Congratulations to the Prime Minister and to Alok Sharma the Business Secretary on their ten point green plan announcement.  Frankly, my great regret on leaving BEIS last February was that the new strategic direction we had just established - for the UK to lead the world in tackling global climate change - had fallen on semi-fallow ground within No 10.  It seemed the interest there was in the environment and conservation, both vital and pressing issues, but not taking account of the massive jobs, growth, exports and levelling up story that can come from building a new green economy.  

Today that fear is shown to be unfounded, and the ringing endorsement from the Prime Minister for technologies such as small modular reactors, carbon capture usage and storage, UK gigafactories to build battery storage capability and green hydrogen as a new fuel, will promote a vast new swathe of jobs up and down the country, and at every skill level.  The green economy could easily surpass the size and breadth of the UK’s financial services sector in years to come - to become the new jewel in our crown offering employment to millions.

To get there, training and re-training is an urgent priority.  The Government’s 10 point green plan and the spending review tomorrow offers a golden opportunity to review the long term funding needed for a green recovery, and for the UK to build a future that creates millions of new jobs benefitting both people and the planet. 

The Chancellor announced his Kick Start Scheme a couple of months ago, offering six months of almost ‘cost free’ labour for employers wanting to take on a young person aged 16-24. The funding for it is described as ‘open ended’ - an extraordinarily generous offer from a Treasury that is trying to find ways to repair our ravaged public sector finances. So why not transform the Kick Start Scheme into a ‘Green Apprenticeship Kick Start Scheme’, where instead of paying employers to take on young people for six months at zero cost to themselves, the taxpayer could instead pick up the first six months apprenticeship wage and costs for a new green apprenticeship, with the employer picking up at least a part of the second six months, and beyond. That way, young people can have a proper job with proper training, businesses can access a new resource cheaply to kick start this green revolution, and the government can start to put words into action.