Make home energy upgrades also create local jobs and training

The problem and who is affected

Portsmouth has many older terraced homes: terraces were about 43% of households in the 2021 Census, and the council’s 2008 report said more than 46% of homes were built before 1919 (a historical figure, not today’s). In 2025, 61.9% of energy certificates lodged in Portsmouth were rated A to C, against 63.6% in England; certificates cover only homes built, sold or let in the year, so this is not a rating of all homes. Government money for upgrades has arrived: £1,124,251 for council homes (Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund Wave 3) and a share of a £34,807,254 award to a 32-council consortium led by Portsmouth (Warm Homes: Local Grant), which was no longer taking applications on 10 November 2026. None of the records checked says who will fit the work or whether local firms and trainees will have a share. The City of Portsmouth College announced a £1.2 million construction training award on 1 September 2026, but says two net-zero bootcamps were not delivered.

Who is affected: Households in older, hard-to-heat homes, especially low-income tenants and owners; council tenants on the heat network; local installers and young people looking for construction apprenticeships.

What this would change

Aim: Use the money already coming into Portsmouth for home energy upgrades to build local skills and delivery capacity as well as lower bills.

What success would mean: Each retrofit programme in Portsmouth publishes who delivers it, how many homes were upgraded and the before-and-after energy rating, with local employment and apprenticeship numbers where contractors can report them. The college’s construction places match the skills the programmes need. No numeric target is proposed; it would have to be set with the council, college and installers.

Ask the council, as lead authority and landlord, to: publish for each retrofit programme the delivery partners, homes upgraded and energy rating before and after; ask contractors to report local jobs and apprenticeship starts where procurement rules and funding conditions allow; set up a regular forum between contractors, installers and the City of Portsmouth College so training places match upcoming work (for example the heat network works planned from December 2026); and check whether any funder conditions allow weighting for local firms.

Proposed lead: Portsmouth City Council housing, energy and procurement teams, with City of Portsmouth College, as a proposal. Partners: City of Portsmouth College, Switched On Portsmouth (the council’s energy advice and upgrade service), Department for Energy Security and Net Zero (funder), Contractors appointed for council retrofit and heat network works (not yet named in the records checked), Local installers and trade bodies, Hampshire and Solent skills planning bodies.

Powers: The council leads the Local Grant consortium and is landlord of its own homes, so it can set contractor requirements for its own works and the grant’s local delivery arrangements, within funders’ rules and public procurement law. Which conditions the government grants allow, such as local-supplier preferences, has not been checked here. Private landlords and owners decide about their own homes, and the council cannot require local labour from private contractors.

Options

• Current approach: Current approach: delivery through existing contracts and Switched On Portsmouth, with training planned separately at the college. Grants and council works go to appointed contractors. The college plans construction and engineering courses on its own timetable; there is no record of a shared plan.
• Proposed response: A local delivery and training agreement for retrofit. The council, college and contractors agree what work is coming, the skills it needs and how many local trainees and firms could be involved, and report on it each year.
• Proposed response: Reporting only: publish who delivers each programme and where they are based. No new requirement on contractors, but a public record of delivery partners, homes upgraded and local jobs where known.
• Alternative: Do minimum: publish homes upgraded and energy ratings only. Report the outcomes the grants already require, without local employment information.
• Alternative: Prioritise speed and lowest cost. Use whichever contractors can deliver soonest and cheapest, as grant rounds can close quickly. May raise early volumes but does little for local skills.

Local requirements can raise cost or slow delivery, and procurement and funding rules may restrict local preference. Local firms and trainees may not have the accreditations or capacity for large programmes. The Local Grant is oversubscribed, so the volume of work in Portsmouth may be small or short. The right choice could change once the Portsmouth-only grant figure and the heat network contractor are known.

Delivery plan

A first practical step: The council could publish the delivery partners and homes upgraded for Wave 3 now and ask for the Portsmouth share of the Local Grant to be stated.

