Recommendation 14

The Department has created offshore wind, hydrogen, electricity network, and nuclear champions whose role includes identifying potential risks, barriers and bottlenecks to progress and making recommendations for both the Department and other parts of government where issues cross departmental responsibilities. Planning permission and skills in the workforce are two relevant issues.43 The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities is responsible for planning arrangements.44 The Department told us that the planning system is a key enabler, and that 60% of the nationally significant infrastructure projects over the next decade will relate to energy (such as generating infrastructure or networks).45 The Department for Education is responsible for skills in the workforce, particularly at the entry level.46 In written evidence received from the Local Government Association, it told us that across England, by 2050, there could be 1.18 million jobs in low-carbon sectors; but that the workforce currently lacks the right skills to meet this future demand and the short-term funding landscape does not provide the certainty for businesses and education providers to invest in the training and skills required to decarbonise energy.47