activity associated with industrial clusters in Teesside, Merseyside and North Wales.
As projects progress, skills and competence requirements need to develop alongside them. Employers, providers and government should work together to identify where existing experience can transfer and where additional training is needed. Clear routes for both experienced workers and new entrants will support safe delivery and give employers a stronger basis for workforce planning.
Renewables and workforce planning
The Government is consulting on the potential use of fixed-price arrangements for more existing renewable generation as part of efforts to reduce exposure to volatile international gas prices.
Our priority is understanding what the proposed arrangements could mean for employers’ investment and operational plans and the workforce needed to support them. Greater clarity would help employers plan the recruitment, training and ongoing competence required to operate and maintain renewable infrastructure.
Low-carbon heat and installation skills
The Budget maintains the Boiler Upgrade Scheme at £400 million in 2027/28, although £1 billion of capital grant funding is being removed from the wider Warm Homes Plan.
The combination of continued Boiler Upgrade Scheme support and reduced wider Warm Homes Plan funding makes clarity about the delivery pipeline important. Employers and providers need a basis for planning training capacity and developing the existing workforce. Competence must remain central, from assessment and design through to installation and maintenance, so that low-carbon heat delivers safely and effectively for households.
Changes to household energy bills
Household affordability forms a major part of the Budget. Up to 20 million households in council tax bands A to D in England will receive a £100 Household Energy Payment, with funding made available for comparable support elsewhere in the UK. The temporary cut in VAT on household electricity will also continue until July 2027.
The Government has separately asked Ofgem to remove domestic gas standing charges, while developing similar reforms for electricity, and is introducing an Energy Debt Circuit Breaker to address growing household energy debt.
Changes to billing, debt management and customer support is likely to have implications for the customer-facing workforce within energy suppliers and organisations working with vulnerable consumers.
What happens next?
The Milburn Review of Young People and Work, which will help shape the next phase of policy on investment, skills and routes into employment, is now expected later this year. The Review is particularly relevant to employers, with its interim findings highlighting the scale of the challenge facing young people trying to enter and remain connected to the labour market.
Understanding future workforce demand is a practical starting point. Our Workforce Demand Estimates 2026–2032 can help employers align recruitment, training and workforce development with anticipated demand. The estimates should inform planning, rather than be read as a measure of existing skills shortages.
Our forthcoming webinar with Utility Week; Building tomorrow’s workforce: The view from the C-suite – Utility Week, on Wednesday 4 November, provides an opportunity to explore that evidence and discuss how employers can use it to turn investment ambition into practical workforce plans.
