Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal Net Zero Innovation and Delivery Programme

The six councils in the Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Deal - Fife, City of Edinburgh, East Lothian, Midlothian, Scottish Borders, and West Lothian - all need to deliver net zero homes by 2045 at the latest. As the fastest growing region in Scotland, a 40% increase in new homes is needed every year, and existing housing is complex, as almost half of all homes are flats. To this aim, they are required to produce Local Heat and Energy Efficiency Strategies (LHEES) for their areas.

To transform both public and private housing to meet net zero ambitions, Edinburgh and South East Scotland needs a well-trained workforce with the skills and capabilities for domestic retrofit and energy efficiency in new homes. The region also must take advantage of the opportunities in investing in zero emissions heat supply by developing an inclusive high-skilled manufacturing workforce, to meet the demands of net zero housing.

The current and future construction workforce crosses South East Scotland local authority boundaries, so it makes sense for all councils to work together with government, industry, City Region Deal organisations, colleges and universities, and other stakeholders to accelerate future skills capacity and capabilities for net zero housing. With funding to appoint a Net Zero Innovation and Delivery Officer and to run feasibility studies on the skills barriers for net zero housing, this programme will help the region meet the ambitions of their LHEES and achieve net zero..

The Edinburgh and South East Scotland City Region Net Zero Innovation & Delivery Officer will maximise upskilling delivery and avoid duplication of effort to create a common regional approach to new skills development training needs.

This pan-regional, collaborative approach to net zero housing workforce skills will lead to new training courses and more and diverse people choosing to work in highly skilled, high paid construction roles in the region. It will leverage added support from industry and other funders, to make sure money is spent on the right skills training at the right time, and it will link across regional colleges and universities to embed a regional Net Zero Skills Accelerator Hub.