Peter Aldous officially opened Orwell Housing’s new Prospect House development which will provide affordable housing including 31 much needed flats for social housing.

Peter Aldous said:

“It was a real privilege to be invited to officially open Prospect House. There is an urgent need in both Lowestoft and across the country for more affordable homes to let and Orwell Housing, Wellington Construction and Homes England are to be commended for working together to complete this attractive and well-located development in these challenging times.”

Greg Dodds, Assistant Director of Development and Growth for Orwell Housing Association, said,

“We’re thrilled to offer these flats to the local community. We know that affordable housing is a major issue for many people in Lowestoft, and we’re committed to doing our part to help address this issue. We are grateful for the grant funding support received from Homes England to help make this happen. The development was also constructed largely during the course of the pandemic and unprecedented materials and labour shortages and inflationary challenges for Wellington.  We are therefore very pleased today to celebrate its completion.”

The homes have been developed on brownfield land, which had a previous commercial use. When the business moved elsewhere in the town, it left an empty, redundant site which was identified as a development opportunity by local builders Wellington Construction. The redevelopment of the site provides sustainably located affordable housing in an area with a high level of need. 

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Peter Aldous highlights the great work done by the Beccles lido in promoting outdoor swimming in the Waveney area, but highlights the difficulties facing lidos with high energy costs and long-term fixed-price contracts and calls on the Government to work with lidos to put in place a long-term plan for their future.

Outdoor Swimming

Peter Aldous (Waveney) (Con)

2. Whether she plans to support the uptake of outdoor swimming. (906068)

The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport (Stuart Andrew)

Outdoor swimming represents one of the many ways to stay active. Through the together fund, Sport England has provided over £80,000 for outdoor swimming projects. Swimming and water safety forms a mandatory part of the primary PE national curriculum.

Peter Aldous 

The Beccles lido does great work in promoting outdoor swimming in the Waveney area, but it and other lidos have been particularly hard hit by high energy costs and long-term fixed-price contracts, often arranged by rogue energy brokers. The swimming pool fund is extremely welcome, but I urge my right hon. Friend to work with lidos to put in place a long-term plan for their future.

Stuart Andrew 

My hon. Friend is absolutely right to highlight the importance of swimming pools and lidos. We announced the swimming pool fund to help those that have been particularly struggling with high energy costs. Sport England also plays a vital role in working with local authorities on managing sustainable facilities, and we will shortly publish our new sports strategy, which will set continued commitments in this area.

Hansard

Read Peter's submission to the consultation on proposed ticket office changes at Lowestoft.

Peter Aldous leads a debate calling on the Government to set out a strategic approach to net zero transition with the necessary infrastructure and resources so that the East of England region can realise the full potential of its clean energy sector and seize this opportunity to become a global leader in the transition to a zero-carbon economy.

Peter Aldous (Waveney) (Con)

I beg to move,

That this House has considered renewable energy in the East of England.

It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Mr Twigg. The transition to a zero-carbon economy in which the UK’s energy supply is in future sourced from low-carbon and renewable sources, puts the east of England right in the vanguard of the UK’s energy system. Last year, East Anglia’s renewable and low-carbon energy portfolio powered the equivalent of 32% of UK homes. The Opergy Group of energy advisers estimates that by 2035 that figure could rise to 90%. That dramatic transformation— I do not think it wrong to describe it is a revolution—presents our region with a once in a generation opportunity to drive inward investment, create exciting and enduring careers, and play a major role in delivering the UK’s net zero goals.

With wages in the east of England relatively low compared with those in other regions, and with pockets of deprivation, particularly in coastal areas such as my constituency of Waveney, it is vital that we grasp this opportunity. In many respects, a good start has been made, with energy companies setting up bases in the region, such as ScottishPower Renewables in Hamilton Dock in Lowestoft; new training facilities being provided by East Coast College at the energy skills centre in Lowestoft and at the eastern civil engineering campus in Lound; and EDF partnering with the Suffolk chamber of commerce to ensure that local businesses have every opportunity to be part of the supply chain for the construction of Sizewell C.

