Gwyndod Project

Earl Russell Excerpts

Thursday 29th October 2026 Lords Chamber

[Baroness Curran (Lab)]

That was interesting and challenging, as ever, from the noble Lord. I do not know how well people know this, but I am not really on record as being frightened to upset the Scottish Government—I do not think they would have that view, either.

The noble Lord raises a very serious point. There have been discussions about nuclear power in Scotland. The Green Party had a debate at their conference, and it has resisted it, unfortunately, and the SNP has stood against it. They have missed huge opportunities to contribute to the development of clean energy in Scotland and across the UK. They are also turning their back on huge opportunities for investment and infrastructure development, and the development of skills. Of course, we have high standards of safety and security, overseen by independent regulators, and we have made enormous progress on this. The SNP has been very backward in its attitude, so I will use every opportunity I can to pursue this issue with the SNP Government—and I am not frightened to do so.

[Earl Russell (LD)]

My Lords, on these Benches, we very much welcome the progress that has been made on this important project at Gwyndod. I ask the Minister to give some further information on the skills pipeline needed. We recognise that there is the opportunity of 300 apprenticeships and 3,000 jobs, but what action are the Government taking to ensure that local Welsh residents, including Welsh speakers, are able and empowered to apply for these jobs and that they turn into long-lasting opportunities?

[Baroness Curran (Lab)]

It is really important to make the point, too, that Wales must be part of this. Often, we have seen projects in the past that have not emphasised that connection to the local community, and we must take those opportunities to do that—so I agree with noble Earl’s emphasis on that. Also, as the Chancellor, John Healey, said yesterday, we must make investment work twice, and we need to make sure we do that in the energy department too, so we get a skills bonus as well as a delivery bonus. We agree that it must represent the most significant industrial investment in the region in Wales for a generation. As I have said, it will support 3,000 jobs. There is a nuclear skills plan, focused not simply on growing the nuclear workforce but on creating a strong, sustainable pipeline of skills, and it is something we will keep under close attention.