Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of establishing a new network of national centres of excellence in low carbon skills at further education colleges.

The Skills for Jobs white paper sets out several reforms that will support people to get the skills our economy needs throughout their lives, wherever they live in the country. This will include emerging skills needed for future productivity, such as in green jobs and zero carbon skills.

Our reforms include the introduction of employer-led Local Skills Improvement Plans, which will identify local priorities for change. Further education (FE) colleges will have a key part to play in ensuring employers have the skills they need to build jobs and industries of the future. We expect local plans to be informed by national priorities such as a green industrial revolution.

We are also investing up to £290 million to establish a comprehensive network of Institutes of Technology (IOTs), with every area of the country having access to one once the network is complete. IOTs will be the pinnacle of technical training, with unique collaborations between FE colleges, universities and businesses offering higher technical education and training (mainly at levels 4 and 5) and helping to develop low carbon skills in key sectors such as construction and engineering. IOTs, with their funding to invest in state of the art equipment and facilities, and employers in the driving seat, will give businesses the skilled workforce they need to drive growth and get more people into rewarding jobs.

The Green Jobs Taskforce, launched last November, has aims to help the UK build back greener and deliver the skilled workforce needed to reach net zero emissions by 2050. This is a joint initiative between the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and the Department for Education. With help from the taskforce, we will ensure that our existing skills programmes can be directed to support the net zero agenda and help to identify where the evidence tells us we might need to go further or faster.

The Institute for Apprenticeships and Technical Education has convened a Green Apprenticeships Advisory Panel to guide the continued alignment of apprenticeships with net zero and wider sustainability objectives. It aims to help identify which apprenticeships directly support the green agenda and which may need to be refocused. The panel will also crucially identify where there are potential opportunities to create new green apprenticeships and identify employers to help take this work forward.