The first-come first-served scheme will provide up to £250,000 for installers, with up to £500 or 75 percent off the cost of a training course per person.
Climate change minister Greg Barker announced the voucher scheme at the same time as he unveiled a delay in domestic Renewable Heat Incentive, alongside:
• A £9 million package to help local authorities get heat network schemes up and running in towns and cities across the country, with a new Heat Networks Delivery Unit to sit within DECC providing expert advice
• £1 million for Manchester, Leeds, Newcastle, Sheffield and Nottingham to help the cities develop heat networks
• 100 green apprenticeships to be funded primarily for young people in small scale renewable technologies
Keith Marshall OBE, chief executive of SummitSkills, said: “This is what employers have been asking for and it is what we have been suggesting to Government for a while. We work closely with many employers and their representative organisations, and the type of ‘voucher’ scheme just announced by DECC is exactly the type of incentive that lots of them have been telling us they want to see.
“This is a positive development from the Government and should go some way to encouraging the heating and ventilating industry to continue to learn more about renewable heating technologies. The voucher system will make the training a more affordable and attractive option for thousands of small and micro-businesses who need all the help they can get in these continuing challenging times.”