Energy & Utility Skills Group has submitted evidence to the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Apprenticeships’ inquiry into how apprenticeships can support delivery of the Government’s Industrial Strategy, drawing on insights from employers, sector leaders and workforce planning evidence across the energy and utilities sector. The submission highlights the critical role apprenticeships play in developing the skilled workforce needed to deliver national infrastructure, economic growth and the transition to a low-carbon economy, while identifying opportunities to further strengthen the system through greater flexibility, simplified funding and increased capacity within technical training provision.
Across the energy and utilities sector, employers report strong outcomes from apprenticeship programmes, with high retention rates and long-term career progression helping to build a sustainable talent pipeline. The sector is also home to leading providers of technical training, including National Grid, which has maintained the highest standards of training provision over many years.
Building Capacity and Capability to Deliver Skills
Employers continue to report challenges attracting and retaining mentors, trainers and assessors with the expertise needed to support growing workforce demand. Without sufficient delivery capacity, efforts to expand apprenticeship opportunities and increase workforce participation will be difficult to achieve. The Group is already engaged with senior officials across the Departments for Work and Pensions, Energy Security and Net Zero, and Business, Innovation, Science and Trade on this constraint.
The submission also highlights the importance of RQF Level 1 programmes, which provide an entry route into skilled employment before the first apprenticeship opportunities typically become available at RQF Level 2. Strengthening progression pathways from RQF1 through to apprenticeships and higher-level occupations would help widen participation, support workforce inclusion and create a stronger pipeline of future talent for the sector.
A Simpler and More Responsive Skills System
The response also calls for a funding system that is easier to navigate and more responsive to employer needs. Businesses require skills investment mechanisms that can adapt to changing workforce requirements while reducing unnecessary complexity and administrative burden.
While employers continue to place a high value on apprenticeships, some members have reported choosing not to utilise apprenticeship programmes because of funding and administrative complexity, instead opting to develop their own trainee pathways where they believe these offer greater value and flexibility. The submission argues that greater flexibility alone will not address these challenges. Funding, administration and delivery arrangements must become simpler, more consistent and better aligned to employer need, while continuing to protect occupational competence, quality and public safety.
Quality and Flexibility Must Go Hand in Hand
Employers are clear that maintaining quality must remain a central principle of skills policy. However, this should be accompanied by greater flexibility in how learning and workforce development programmes are designed and delivered, ensuring businesses can invest in the right interventions at the right time.
The submission welcomes the decision to adopt a sector-specific, risk-based approach to apprenticeship assessment reform, recognising that assessment arrangements should reflect the requirements of individual occupations, particularly in safety-critical sectors. The approach provides confidence that reforms can increase capacity and reduce unnecessary friction while continuing to protect occupational competence, quality and public safety.
A Clear Skills Journey
The submission highlights the importance of creating a clearer journey through the wide range of government skills and employment initiatives. Apprenticeships, workforce development programmes and other training routes all have an important role to play. Rather than viewing these initiatives as competing priorities, policy should recognise how they work together to support different workforce needs and stages of career development.
National Standards, Local Delivery
While local skills planning remains important, employers also emphasised the need for strong national coordination and common standards. National industries require consistent approaches to skills development, workforce competence and workforce mobility regardless of geography. Maintaining a balance between local responsiveness and national consistency will be critical to future success.
Stephen Barrett, Director of Membership & Strategic Engagement, at Energy & Utility Skills Group, said:
“Apprenticeships remain one of the most effective ways of developing the skilled workforce our economy needs. They provide high-quality routes into employment, create opportunities for people from all backgrounds and help employers develop the talent required to deliver essential services and infrastructure.
The strength of feeling from our CEO Council reflects the value employers place on apprenticeships and the outcomes they deliver. Across our sector, apprenticeships are helping people build long-term careers while providing businesses with the competent workforce needed to support growth, investment and innovation.
As policymakers consider the future of the skills system, it is important that reforms build on these strengths, protecting quality and competence while creating a more flexible and responsive system that can meet both employer demand and individual aspiration.”
David Morgan, Head of Business Development, Sales and Marketing added:
“If government wants to expand opportunity and deliver economic growth, it must focus on the workforce behind the workforce. Employers need a skills system that is simpler to navigate, responsive to business needs and capable of delivering high-quality technical training at scale. We should be building a coherent skills journey that values apprenticeships, workforce development and upskilling programmes equally, while maintaining the national standards our industries depend on.”
Through its contribution to the inquiry led by the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Apprenticeships, the Energy & Utility Skills Group continues to champion the interests of employers and advocate for practical solutions that support growth, workforce resilience and the delivery of nationally significant infrastructure programmes. The themes set out in the response align closely with the ambitions of our 2025-2030 Skills Strategy and our commitment to ensuring the sector has the people, skills and capability needed for the future.
Members are encouraged to continue sharing workforce challenges, skills priorities and examples of good practice. These insights help ensure the needs of the energy and utilities sector are reflected in national policy discussions and future skills reform. To get involved, please contact our team at collaborate@euskills.co.uk.
