Supporting A Skilled Workforce

I attended a parliamentary drop-in event on 8 June 2026 to discuss ‘Plugging the Skills Gap: Why a Skilled Plumbing Workforce is Critical to UK Growth’ organised by JTL to draw attention to the skills gap. 

JTL is a specialist, not-for-profit Independent Training Provider set up by Unite the Union and the Electrical Contractors Association 35 years ago to train electrical and plumbing apprentices. They are a national training provider, rated Good by Ofsted in august 2023, delivering Level 3 electrical and plumbing apprenticeships in England and Wales. They work with 3,800 employers, the vast majority of which are small and medium-sized businesses, and support around 8,200 apprentices across their apprenticeship programmes.

In 2024-25, Walsall and Bloxwich had 3 Plumbing and Domestic Heating Technician apprenticeship starts, under the national constituency average of 4.6; and 1 Refrigeration, Air Conditioning and Heat Pump Engineering Technician apprenticeship start, higher than the national constituency average of 0.6. These 4 combined starts were lower than the national constituency average of 5.2.

JTL outlined 5 points to consider: 

1. Recognise plumbing as a priority workforce for housing, infrastructure and clean energy
2. Support Small and Medium Enterprises to take on apprentices
3. Protect high-quality apprenticeship routes
4. Improve achievement rates and reduce barriers to completion
5. Invest in training capacity

You can find more information through their website: https://jtltraining.com/