ECA performs a unique role within the skills ecosystem. As the only electrical industry organisation owned and controlled by contractors, we are the trusted voice of business in interactions with other industry organisations and when representing the industry to third parties, including education providers, politicians and public officials.
Our Skills Committee is the principal forum through which Members engage with policy issues and steer the approach which the Association will adopt towards the issues.
Industry skills collaborations
At industry level, ECA is a member and contributor to the Electrotechnical Skills Partnership (TESP): a strong coalition of sector bodies undertaking a wide range of activities to support the industry employers’ skills needs and hosting the invaluable Electrical Careers website. Our links with other European countries via EuropeOn gives us insights into education and skills arrangements outside the UK. We also collaborate with other engineering services sectors (e.g. HVAC and plumbing) through the joint skills work of Actuate UK and EBSSA.
With Unite the Union, ECA has co-founded and continues to be involved with key organisations supporting skills in the electrical sector, including:
- The JIB (owner of the ECS card scheme)
- JTL (apprenticeship training charity), and
- NET (independent competence assessment charity).
ECA is also an active member of the Electrotechnical Assessment Specification (EAS) Committee: a broad-based industry group which oversees the assessment regime for enterprises carrying out work on electrical installations, including the mandatory competence requirements for Qualified Supervisors and electrical inspectors.
National education and competence developments
ECA and our Members play a central role in shaping skills policy, competence and training standards across every part of the United Kingdom expect Scotland (with its own electrical trade association, SELECT).
In England, ECA staff and several Members participate in the IfATE employer group responsible for both the Installation and Maintenance Electrician and Domestic Electrician apprenticeship standards. Through FSA, we also contribute to the employer group overseeing the Fire Emergency and Security Systems Technician apprenticeship standard. ECA liaises regularly with awarding bodies on qualifications development, ensuring that these align with employer needs and industry competence standards and recognised training routes.
ECA also provide advice and guidance to help Member businesses deliver a successful in-house apprenticeship programme. Find out more >
Other recent ECA activity in England has included:
- Participation in the skills subgroup of the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s Solar PV Taskforce
- Leading roles on Working Group 2: Installers (shaping installer competence standards for the whole built environment), and
- Active membership of the Construction Leadership Council’s People and Skills Network.
As part of its Skills for the Future public affairs campaign, ECA launched the Recharging Electrical Skills Charter in Westminster in November 2023.
In Wales, ECA has an active and popular Skills Forum, encompassing Members from all parts of the country (South-West, South-East, Mid and North), and maintains a close dialogue with the Welsh Government apprenticeships team, Qualifications Wales and the four Welsh Regional Skills Partnerships.
Association staff and Members have played a leading role in the development of technical qualifications and both electrical and fire and security apprenticeship frameworks. ECA and the work our Members do featured prominently in Welsh Government’s Net Zero Skills Action Plan, published in February 2023 – reflecting the electrical sector’s indispensability in delivering a low carbon economy.
In Northern Ireland, Members of ECA’s Belfast branch are committed to supporting apprenticeships and raising training and competence standards. This was exemplified by their achievement in 2016 in persuading the Northern Ireland Executive to implement an Electrical License to Practice regime on public sector contracts – which is currently the only regime of its kind in the UK.