Up until now, the process has been developer led, with each developer focused on the delivery of their own individual projects. That is no criticism of them; they have simply been responding to the rules of the game laid down by the Government. That approach, however, is no longer viable. The scale of the planned development is such that a more strategic approach is needed. The Government need to recognise the enormity of the task they are asking the eastern region to perform, and they need to put in place the necessary policies, and provide the necessary resources, so that we can help them to meet their statutory targets.

We need a laser-like focus on delivery, which requires the Government to work in partnership with business, councils, and universities and colleges. Adopting such an approach gives us a good chance of delivering for the east, providing people with the skills to take up the new jobs, giving local businesses the opportunity to be part of strong and vibrant supply chains, and putting in place the necessary infrastructure. Infrastructure, whether in our ports or in the transmission networks that run through our region transporting electricity, hydrogen and water, is critical. If it is inadequate, we will fail in our objectives.

I shall focus on three technologies: offshore wind, nuclear and hydrogen. I shall set out the changes that I believe need to be made to the national energy policy framework, what we need to do to provide the necessary enabling infrastructure, and the investment that is needed in schools and training. Generally, Government energy policy has served the UK well over the past decade in promoting low-carbon energy technologies. In today’s geopolitical environment, however, with other countries—in particular the US and the EU nations—seeking to attract investment from globally footloose investors, the UK’s policy framework needs some adaptation to continue to be attractive. Keith Anderson, the chief executive of ScottishPower, writing in The Sunday Times this weekend, said of the US:

“We can’t possibly hope to outspend them. What we can do is outsmart and outpace them.”

That is the approach that we should have in mind when considering amendments to the Energy Bill.

With regard to nuclear, we are moving very much in the right direction by passing the Nuclear Energy (Financing) Act 2022 last year and creating Great British Nuclear this year. The Sizewell C project is gathering pace, and every effort should be made to fast-track early construction works, to make opportunities for significant local job creation.

In offshore wind, the Energy Act 2013 and the contracts for difference mechanism have served the UK well, and the industry is a major British success story, but the policies now require adaptation. Measures that should be considered include an increase in the contracts for difference budget, which RenewableUK has called for, to reflect increased supply chain costs and higher interest rates. In addition, a permanent investment allowance should be introduced for clean energy generators. Such capital allowances would support the growth of clean energy supply across East Anglia and throughout the UK.

The southern North sea currently hosts 37% of the UK offshore wind portfolio, with over 5 GW of capacity. That is due to expand to 15 GW, taking into account projects that are already in the pipeline, but nothing else is planned for after those projects have been delivered. If nothing is done, investment off the East Anglia coast could fall off a cliff edge after 2032. That is a disincentive to continued investment. To address the problem, the East of England Energy Group, Opergy, Cefas, the Offshore Renewable Energy Catapult and other partners are developing proposals with the Crown Estate that involve innovative proposals for seabed and marine habitat restoration integrated with subsea energy storage, which, importantly, do not require new grid connections. When they come forward, I urge my right hon. Friend the Minister to give them full consideration.

The UK’s hydrogen strategy is still in its early stages and is very much focused on industrial clusters. It must be structured in such a way that it can evolve to kickstart investment across more dispersed regions like East Anglia, where there is enormous potential for the industry and where we have three anchor assets. First, there is the Bacton gas terminal in the constituency of my hon. Friend the Member for North Norfolk (Duncan Baker), which can be a piece of strategic national infrastructure for transporting hydrogen around the UK. Secondly, we have Freeport East at Felixstowe and Harwich, which can play a major role in decarbonising the international freight logistics and transport sectors. Thirdly, there is the region’s primary industry, agriculture, in which hydrogen can serve three purposes: as fuel for tractors and combines; for producing fertiliser; and for heating and air-conditioning in the chicken-rearing units that are found across the region. To enable the hydrogen sector to grow, my sense is that we do need the hydrogen levy, as well as a contracts for difference mechanism for hydrogen.

