Skills partnership set to accelerate net zero in Scotland  

Skills Development Scotland (SDS) and Built Environment – Smarter Transformation (BE-ST) are joining forces to build the construction skills needed to deliver Scotland’s net zero objectives. 

Through the partnership, SDS and BE-ST will respond to the Scottish Government’s Climate Emergency Skills Action Plan (CESAP) by tackling the major skills implications for the construction industry to fulfil its role around heat decarbonisation. 

This will include the development of evidence to support SDS CESAP industry skills groups, influencing stakeholders and collaborative work across the regions to prepare for future legislative changes. 

Another key area of collaboration will be the input from BE-ST around future skills and net zero issues alongside SDS’s work with partners to review apprenticeship standards and frameworks for the industry. 

During apprenticeship reviews, BE-ST will provide insights and evidence on emergent and sustainable technologies and practices to technical expert groups reviewing apprenticeship developments, and facilitate the conversations on these issues. 

SDS and BE-ST have also been working with other industry stakeholders as part of the Construction Accord. The Accord sets out a framework for the transformation of construction in Scotland, with the aim of improving the industry for those working in it and benefiting from it. 

Neville Prentice, senior director of service and delivery at SDS, said: “The key to Scotland’s future prosperity is to ensure that its people and its businesses are inspired and enabled to develop the right skills for a changing world. SDS collaborates across the skills ecosystem to make this happen.  

“Recognising how critical the construction sector is to net zero, and with the recent launch of the Construction Accord, the time was right to work together to create an agreement that allowed us to maximise opportunities in partnership to help the construction sector develop the essential skills needed in what will be a transformational period ahead. 

“Having BE-ST bring its independent knowledge and insight into apprenticeship development brings valuable expertise and resource to ensure skills meet the needs of the sector now and for the future.”

Formerly Construction Scotland Innovation Centre, BE-ST’s mission is to accelerate the built environment’s transition to zero carbon emissions.

Stephen Good, CEO of BE-ST, said: “The skills system in Scotland underpins many of the solutions to the challenges the construction and built environment sector faces, from reaching net zero targets to achieving a just transition. 

“We need to ensure we have the mechanisms in place to respond to the demand for skills now and to plan for competencies that will emerge as we transition to net zero.

“This partnership between BE-ST and Skills Development Scotland not only speaks to the critical importance of skills development in successfully transitioning to net zero but also to making this transition fair and equal."