Government's Green Deal jobs estimate falls by 35,000

The government’s estimate of how many jobs will be created by its flagship Green Deal scheme has fallen by 35,000 since the plan was first announced last year.

When the government published its summary of the proposals in 2010, energy secretary Chris Huhne said: “We predict that the supply chain could support 100,000 jobs within five years, spread across the United Kingdom.”

However, last week when the Department for Energy and Climate Change launched its detailed consultation document on the proposals it said only 65,000 insulation and construction jobs would be created by 2015.

A spokesperson for the department said that the original figure was the government’s higher end estimate for job creation while the latest number was simply a more conservative estimate.