The Institute of the Motor Industry has called on the Treasury to invest in automotive skills ahead of the Autumn Budget. After 32 years on the tools, here’s what I think they’ve got right — and what they’re still missing.
The Institute of the Motor Industry (IMI) has [submitted its policy requests ahead of the Autumn Budget](https://garagewire.co.uk/news/associations/imi/imi-calls-for-urgent-automotive-skills-investment-ahead-of-autumn-budget/) on 28 October, asking the Treasury to put serious money into the automotive workforce. Their CEO, Nick Connor, talks about a "growing mismatch between policy ambition, technological change and workforce capacity".
That's a polite, boardroom way of putting it. Here's the workshop-floor translation: we are running out of people who can actually fix cars , and the cars are getting harder to fix every year. After 32 years on the tools, I can tell you the IMI is right to be worried — and if anything, they're being diplomatic about how bad it is.
What the IMI is asking for
In plain English, their asks are:
- Reform the Growth & Skills Levy so garages can spend it on shorter, modular courses rather than long formal programmes. - A dedicated Automotive Workforce Investment Fund to help small and medium garages pay for retraining. - Government backing for IMI TechSafe — the competence framework for working safely on electric, connected and automated vehicles. - Workforce readiness built into net zero policy , instead of banning things and hoping the skills magically appear.
Every one of those makes sense. Let me tell you why from where I'm standing.
The skills gap is real — I see it every week
The biggest lie in the motor trade right now is that anyone under 30 is queuing up to become a mechanic. They're not. I wrote about [how to become a mechanic in the UK](/become-a-mechanic-uk) because we get asked constantly, and the honest answer is the pipeline of young people coming through is a trickle.
Meanwhile the job has changed beyond recognition. When I started out, a misfire was plugs, leads and a distributor cap. Now it's a laptop job — you're into [fault code diagnosis](/services/diagnostics), wiring diagrams, oscilloscopes and software updates. That skills jump happened in one generation, and the training system hasn't kept pace.
Small garages like mine carry the cost of that. Every EV course, every [ADAS calibration](/services/adas-calibration) qualification, every new bit of diagnostic equipment comes out of the business. The IMI's Workforce Investment Fund idea — aimed squarely at SMEs — is the first proposal I've seen that understands where the burden actually sits.
The levy reform matters more than people think
The old Apprenticeship Levy (now the Growth & Skills Levy) is, frankly, hated by most small employers. The money sits in a pot you can barely access unless you take on a full-time apprentice on a rigid programme. A lot of what garages actually need is a two-week course on high-voltage safety, or a week on a particular manufacturer's systems.
Letting levy funds pay for modular courses — exactly what the IMI is proposing — would be genuinely useful. A lad who's already competent on brakes and suspension shouldn't have to go back to square one on a three-year programme just to get certified on hybrids.
EV training isn't optional any more
Here's the bit I feel strongly about. Government policy is pushing drivers into electric vehicles whether they're ready or not. Fine. But an EV battery pack carries enough voltage to kill you stone dead, and there are garages up and down the country doing work on these cars with staff who've never had a day's high-voltage training.
The IMI's TechSafe register exists precisely because of that risk. Backing it properly — and building workforce readiness into the net zero plans rather than bolting it on afterwards — isn't red tape. It's common sense. If you're driving an EV and it needs work, you want to know the person under it knows what they're touching. That's why we've invested in [EV and hybrid servicing](/services/ev-servicing) capability here.
Where I'd push back slightly on the IMI is this: frameworks are only as good as the enforcement behind them. A certificate on the wall means nothing if nobody ever checks. I'd like to see insurers and warranty providers demanding TechSafe-level proof before they'll cover a repair. That would change behaviour overnight without a single new regulation.
What this means if you're a driver
You might be wondering why any of this matters to you. It matters because the skills shortage lands on your driveway eventually:
- Longer waits. Fewer qualified techs means longer booking times, especially for anything complicated. - Higher bills. Training and equipment cost money, and garages that invest have to charge accordingly. The cheap quote often means someone who's not trained on your car. - Bigger regional gaps. In rural areas like Perthshire, there simply aren't that many of us. If the trade can't attract and train people, rural drivers get hit first and hardest.
So when you see trade bodies lobbying the Chancellor, it's not special pleading — it's your next [MOT](/mot-birnam) or repair bill they're actually talking about.
What this means if you're thinking about the trade
If you're a young person — or not so young — wondering whether mechanics is worth getting into: yes. Emphatically yes. The work is there, the pay is climbing precisely because of this shortage, and EV and diagnostic skills will be worth a fortune over the next decade. Have a read of our [guide to becoming a mechanic in the UK](/become-a-mechanic-uk) — it covers the real routes in, the qualifications that matter, and what you can expect to earn.
The Autumn Budget on 28 October will tell us whether the Treasury is listening. The IMI has made a solid, sensible case. From a workshop in Birnam that's spent three decades watching good people get trained and then leave the trade because nobody supported them — I hope, for once, they actually are.
Got a view on this, or thinking about a career in the trade? [Get in touch](/contact) — always happy to talk to anyone considering picking up the spanners.