Business, Innovation and Skills CommitteeWritten evidence submitted by the Electrical Contractors’ Association

About ECA

The ECA is the UK’s largest trade association representing electrical engineering and contracting companies. The electrical contracting industry employs 350,000 operatives and 6,000 apprentices. Our 3,000 members range from local electricians to national companies with several branches employing thousands. Our members carry out a range of work, from domestic heating and lighting to cutting edge temperature control technology.

Summary

The evidence submitted by the ECA focuses only on question four: How should the gender stereotyping prevalent in particular occupations, for example in engineering, banking, construction and the beauty industry, be tackled?

At present, less than 1% of qualified operatives in electrical contracting are female. The ECA’s Skills Ambassador and the first female president of the ECA in its 111 year history, Diane Johnson, made it her goal to find a suitable pathway for women to find their way into the electrical contracting industry.

In seeking to increase representation of women in the electrical contracting industry, in 2011 the ECA joined forces with principal partner, L&Q Housing Association to deliver a self-funded two year pilot to train 12 women to work competently and safely in the domestic environment. Unemployed residents living in L&Q housing stock were given the opportunity to participate in the course. Further information about the scheme and its clear benefits are provided below.

How should the gender stereotyping prevalent in particular occupations, for example in engineering, banking, construction, and the beauty industry, be tackled?

1.1 In the electrical contracting industry whilst we estimate that there are approximately 6,000 apprentices in training at any one time, too few of these are women.

1.2 In response to this, and the fact that only 1% of the qualified workforce in the industry are women,1 the ECA joined forces with principal partner, L&Q Housing Association to deliver a self-funded two year pilot to train 12 women to work competently and safely in the domestic environment. We hope that the initiative will break down barriers and perceptions and promote an increase in the number of women entering the industry and potentially going on to take higher qualifications that allow them to work in the commercial and industrial sector, where there is a looming skills crisis within our industry.

1.3 The ECA believes that this pilot serves as a blueprint for success for other like-minded organisations. We are working hard to share our concept as we would like to see the scheme upscaled and replicated as it offers multiple benefits such as the opportunity to gain a skill for life, increases the number of women in the workplace, and aids social mobility. Once accredited, we believe that schemes like this should be eligible to receive an element of public funding so that they can be applied in other key vocational trades, as well as the construction industry because we believe they offer good value for public money. The ECA is engaged with the Skills Funding Agency to see how it can support funding.

1.4 The course officially began in September 2011. The participants, all of whom live in L&Q housing stock and were unemployed prior to beginning the course, receive a mix of flexible work-based and theoretical training delivered around term-time and school runs with a heavy focus on pastoral care.

1.5 Work based training began in March 2012 and the participants have been placed with several electrical contracting firms—Axis Europe, Mulalley, Smith and Byford—who maintain L&Q housing stock, as well as carry out other work. This serves as a good example of how organisations could, in future, use their procurement processes to help promote social outcomes.

1.6 Working together with the ECA, SummitSkills (the sector skills council for Building Services Engineering) has developed two new NVQ Level 3 domestic electrician qualifications which should receive accreditation shortly, making them available for use in this pilot. We believe that going forward, these qualifications will be particularly attractive to women, given that they are more likely to be interested in entering the domestic sector first, as opposed to the construction site based commercial and industrial sector.

1.7 The programme is not just focused on producing electricians, but on developing electrical contractors and employers of the future. At the end of the two year programme, the ECA will help the women to secure employment, or provide support and mentoring to those who wish to start a business of their own. It is also anticipated that we will take those able and willing through to the higher qualification, to demonstrate the clear progression route.

1.8 There are a number of benefits for women undertaking this scheme: it gives women an opportunity in an industry that is male-dominated; it breaks down the barriers and perceptions of the industry; it promotes the development of a defined qualification in the domestic sector and acts as a stepping stone into further higher qualifications which allow for career development; and it helps to tackle unemployment by giving women of all ages and educational levels an opportunity to learn a skill for life, develop a potential career and a chance to begin their own business.

5 October 2012