Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether his Department has plans to allocate further funding to training and retraining programmes in high carbon sectors.

The government is very aware of the challenges we face in our aim for net zero and is committed to supporting green skills across the country.

The department aims to reform the skills system so that training providers, employers and learners are incentivised and equipped to play their part in delivering the transition to net zero. This is demonstrated in our recent publication of the Net Zero Strategy, published in October 2021.

Building on the Skills for Jobs White Paper, the Net Zero Strategy sets out how our skills reforms will strengthen links between employers and providers, support workers in high carbon sectors with the transition, and help to build a pipeline of future talent.

At the recent Spending Review, we set out investment of £3.8 billion more in further education and skills over the course of the parliament as a whole, to ensure people can access high-quality training and education that leads to good jobs, addresses skills gaps, boosts productivity and supports levelling up. This will support the sector to reform and deliver the technical and skilled education our economy needs. This includes funding for programmes in green sectors crucial to the net zero transition.

Through the National Skills Fund investment, we are delivering skills bootcamps, which are short, flexible courses covering digital, technical, and green skills. Green skills bootcamps are available in areas such as housing retrofit, solar, nuclear energy and vehicle electrification. Several fully funded level 3 qualifications included in the free courses for jobs offer can support learners into green jobs. For example, we have included technical qualifications in engineering and construction.

We have also increased future funding for apprenticeships, where there are a growing number of standards supporting green and low carbon sectors such as the energy supply industry, agriculture and recycling. The department will continue to ensure that the 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.