Warm Homes Plan Workforce Taskforce

[edit] About the Taskforce

On 21 January 2026, shortly after publishing its Warm Homes Plan with £15 billion in public investment, the government announced the Warm Homes Plan Workforce Taskforce terms of reference. The Taskforce being a partnership between government, trade unions, local government, business and civil society to provide strategic leadership to support delivery of the government’s Warm Homes Plan. Seen as a step towards a future where every home and building is cheaper to run, smarter and powered by clean, homegrown British power by 2030 ias one of the government’s 5 key missions.

Co-led by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (DESNZ) and the Trades Union Congress (TUC), the task force will facilitate the transition, creation and growth of a diverse, skilled and resilient workforce which meets the evolving demand generated by the ‘Warm Homes Plan’. It covers sectors and technologies that includes batteries, fabric insulation, heat networks, heat pumps, and solar panels for domestic buildings and new builds and roles including installers, maintenance workers, and retrofit coordinators and assessors.

[edit] Objectives, membership and governance

The taskforce advises and works with ministers through these objectives:

• develop tools, including a workforce plan, to support the delivery of good, well- paid UK jobs in the heat and building sectors to deliver up to 5 million home upgrades by 2030
• provide expert insight relevant to the sectors, technologies and initiatives in the ‘Warm Homes Plan’
• support actions in the ‘Clean Energy Jobs Plan’, including policy levers to raise the bar on job quality, into the ‘Warm Homes Plan’ sectors
• collaborate with the wider civil and business communities including the devolved regions to support regional delivery

The Co-chairs are Minister McCluskey, Minister for Energy Consumers, DESNZ / Kate Bell, Assistant General Secretary, TUC.

The taskforce core members: Andy Prendergast, National Secretary, GMB Union, Anna Scothern, Chief Executive, the National Home Improvement Council, Cara Jenkinson, interim Head of Cities, Ashden Climate Solutions and National Retrofit Hub, Chris Galpin, Senior Policy Advisor, E3G, Claire Ward, Deputy Chair, Mayoral Council for England, Ian Woodcroft, Head of Policy and Government Relations, Construction Industry Training Board, Jason Poulter, National Officer, Unite Louise Shooter, Head of Heat Decarbonisation, Energy UK.

Governance of the group is with Minister McCluskey and Kate Bell as co-chair of the taskforce meetings, with the secretariat overseen by a senior civil servant. Recommendations made by the taskforce will be put to the department for consideration. The taskforce can request advice from, and attendance by, other experts in areas relevant to taskforce discussions. The taskforce will work with other government initiatives and industry boards that are looking at workforce planning, such the ‘Clean Energy Jobs Plan’ and the Construction Skills Mission Board. The taskforce is a 12-to-18-month task and finish group. The co-chairs will work with the secretariat to monitor the effectiveness of the taskforce in meeting its intended objectives, and will regularly review whether there is a need to change or extend its structure and purpose within government policies and funding.

[edit] Calls for inclusion of electrotechnical expertise

ECA calls for urgent inclusion of electrotechnical expertise. ECA urges the Government to revise the composition of the Workforce Taskforce to ensure that electrotechnical experts play a central role in shaping training pathways, setting competency standards, and guiding the implementation of the Plan.

ECA also calls for targeted investment in apprenticeship programmes, support for training providers, and structured collaboration with the wider built environment sector to ensure that workforce capability is not an afterthought, but a foundation.

ECA is supporting its Members as skills policy shifts to regional authorities. In the past year, five Electrotechnical Training and Careers Alliances (ETCAs) have been established in Greater Manchester, the West Midlands, Cheshire & Warrington, Cambridgeshire & Peterborough, and Kent & Medway. The ETCAs brings ECA Members, training providers and regional bodies together to tackle local skills gaps. Two further Alliances, in South Yorkshire and the North East, will launch during National Apprenticeship Week in February 2026, with more to follow.

The Electrical Contractors’ Association (ECA) said that the Government’s long awaited Warm Homes Plan, published last week by the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero, sets out welcome steps to help consumers access more affordable clean energy. However it warns that the plan overlooks a fundamental requirement for success: the skills, competence and on the ground experience of the electrotechnical industry.

Despite placing significant responsibility on businesses and training providers to deliver the UK’s electrification ambitions, the Government has not provided dedicated support to ensure the workforce remains aligned with rapidly advancing technologies and increasingly integrated digital systems. This gap, ECA argues, presents a real risk to the practical delivery of the Warm Homes Plan.

Keith Sanderson, Head of Skills Delivery at ECA, expressed concern that the Plan misses a critical opportunity to address the UK’s shrinking electrical workforce:

“With a shrinking electrical workforce, it is disappointing the Warm Homes Plan does not provide any support or incentives to training providers or businesses offering apprenticeships. As technologies become more complex and digital systems require increasing integration, upskilling will not solve all the needs of the energy transition. Apprenticeships remain industry’s preferred training route. Short upskilling courses can only deliver if they are developed with genuine input from the industry.”

In its current form, the Warm Homes Plan’s most significant omission is the absence of electrotechnical representation on the new Warm Homes Workforce Taskforce. Electrical installers—responsible for the “final mile” of cabling, systems, and technologies—play a pivotal role in ensuring installations are safe, competent, and futureproof. Their exclusion raises concerns across the sector.

Jane Dawson, Head of External Affairs at ECA, emphasised the potential consequences:

“The twice delayed and highly anticipated Warm Homes Plan provides little solace for the electrical contracting industry. Electrical installers, who deliver the ‘final mile’ of electrical cabling, technologies and systems, are notably without representation on the new Warm Homes Workforce Taskforce. This leaves the UK’s energy transition in peril. A Taskforce without an understanding of the competence and safety standards required, risks training a workforce unprepared for the challenges ahead—and that potentially puts lives at risk.”

This article is based on the UK government "Warm Homes Plan Workforce Taskforce: terms of reference" published 21 January, 2026 and ECA article "Warm Homes Plan risks undermining UK’s energy transition due to lack of electrotechnical industry representation, says ECA" dated 21 January 2026.

--ECA

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