Job Creation: Industrial Communities

The Government have two key missions: to become an energy superpower, and to grow the economy. Great British Energy will help us deliver on both those missions. The Under-Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, my hon. Friend the Member for Rutherglen (Michael Shanks), will be taking the Great British Energy Bill through Committee today, and I am excited for the job creation potential in our industrial communities. From engineers to welders, and from electricians to project managers, Great British Energy will be powered by people across all the nations and regions of this great country.

I welcome the Minister’s response and last week’s fantastic announcement about track 1 carbon capture investment in Teesside. Teesside has extraordinary potential for green jobs, whether in sustainable aviation fuel with Alfanar or in carbon capture, hydrogen and so much else. Does the Minister agree that only with Labour’s plan for clean power by 2030, Great British Energy and our national wealth fund can we create well-paid long-term jobs in the industries of the future?

I agree with my hon. Friend, and I thank him for his support. I doubt anybody would disagree with him on the benefits of our announcements on carbon capture and storage, which will create 4,000 jobs in the short term, with carbon capture more broadly creating up to 50,000 jobs over the next decade or so. [Interruption.] The Opposition Front Benchers chuckle, but I wonder whether, instead of dismissing that number of jobs, they might welcome them alongside Government Members. Alongside carbon capture, Great British Energy, our national wealth fund and our British jobs bonus, we are putting in place the levers to encourage growth across our country, and the Climate Change Committee estimates that up to 725,000 net new jobs could be created in low-carbon sectors by 2030.

Does the Minister agree that GB Energy is a fantastic opportunity for Wolverhampton North East to capitalise on the opportunities for research and start-ups on our forthcoming green innovation corridor and to put Wolverhampton North East back where we belong: at the heart of industrial growth and British industry?

I agree with my hon. Friend: it is a fantastic opportunity. Publicly owned Great British Energy will partner with industry to help us to deliver our mission of clean power by 2030. I have been reading about the green innovation corridor, and I am interested to see what it will deliver. Working in partnership with the private sector, we can rebuild jobs across the west midlands and far beyond.

Does the Minister agree with the head of the GMB union that the Government’s plans to ban new licences for oil and gas will result in exporting jobs and importing virtue?

I agree with the GMB in its warm congratulations for our announcements yesterday to deliver carbon capture and storage across the country. We are of course working closely with our trade union colleagues. It is interesting: in opposition, the Conservatives suddenly quote the unions, when they refused to even meet them in government. We work very closely with the GMB and all our trade unions to ensure that we have a just energy transition and that we are creating the jobs and skills of the future by becoming a clean energy superpower.