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Press release: Local skills and jobs in nuclear part of Industrial Strategy

The importance of nuclear and the huge benefits to technical education and local jobs for the Bridgwater area were reaffirmed yesterday when Jesse Norman, the new Energy Minister, visited Hinkley Point and Cannington Court training centre, near Bridgwater, Somerset for the first time.

During the visit the Minister toured the Hinkley Point B power station and the construction site for Hinkley Point C.

He also met apprentices and EDF Energy employees at both the Cannington Court training centre, and the Construction Skills and Innovation Centre.

Energy Minister, Jesse Norman said:

The visit to Hinkley Point C construction project has been fascinating.

This project heralds a new era of nuclear power generation in the UK, and coming here has given me a chance to see low-carbon energy driving local and national economic growth, attracting new businesses and creating high-skilled, well-paid jobs.

These are all key goals of our new UK-wide Industrial Strategy.

Hinkley Point C nuclear power station will provide:

  • 25,000 jobs and apprenticeships during construction
  • An estimated 64% of the £18bn cost of construction to go to UK businesses
  • 900 permanent jobs once running; and
  • £40 million a year to the local economy

Humphrey Cadoux-Hudson, EDF Energy’s Nuclear New Build Managing Director, said:

The UK Government has placed its trust in us to deliver Hinkley Point C on time and on budget and this visit is an opportunity to show the Minister the significant progress we have made. We now have more than 1,000 workers on site, carrying out earthworks, building staff accommodation and constructing the jetty which will allow us to bring in many of our supplies by sea.

Hinkley Point C is already achieving some of the aims of the Government’s industrial strategy by creating thousands of jobs and opportunities in the South West and by helping to secure the long-term future of the UK nuclear industry.

The Government is committed to ensuring the country has a secure low carbon energy supply. Hinkley Point C will be a critical part of that, and will inaugurate a new era of UK nuclear power – building on Britain’s strong nuclear legacy.

Currently, the UK has eight nuclear power stations which generate around 20% of power in the UK. Almost all of these existing power stations are due to close by 2030. This underlines why the Government is taking decisions now on how we will ensure we have sufficient and diverse supply fit for future generations.

Hinkley Point C will provide seven per cent of Britain’s electricity needs for sixty years. The Industrial Strategy Green paper released last week included plans for a radical overhaul of technical education to address its historical undervaluation in the UK and provide a credible alternative to the academic route for young people who choose not to go to university.

The strategy sets out plans to enable everyone to develop the skills they need to do the high-paid, higher-skilled jobs of the future.

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HM Government • • •

Latest categorisation figures show school improvement

Published today, the National Categorisation System has been introduced in 2014 to help identify schools in need of support to improve. Schools are placed into one of four colour-coded support categories to demonstrate the level of support they need.

Each school’s category is determined by a range of factors including its performance data and capacity to improve in areas such as leadership and teaching and learning. Local authorities and their regional consortia play a central role in the process which triggers a bespoke package of challenge and support in each school.

Under the system there are four categories – green, yellow, amber and red. Schools in the green category are deemed to be in need of the least support while schools in the red category are those identified as needing the most support.

This year’s results show that there are fewer schools in Wales in need of the highest levels of support when compared to last year. Similarly, there are more schools categorised as needing lower levels of support. In summary:

  • the proportion of green schools – those needing less support – has increased by 5 percentage points in the primary sector and 7 percentage points in the secondary sector.
  • the proportion of red schools – those identified as needing most support – has reduced by 1 percentage point in the primary sector and 2 percentage points in the secondary sector.
  • 41 per cent of special schools have been categorised as green, and needing less support, with only 8 per cent being categorised as red and in need of most support.

Cabinet Secretary for Education Kirsty Williams said:

“This system is not about grading, labelling or creating crude league tables but about providing support and encouraging improvement in our schools. It is about putting schools into a position that helps them to identify areas they can strengthen and what they need to do achieve further improvements.

“The figures we have published today show that 84.4% of primary and 64.6% of secondary schools are now in the green and yellow categories. This increase is to be welcomed, as these schools will have a key role to play in supporting other schools, sharing their skills, expertise, and good practice. In this way they will be making a vital contribution to our national mission of driving forward improvements in Welsh schools and moving us towards a self-improving system.”

The categorisation for all schools is available on the My Local School website (external link) and the Welsh Government education pages.

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Welsh Government • •