Greg barker visit: green deal skills in cambridge

News story GREG BARKER VISIT: GREEN DEAL SKILLS IN CAMBRIDGE 31 October 2011 DECC Climate Change Minister, Greg Barker, visited Cambridge to meet with local businesses, organisations and

stakeholders … This was published under the 2010 to 2015 Conservative and Liberal Democrat coalition government 31 OCTOBER 2011 DECC Climate Change Minister, Greg Barker, visited Cambridge

to meet with local businesses, organisations and stakeholders to discuss energy saving measures and the skills needed to successfully implement the Green Deal. During the visit South

Cambridgeshire District Council showcased their Green Deal preparatory activities, including their Eco Town Rampton Drift project; an initiative that has assessed and retrofitted local homes

with domestic energy saving, energy efficiency and microgeneration technologies. The Minister went on to meet with staff and students at the SmartLife Low Carbon Training Centre in the area

to see how the Centre provides innovation, skills and training to Cambridgeshire 14-19 year olds entering the construction industry, aswell as professionals wishing to retrain and

householders undertaking “low-carbon” DIY. Officially opening the Centre, Greg Barker praised their work in helping to tackle consumer reticence through high quality training and investment

in skills. He said: “We know from research that consumers are wary and confused about taking the plunge into energy efficiency, and want to know that installers have been properly trained….

we’ve been consulting industry, building on what is already there but aiming to drive people from the lowest to the highest possible workmanship - the kind I see here today.”

------------------------- ------------------------- Whilst at the Low Carbon Training Centre, following on from the Secretary of State’s and Prime Minister’s Consumer Summit earlier in the

month, Greg Barker also held a “mini Consumer Summit” with local consumer groups and installers to encourage dissemination of energy and money saving information to their members and

customers. Before leaving Cambridge, the Minister stopped for a whistle-stop tour of the British Antarctic Survey, who work to make climate science more accessible and lead the World in

research in to the Polar regions. BAS science and support staff are based in Cambridge, Antarctica and the Arctic, working together to deliver research that underpins a productive economy

and contribute to a sustainable world. As part of the tour BAS staff explained their work on Ice-Core drilling and how it can help measure the changes in concentration of greenhouse gases

over 100’s of 1000s of years. ------------------------- ------------------------- SHARE THIS PAGE The following links open in a new tab * Share on Facebook (opens in new tab) * Share on

Twitter (opens in new tab) UPDATES TO THIS PAGE Published 31 October 2011