Yesterday we saw the Chancellor Jeremy Hunt set out his plans to stabilise and grow the economy, while setting up a pathway for investment in crucial net zero technologies.
Perhaps the biggest headlines on the technology front are the commitments to support essential carbon capture and storage investment across the UK and the further development of nuclear energy. These are welcome and essential strategic moves that the UK needs to now accelerate at pace. With the support set out in the US Inflation Reduction Act likely to be matched by the European Union, the UK has to run hard to keep pace and maximise the economic opportunity that net zero presents us.
I hope that the announcements are soon followed up with some certainty on the Industrial Cluster projects – these are areas with a number of industrial sites which are fundamental both to our economy and to the UK meeting our net zero goals. Last week, I was in Parliament talking about the Solent Cluster project in which SGN is a partner. Across the UK, some great cluster projects have been developed, and we know what we need to do. It’s essential now that government provide the certainty and investment signals soon for us to move the clusters forward and bring them to life. They will set us on the track to net zero and be incredibly powerful economic tools for the regions they represent. They will also help secure and grow thousands of jobs.
Workforce of the future
An essential ingredient for the delivery of net zero will be ensuring we have the right skills in our workforce. We have some brilliant engineers in the UK and strong ambitions to get to net zero. However, as the Chancellor set out, there are challenges at all levels of the workforce which need to be addressed. The announcements on early years funding should get people back into work while for those at the other end of their careers, incentives to encourage the over-50s to return are important. As well as financial incentives, the 8,000 skills bootcamp places and 40,000 sector-based work academy placements will hopefully provide the right routes to bring people back into the working economy.
More detail will follow from the Treasury, but I hope some of these programmes are aimed at engineering roles which are required across the net zero economy.
It’s an important focus for us at SGN and this year, we will offer almost 200 apprenticeship and training scheme opportunities for people from all backgrounds in Scotland and southern England. We believe that apprentices are vital to our future, ensuring we play an essential role in serving our communities by keeping six million customers safe and warm.
Finally, we should recognise that extending the energy price guarantee will be welcomed by millions of families. We, the energy sector, are here to deliver for customers and right now we know we need to work hard to give them the service they need at a price that is fair and that they can afford.