Costs and funding

One-off costs

Not costed. Mainly officer and college staff time for reporting and the skills forum.

Recurring costs

Not costed. Annual reporting needs monitoring staff time.

Capital or revenue

Revenue for coordination and reporting. The retrofit works themselves are capital funded by the grants listed above.

Funding status

The works have government grants (see baselines). No funding identified for local-supply-chain coordination, reporting or extra training places.

Affordability

Not appraised. The council’s budget position and the effect of local requirements on contract prices have not been assessed.

Costing still needed

Estimate staff time for reporting, any price premium for local-preference conditions, and the cost of added training places.

Benefits, risks and trade-offs

Possible benefits: Residents in older homes could see who is improving them and with what result, and local firms and trainees could be considered for work paid for by local grants. These benefits are not quantified.

Risks:

• Requirements for local labour may be unlawful or incompatible with funder conditions; this has not been checked.
• Local firms may lack the accreditations or capacity for larger programmes.
• Grant rounds can close or be oversubscribed, leaving little work for new trainees.
• Training places may not turn into jobs if work is delayed, as the heat network contractor is still to be confirmed.
• Local conditions could raise contract costs or slow delivery.

Who could gain or lose: Lower-income households in cold, older homes and council tenants on the heat network would gain from lower bills and better homes; the Local Grant already has a waiting list, so some households wait. Private tenants depend on landlords’ decisions. Local jobs help people able to train, and need open access for people outside existing networks.

Environment: Upgrades cut energy use and may reduce emissions. Disruption in terraced streets, embodied carbon in new materials and any effect on historic buildings have not been assessed.

Capacity: Procurement, legal, housing and college staff time would be needed for contract wording, reporting and the skills forum; none is assessed or allocated here.

How to judge progress

Reassess when: Reassess when the heat network contractor is named, when the Portsmouth-only Local Grant figure is published, when Wave 3 homes are reported, or when the college’s next skills plan is published.

Where things stand

What is known:

• The council has £1,124,251 from Wave 3 for its homes (listed 27 November 2025).
• The Local Grant consortium has £34,807,254 across 32 councils, and the Portsmouth page says it was oversubscribed on 10 November 2026.
• The heat network upgrade is planned from December 2026 to about May 2028; no contractor appointment was found.
• The college announced a £1.2 million construction training award on 1 September 2026.
• In 2025, 61.9% of energy certificates lodged in Portsmouth were rated A to C, against 63.6% in England.

What is not known:

• Who will fit the work and whether local firms, apprentices or trainees will have a share.
• How many Portsmouth homes will be upgraded under the Local Grant, and with how much money.
• How many Portsmouth homes are older terraces in poor energy condition: no current construction-period breakdown was verified.
• Whether the funders’ conditions allow local-employment requirements.
• Whether a replacement for the net-zero bootcamps not delivered has been commissioned.

Decisions needed:

• Whether the council will publish delivery partners and outcomes for each retrofit programme.
• Whether to seek local-employment reporting and what procurement advice permits.
• Whether the college and council will plan retrofit training together.

Existing work:

• Warm Homes: Social Housing Fund Wave 3 (council homes): Grant offered and accepted; homes completed and council co-funding not stated (as of 2025-11-27).
• Warm Homes: Local Grant (32-council consortium led by Portsmouth): In progress; page says oversubscribed with a waiting list only (as of 2026-11-10).
• Portsmouth Homes heat network upgrade: Planned: works from December 2026, estimated completion May 2028; no contractor appointment found (as of 2026-11-10).
• City of Portsmouth College construction training: £1.2 million award announced; first Engineering T Level students due September 2027 (as of 2026-09-01).
• Net-zero and construction skills bootcamps: Not delivered: the college says the contracts ended before delivery (as of 2026-07-22).

Next review: When the heat network contractor is named or the Portsmouth-only Warm Homes: Local Grant figure is published.. Evidence last checked 2026-11-10.

Sources