Source · Select Committees · Welsh Affairs Committee
Recommendation 9
9
Paragraph: 44
If the UK Government intends to ensure that jobs will not be lost during the...
Recommendation
If the UK Government intends to ensure that jobs will not be lost during the transition to a greener economy, it needs to work with the business sector and stakeholders including the Welsh Government to develop a comprehensive strategy for upskilling the current workforce, leveraging new opportunities and tackling the barriers, including grid constraints, that currently threaten to undermine the potential gains from the shift to a net-zero economy. As a sign of the UK Government’s commitment to securing progress at the COP26 summit, as well as of its broader net-zero agenda, we call on the UK Government to convene, prior to the COP26 summit this Autumn, a high-level panel of stakeholders to begin work on a reskilling strategy.
Paragraph Reference:
44
Government Response
Acknowledged
HM Government
Acknowledged
The UK government set out in the Ten Point Plan for a green industrial revolution, the importance of supporting levelling up and revitalising our industrial heartlands—and supporting up to 250,000 jobs across the UK by 2030—as we transition to net zero. While some areas are devolved, many of the initiatives and much of the funding announced within the Ten Point Plan will apply in Wales. For example, we will invest up to £1 billion to support the establishment of Carbon Capture, Usage and Storage (CCUS) in at least four industrial clusters, creating ‘SuperPlaces’ in areas such as central and north-eastern Scotland, south Wales, the Humber, Teesside and Merseyside. We are also investing in the UK’s most important asset—our workforce—to ensure that people have the right skills to deliver the low-carbon transition and thrive in the high- value jobs this will create. Last year we launched the Green Jobs Taskforce, which included representatives from business, trade unions and skills providers. The group was asked to look at the following challenges and advise government, industry and the skills sector on how to realise the UK’s ambitions for green jobs: • the skills needed to drive a green recovery from the Covid-19 pandemic; • the skills needed to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050; • how the UK can ensure green jobs are good jobs, and open to all; and • how workers in high carbon-sectors can be supported to transition to the new green economy. The Taskforce engaged with a wide range of industry stakeholders, and officials from the secretariat met with Welsh Government Officials. The Taskforce published its independent