At the moment, the enabling infrastructure required to support these projects, which in international terms are enormous, is woefully inadequate. The Government need to recognise the role being taken on by the east of England of hosting various power stations in the funding made available and by adopting a strategic approach to the provision of utility networks. To date, the process has been piecemeal, with each development being left to secure its own connections. We now need a much more joined-up discussion on future energy infrastructure. That could involve an independent strategic network architect working with the Government, private sector grid operators and project developers to plan the long- term future grid options and connectivity across all utilities, including electricity, hydrogen, water and digital communications.

The Government are beginning to put in place the jigsaw pieces required to enable such an approach to be pursued, with an amendment to the Energy Bill reforming Ofgem’s remit and the Government’s electricity networks commissioner, Nick Winser, due to publish his report on expediting grid development in the coming weeks. A consultation on community benefits is also under way. National Grid is consulting on the Norwich to Tilbury grid proposals, which would provide 180 km of new pylon infrastructure across Norfolk, Suffolk and Essex. Understandably, there has already been much opposition to the proposals, although National Grid has rightly emphasised that it is very much in listening mode. The detailed design of the proposal is a debate for another day and for those MPs whose constituencies the route runs through to lead. There will also of course be a public inquiry.

That said, I shall lay down some possible guiding parameters. First, it is important that the communities that house such infrastructure get a fair deal. There should be an enhanced package of benefits, and Government should look to overcome the technical obstacles that prevent discount electricity prices from being offered to local communities. Secondly, as well as National Grid, it is important that UK Power Networks, as the local distribution network operator, is included in the discussions. In doing so, we can explore ways of adapting the plans for the national grid so as to help to unlock investment and job creation opportunities in the region, which are currently constrained by inadequate power supplies. Thirdly, in the detailed design of the layout of such routes, it is important that steps are taken to mitigate the impact on high-quality and environmentally sensitive landscapes, undergrounding cables where necessary, and using newer pylon designs, such as the T-pylons being installed in the south-west.

It is important to comment on port infrastructure. Freeport East in Felixstowe and Harwich will play a role on the global trade stage, and ports such as Lowestoft will play a bespoke role in securing the transition to low-carbon energy. Associated British Ports has exciting investment plans for its £25 million Lowestoft Eastern Energy Facility, but to make that commitment, it needs clarity and certainty on future offshore projects. A small ports grant, a reinvigoration of the local enterprise zone or a fiscal measure, such as a revenue guarantee, would help, acting as a catalyst for that development.

Skills should be the topic of a dedicated debate, with another Minister from another Department being beamed down to take the place of my right hon. Friend the Minister. To a certain extent, we had that debate last week with the estimates day debate on further education colleges and lifelong learning, during which colleagues from across the House emphasised the need for a significant increase in revenue funding. The construction and operation of such a wide variety of energy generators presents the east of England with a great opportunity to provide local people with the skills required for the exciting new jobs that are emerging.

Some great initiatives have been put in place by inspirational local leaders, such as Stuart Rimmer, the principal of East Coast College, who has brought together energy colleges and trainers from all around the UK in the national energy skills consortium to share best practice. In addition, the coastal energy internship programme, supported by the Ogden Trust and founded by John Best, has made great strides over the past eight years in enabling students to undertake energy internships during the summer months. Given the volume of future energy and infrastructure projects in the east, we need much greater investment in energy-related skills right across civil, electrical and mechanical engineering. Skills can only be addressed locally, in places such as Lowestoft and Great Yarmouth, but there is a desperate need for much greater national and regional co-ordination and investment funding. Local skills improvement plans will help, but I believe the Department for Education made a major tactical and strategic error in not approving the eastern region’s bid for the Institute of Technology.

In conclusion, the energy transition presents the east of England with a once-in-a-generation opportunity to spread economic growth and prosperity right across the region, reaching areas that have felt overlooked and forgotten for too long. A lot of people are working incredibly hard locally to make the most of the opportunity, but as matters stand, I fear we will not realise its full potential. To do so, we need to pursue a strategic approach. Government must provide the necessary resources and work with local government and business to set up a delivery taskforce. If we do that properly, we can lay down a global exemplar of how to carry out the net zero transition, which will not only benefit East Anglian people, but can be replicated across the UK and around the world.

