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

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to ensure the training of sufficient engineers and technicians to support the UK nuclear industry.

The Government is working with industry and skills bodies to achieve this goal, and Government-backed skills initiatives such as the Apprenticeship Levy and the National College for Nuclear are examples of actions taken to date. The National College for Nuclear aims to train 7,000 people by 2020, with the first intake of students to begin in September 2017.

The Government plans to deliver the majority of skills needed for the sector through national Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) education, including apprenticeships and higher education in combination with organisations’ in-house training and targeted support from accredited skills bodies.