Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, pursuant to the Answer of 30 October 2017 to Question 109395, what steps the Nuclear Sills Strategy Group is taking to make it easier to attract qualified and experienced people from other sectors into the nuclear industry.

The Nuclear Skills Strategy Group (NSSG) published its strategic plan on 1 December 2016 and a key theme identified focuses on “Meeting the Demand” to ensure the sector has access to the skills it needs. One of the strategic actions is to simplify the entry process by reviewing perceived barriers to entry to the sector, including security clearance processes, assumptions around the time to achieve competence and the requirement for intensive induction training before joining. This work is being led by the National Skills Academy for Nuclear (NSAN), on behalf of the NSSG, and builds on NSAN’s existing expertise, such as their Triple Bar suite which aims to streamline the process to work on a nuclear site. The NSSG envisage that simplifying the process of entering the nuclear industry will make it more attractive for qualified and experienced people from other sectors.