Source · Select Committees · Energy Security and Net Zero Committee
Recommendation 15
15
Acknowledged
Implement a ten-year horizon for clean energy and retrofit skills initiatives and funding.
Recommendation
Now that the Spending Review has been published, the Government needs to accelerate its adoption of policies relevant to clean energy and retrofit skills. These policies need long timescales to be most effective. The Government should have a ten-year horizon for initiatives and funding which should be revised, and extended, every five years to give confidence to both trainers and the industry. (Recommendation, Paragraph 74)
Government Response Summary
The government agrees with the need for long-term policy certainty, highlights work by Skills England, and references existing plans like the Clean Energy Industries Sector plan without committing to any new specific initiatives or timelines beyond existing plans.
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
The government agrees with this recommendation. Long term policy certainty is a key driver of investment and adoption. Across the economy, industry investment into skills has been falling in recent years with evidence suggesting significant underinvestment into skills compared to our European peers. Skills England is working towards becoming the single, authoritative voice on current and future skills needs. In aligning national and regional skills planning to long-term government growth and opportunity missions, Skills England is building long-term certainty for the skills system. The workforce modelling included within the Jobs Plan is built on the expected deployment of clean energy technologies over the coming years as a result of Spending Review Outcomes and policies included in the Clean Power Action Plan and Clean Energy Industries Sector Plan. We will continue to work with relevant stakeholders to further refine this analysis. We have set out our clean energy public investment plans through the Clean Energy Industries Sector plan which sets out a 10-year strategy through to 2035 to secure domestic supply chains, support jobs, and build a clean energy system through doubling clean energy investment to £30bn per year. The Carbon Budget Growth and Delivery Plan sets out plans through to the end of Carbon Budget 6 in 2037 to achieve intended reductions in greenhouse gas emissions and achieve sustainable growth.