Question to the Department for Education:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many welding apprentices there are currently in the United Kingdom.

Answered by Baroness Smith of Malvern - Minister of State (Minister for Women and Equalities)

The number of starts and enrolments on welding apprenticeship courses in England are shown in the table below.

Note:

(1) Published in March 2025, the data set includes full-year figures from 2021/22 to 2023/24 and figures from August 2024 to January 2025 for 2024/25.

(2) Volumes are rounded to the nearest 10.

(3) Total starts are the count of apprenticeships started at any point during the stated academic period. Learners starting more than one apprenticeship will appear more than once.

These figures are published in the ‘Apprenticeships’ accredited official statistics publication, which can accessed at: https://explore-education-statistics.service.gov.uk/find-statistics/apprenticeships/2024-25.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government how many nuclear certified welders there are currently in the United Kingdom.

Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

The Department for Energy Security and Net Zero does not produce their own figures on the number of welders in the United Kingdom.

Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask His Majesty's Government what was the (1) value, and (2) tonnage of (a) scrap copper and, (b) scrap steel, that the UK exported in the last year for which figures are available.

Answered by Lord Livermore - Financial Secretary (HM Treasury)

The value and tonnage of scrap steel and copper exported from the UK in 2024 is as follows:

HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC) is responsible for the collection and publication of data on imports and exports of goods to and from the UK. HMRC releases this information monthly, as an accredited official statistic called the Overseas Trade in Goods Statistics (OTS), which is available via their dedicated website (www.uktradeinfo.com). From this website, it is possible to build your own data tables based upon bespoke search criteria.

Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:

To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath on 30 April (HL6622), whether any other Department holds the figures of the number of certified nuclear welders in the United Kingdom.

Answered by Lord Hunt of Kings Heath

The Government does not hold the figure on the number of certified nuclear welders in the UK.

Hinkley Point C has invested £24m in education, skills and employment, including £4m in the development of a Centre of Excellence for Welding at Bridgwater and Taunton College. HMG also continues to support UK nuclear skills through the industry led National Nuclear Strategic Plan for Skills, a collaborative effort between Government, industry, and academia, setting out targeted action to address the skills gap and secure the UK’s nuclear workforce. This includes the on-going development of a welding course as part of the Career Switchers project in the Nuclear Skills Plan. In addition, the Destination Nuclear national communications campaign has targeted people that could work in the sector’s critical skills areas, including welders.