11.16am

The Minister for Energy Security and Net Zero (Graham Stuart)

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Twigg, and to conclude this debate, which was so brilliantly set off by my hon. Friend the Member for Waveney (Peter Aldous). As you will recognise, Mr Twigg, it is rare to hear, especially in a short debate such as this, such a wide-ranging, deeply thought-through and comprehensive speech as the one that we have just heard from my hon. Friend. His grasp of the key issues in the energy space is remarkable, and it is grounded not only in his constituency, but in the wider region he represents.

My hon. Friend will be aware of the important role of offshore wind, as he highlighted, and other renewables in delivering secure, domestically generated energy, and of the boost they provide for economic growth, although I am sure he will also allow me to set out the Government’s position. The policies set out in the British energy security strategy and endorsed in the “Powering Up Britain” papers, which I announced to the House on 30 March 2023, include bold new commitments to super-charge clean energy and accelerate renewable deployment. My hon. Friend suggests that we have the opportunity to be a global exemplar. Not to diminish the—for the most part—accurate and properly based challenges he set out, but we already are the global exemplar. We have cut our emissions by more than any other major economy on earth since 1990. We took the position—a rather parlous one, when we think about it—just 13 years ago, when less than 7% of our electricity came from renewables. That is now well over 40%. In some senses, we are a victim of our own success, which has created some of the grid pressures that he rightly highlighted.

Turning to coal, I am the co-chairman of the Powering Past Coal Alliance, an international grouping of countries and organisations committed to ending the use of coal in power production. Nearly 40% of our electricity came from coal as recently as 11 years ago, in 2012. Next year that figure will be zero. We are a global exemplar, although I share my hon. Friend’s frustration when he asked whether—despite all the jobs that have been created and our success in leading—we have harnessed all the economic benefit. Have we embedded the industrial capability that we could have for the long term? If I had a mission in this job, apart from delivering and helping to facilitate this extraordinary transformation, it would be to do so in a way that leads to the long-term, high-paid jobs that my hon. Friend is so right to challenge the Government to work towards.

Wind overtook gas as our largest source of electricity during the first three months of this year, delivering more than a third of our entire electricity supply for the first time. I am proud of that. As my hon. Friend has said, the east of England plays an important role in supporting our offshore wind ambitions. Just last year, our contracts for difference scheme allocated support for a further 7 GW of offshore wind capacity, the majority of it located in the North sea and supported through the east of England. Since 2014, we have more than doubled our solar capacity in east England to more than 2 GW, with a further 1 GW of shovel-ready capacity and 2 GW more in planning.

This Government have driven that change. We have introduced the landmark Energy Bill, which is currently passing through the House, which contains measures to accelerate the rate of deployment of offshore wind farms, reduce the time it takes to get planning consent, and reform environmental regulations to streamline processes, while maintaining protection of the marine environment, but doing so in a more strategically joined-up way—a thread running through my hon. Friend’s excellent speech. He may or may not be aware that the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs is running the marine spatial prioritisation programme, which, on a cross-purposes analysis, aims to optimise the use of our seas and manage competing priorities on the seabed. It is, in conjunction with my Department, leading on exactly the kind of strategic overview that my hon. Friend rightly highlighted.

We recently concluded our consultation on making changes to the national policy planning framework in England—again, as part of pulling together a more strategic approach. When designated, local authorities will be better able to respond to the views of their communities when they wish to host onshore wind infrastructure. Offshore wind developers in East Anglia will also be required to consider co-ordination of their infrastructure before submitting a planning application for any new network infrastructure. My hon. Friend rightly highlighted the project-based, linear approach and the need for a more co-ordinated and coherent one. [Interruption.] I am being given further “refreshment”, which is always marvellous.

Where communities such as those in the east of England host this infrastructure, we want to thank and, to be fair to them, also reward them for doing so, as my hon. Friend said. Our consultation on guidance on community benefits for transmission network infrastructure closed a couple of weeks ago, and I hope to be able to share the results later in the year. We have also just closed our consultation on developing partnerships for communities who wish to host new onshore wind infrastructure in return for lower energy bills. My hon. Friend also picked up on that.

