ABBE has now met with officials from the Department for Energy and Climate Change (DECC) and the Department for Communities and Local Government (CLG) to discuss their plans regarding qualifications for Home Energy Advisers (HEAs). In this meeting, DECC confirmed that the current list of acceptable qualifications, named in the CERT and CESP Statutory Instruments (SI), is an interim position only. In future for schemes supported by Government, such as the successor to CERT and CESP, the minimum standard for energy advice provided in the home will be a full competence qualification based on units 1 to 5 of the National Occupational Standards (NOS) for Home and Community Energy Advisers. DECC believes it has clearly set out this position in the Household Energy Management Strategy (Warm Homes, Greener Homes), and they hope that employers of Home Energy Advisers will take account of this in their future planning.
Both the DECC and CLG welcomed the news that ABBE is now moving forward with development of a full competence qualification which will cover units 1 to 5 of the NOS as a minimum.
Anyone considering training as a HEA should therefore consider whether their chosen training course will provide them with an easy route into the ‘licence to practice’ as a Home Energy Adviser in the future. The ABBE Level 3 Award in Home Energy Advice is a theory only qualification and covers some areas of knowledge required by an energy adviser. It is the only qualification that is based on the NOS for Home Energy Advisers and it is also the only one that is formally approved by Ofqual, within the Qualification Credit Framework (QCF).
So what does this mean for DEAs and HIs considering becoming a Home Energy Adviser? DECC has advised us that the qualifications named in the CERT and CESP SIs set the minimum standards for energy advice provided in the home through those schemes only. Energy advice outside the home, and advisers working independently, or providing advice in the home via other schemes, are not governed by these minimum requirements. In particular, advice given over the telephone, by energy suppliers and others, is not affected by these SIs. Making the current ABBE theory qualification appropriate for those undertaking this work.
In future, HEAs will need to qualify via the full competence qualification now in development, where they are operating under government endorsed schemes. In addition DECC confirmed to ABBE that there will be no APEL scheme for this new role. For anyone who wants to train now, the ABBE level 3 Award in Home Energy Advice is open for registration via several ABBE centres, details for which are available on the ABBE website under the ‘Find a qualification’ section. Candidates who take the current ABBE HEA theory Award can be assured that the full competence HEA qualification is being designed to allow all the theory from the existing award to be recognized in it. Furthermore, both the current HEA theory award, and the competence HEA qualification, will recognise the existing skills and knowledge of current DEA and HI ‘graduates’, and will provide a straightforward upgrade path for them.
As stated previously, ABBE welcomes the publication of the Household Energy Management Strategy, and the confidence it places in the role of fully qualified, professional Home Energy Advisers. It complements the DECC on promoting the need for a fully trained and competent workforce, a view ABBE has always held, and looks forward to delivering high quality, fit for purpose qualifications, to enable Home Energy Advisers to help achieve the targets set out in HEMS.
