The Council’s youth training corp pilot has been made possible with the funding received from the £4 million the Council has secured from the Government’s Public Sector Decarbonisation Scheme (PSDS) to make its existing schools and public buildings more energy efficient.
Cllr Sarah Merrill, Cabinet Member for Environment and Sustainability, said: “Our drive for low carbon construction skills complements the significant opportunities we are exploring within Royal Greenwich for developing low carbon heat networks and deploying associated technologies, and can act as a pilot scheme for economist Will Hutton’s National Youth Training Corps initiative.”
Cllr Denise Scott McDonald, Deputy Leader and Cabinet Member for Regeneration, said: “The Council is leveraging its contracts with the construction companies it appoints to retrofit its building stock, to get the added social value of jobs and green skills for its young people. As green construction methods and technology develop, so does the economy’s demand for new skills. Jobs in construction can be well paid, varied and have excellent opportunities for real career progression. Young people on our pilot will learn about alternative low carbon energy sources such as air and ground source heat pumps, solar panels, battery storage, LED lighting and how to install them too.”
Will Hutton, Chair of the National Youth Corps advisory panel said: “Congratulations to all those at Greenwich who have made this happen. It is this type of scheme that if scaled across London and the rest of the UK could make a material difference to young peoples’ skills, opportunities, incomes and self-worth just as I expect it to do in Greenwich. We will be studying closely how this pilot works operationally, in real outputs and in financial terms as part of our ongoing research into how proactive programmes of this type, combining pay, training and progression, could work at greater scale alongside as much input from the young people themselves into its running as possible.”
The six-week Building Green Skills Youth Training Camp will be run by Greenwich Local Labour and Business (GLLaB), the Council’s skills and employment agency in partnership with London and South East Colleges (LSEC), and its building contractors and starts on 1 June at the Kidbrooke Construction Skills Centre.