Finally, I want to discuss network infrastructure, which, as my hon. Friend said, is an essential component for driving renewable deployment, and we need to build it more quickly. In Great Britain, around four times as much new transmission network will be needed in the next seven years as was built since 1990. The timescales for delivering transmission network infrastructure are currently 12 to 14 years, often far longer than the time taken to deliver the generation being connected—and we all recognise that having wonderful, new, low-cost, brilliantly planned generation is no good if we cannot get the electrons where they need to go. The lack of network capacity is already a challenge, as around 5% of wind generation is currently curtailed, meaning its output is reduced because there is not enough capacity on the network to transport it. This could increase to between 15% and 20% in the mid-2020s, as wind generation increases further.

In order to accelerate the delivery of network infrastructure, we appointed Nick Winser as the electricity networks commissioner, who is tasked with advising on how we can halve the timeline for delivering new electricity transmission infrastructure. His report will be published imminently, and the Government will respond with an action plan later this year. We will also come forward with a connection plan at the more local level, precisely because of the central importance of sorting out our transmission.

Placing all new infrastructure offshore is not a feasible option, as ultimately the electricity needs to get to where the demand is, which is of course onshore. Therefore, even with offshore cables, infrastructure such as substations are required onshore at landing points. To support faster delivery of transmission and better co-ordination, the holistic network design, or HND, developed by the electricity system operator, sets out a blueprint for the connection of groups of offshore wind projects to the grid—again, picking up on my hon. Friend’s central point about the need for a more strategic and coherent approach, informed, as it will be, by high-level spatial strategies.

This is the first time that connections and transmission reinforcements have been considered together for multiple projects, and it is revolutionising the way that we design our network infrastructure. Considering multiple projects together has allowed opportunities to co-ordinate infrastructure while balancing impacts on the environment, communities, cost to consumers and deliverability of the infrastructure.

Of course, as my hon. Friend has said, concerns have consistently been raised about the proposed infrastructure in East Anglia. I would like to reassure the House that the Department is working closely with developers, transmission operators and National Grid ESO to explore voluntary options to minimise infrastructure where possible, while also recognising that timely delivery of projects in the east of England will be key to achieving the 2030 ambition for offshore wind.

In the limited time that I have left, I will try to briefly review some of the points that my hon. Friend made and consider whether I can make any reasonable response to them. He mentioned the revolution, and that is what is going on; indeed, we need to tell the story to the nation about how we are rewiring this country. If people look around even the most beautiful landscapes, they will see things that they usually do not notice because they are just so used to them—major pieces of industrial infrastructure that were required to create the foundations for the wealthy and successful country that we are. Nevertheless, we will need to rewire things. Even with the best will in the world and strategic planning, co-ordination and minimisation of impacts, as well as a real focus on good design principles, there will be impacts, and we need to let people know that delivering net zero will require them.

My hon. Friend touched on the fact that we have been developer-led, project by project, which is very much changing. He also mentioned the focus on delivery, and on skills and jobs. I co-chair the green jobs delivery group, which is the high-level Government and industry body that is looking to get the information from the engineering specialities that he mentioned, so that information can be shared with the Minister for Skills, Apprenticeships and Higher Education, who also sits on that body, to make sure that education programmes are better aligned with and support the kind of revolution that is required.

My hon. Friend also mentioned the CfD budget. When he talks about that, I think he is probably talking more about the administrative strike price, as we call it in our jargon-world. That is the top level that we will pay, whereas the budget is the amount that we will commission. We always keep that price in mind, and obviously we recognise that there are financing costs, supply chain squeezes and inflation. However, those things are very much taken into account when we design these policies. We cannot always get everything right, but the industry always tells us that we have allowed insufficient funds for this type of work and typically predicts, ultimately, rather less generation coming through than actually occurs. However, we are now operating on an annual basis, so that we can better respond to those issues.

My hon. Friend also talked about hydrogen and the role of the east of England in being able to deliver it, not least in Bacton, Felixstowe and the agriculture sector. Like him, I am very excited about hydrogen. If we can properly harness our unique renewable resources and do things correctly in a co-ordinated fashion, we will not only have low-cost electricity, but we will become a leader, certainly in the European context and perhaps globally, in the production of green hydrogen. Of course, we are also blessed—he did not mention this—with 78 gigatonnes of carbon storage; we have the vast share of Europe’s carbon storage potential, and we can host carbon storage for our neighbours, too.

