Oral Answers to Questions

Catherine McKinnell Excerpts

Thursday 7th July 2011 Commons Chamber

[Nic Dakin (Scunthorpe) (Lab)]

4. What discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on skills and employment in the energy sector.

[Catherine McKinnell (Newcastle upon Tyne North) (Lab)]

13. What discussions he has had with the Secretary of State for Business, Innovation and Skills on developing skills in the low-carbon sector.

[The Minister of State, Department of Energy and Climate Change (Charles Hendry)]

My Department works closely with the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills to promote skills and employment in the energy sector. The Budget announced £180 million of funding for 50,000 additional adult apprenticeships, and we announced in March that at least 100,000 green deal apprentices could receive Government funding towards their training. There are many opportunities, with the new build nuclear programme alone expected to create 30,000 high-skilled new jobs nationally.

[Charles Hendry]

I was very pleased indeed to have the chance to meet the hon. Gentleman, his local authorities and other Members of Parliament from Humberside to talk about the immense potential in those areas for developing the supply chain for the offshore wind sector. That is why we have put in place a £60 million programme to attract manufacturing investment to those sites, and it is encouraging to see the number of manufacturers looking to the United Kingdom.

[Catherine McKinnell]

The Minister may be aware of my interest in apprenticeships. I welcome the increased number of apprenticeships, although I am concerned that it does not go far enough. What reassurances can he provide that there is a joined-up approach across Departments to ensure that apprenticeship places are created in low-carbon areas of our economy and regions such as the north-east which have real growth potential?

[Charles Hendry]

I hope the hon. Lady will be aware of the document “Skills for Sustainable Growth”, which was produced last year. It addresses these matters so as to ensure that we can address apprenticeships issues in a more flexible and responsive way, enabling us to react to demand as it evolves in the system. We very much want this to happen in areas such as the north-east, and the local enterprise partnerships and local authorities will have an important role to play in ensuring that we take a joined-up approach to this.