Invest in Skills - Public and Private Sector Co-investment

The Energy Strategy and Just Transition Plan has huge skills opportunities and challenges whether that be Heat in Buildings, the Oil and Gas Transition, the huge plans for onshore and offshore wind, the zero carbon transport ambitions and emerging technologies including hydrogen and CCUS.

This requires raising awareness of the opportunities to individuals of all ages to ensure they can make informed choices, We need to ensure the right career and qualification pathways are in place to support both individuals and industry, whether that be inspiring the future workforce, developing entry programmes or upskilling the existing workforce.

What is clear is that colleges will support the majority of these opportunities and there needs to be significant investment in facilities, equipment, staff and curriculum to ensure opportunities are maximised.

I these challenging times there is a need for both the public and private sector to co-invest and to develop joint action plans.

Colleges will have a major role in supporting both the energy Strategy and the Just Transition Plan underpinning this. In challenging financial times there needs to be targeted financial support from the public sector however with extremely tight budgetary constraints the private sector also needs to invest.