My hon. Friend is quite right to highlight all the opportunities in these sectors, and he is also right to congratulate people such as Stuart Rimmer at East Coast College and John Best for the internships he has supported. He is also correct that not only do the Government need to get the overall frameworks right, but we need to facilitate and support local authorities, communities and individuals to play their part. If we get this work right, we will not only deal with the environmental challenges, but reinforce our industrial strength, and grow and strengthen the prosperity of this country. That process can be led, to a great extent, from the east of England.

Hansard

Peter Aldous calls on the Government to address the housing crisis and build more homes for social rent, and he calls on the Government to ensure planning departments are properly resourced in personnel and funding.
 

Peter Aldous (Waveney) (Con)

20. What steps his Department is taking to support house building. (905874)

The Minister of State, Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (Rachel Maclean)

House building is a priority for this Government. We have announced £10 billion-worth of investment in the housing supply since the start of this Parliament, and ultimately, our interventions are due to unlock over 1 million new homes. We are also investing £11.5 billion in the latest affordable homes programme, to provide tens of thousands of new homes across the country.

Peter Aldous 

To address the housing crisis, we need to be building more homes for social rent, and planning departments must be properly resourced in personnel and funding. Will my hon. Friend set out the steps she is taking to address those two specific issues?

Rachel Maclean 

My hon. Friend speaks with considerable expertise on these matters. We know that many local planning authorities are facing capacity and capability challenges, which is why we have developed a programme of support, working with partners across the planning sector, to put more skills and capacity into planning authorities. Our levelling up White Paper is committed to increasing the supply of social rented homes across the country.

Hansard

Peter Aldous highlights the challenges facing the FE sector; such as the rising number of 16 and 17-year-olds, rising costs, and the workforce crisis and calls on the Government to ensure that the 2023-24 funding rate keeps up with inflation, allow colleges to reclaim VAT and ensure that 50% of the apprenticeship levy is spent on apprentices at levels 2 and 3, below the age of 25.

Peter Aldous (Waveney) (Con)

I congratulate the hon. Member for Wirral West (Margaret Greenwood) and my hon. Friend the Member for Worcester (Mr Walker) on their efforts in securing the debate, and my hon. Friend on his work chairing the Education Committee, in particular for the publication in April of the Committee’s report “The future of post-16 qualifications”, which in many respects is the cornerstone of the compelling case for change to the way that post-16 education is provided in the UK.

Further education in its many forms—whether full-time in college, on day release, in the evening or through an apprenticeship—is the bridge between school and the workplace. It enables people from all backgrounds to realise their full potential and achieve their ambitions. It is also the means through which Great Britain plc can operate as an efficient economy, with increased output, improved profitability for businesses large and small, and high economic growth. Further education is the route to removing what is becoming the 21st century British disease of low productivity. To perform that role, FE and colleges must be fairly funded and their courses properly structured. At present, they are not, although my hon. Friend and his Committee have shown us how to remove the many obstacles they face.

My interest is as an MP serving a coastal constituency where there are exciting opportunities emerging in such sectors as renewable energy, sustainable fishing, and maritime and ports. East Coast College, with its campuses in Lowestoft and Yarmouth, is doing great work in preparing people for those exciting careers. However, despite significant investment by the college and Government in new facilities, such as the Energy Skills Centre in Lowestoft and the Eastern Civil Engineering Construction Campus in Lound, it feels that it is operating with one arm behind its back.

The FE sector is facing significant challenges. The number of 16 and 17-year-olds is rising rapidly as a result of the population boom moving through the education system. Many young people have been severely disadvantaged by covid and the ensuing lost years of learning. Colleges are helping to support them, ensuring that they catch up and assisting them in making the right education decisions and career choices. Colleges and sixth forms, like everyone else, are facing rising costs as a result of rising levels of inflation. There is also, as we have heard, a workforce crisis. Without further investment, there will be no staff to deliver the skills that our economy so desperately needs. It is important to emphasise the vital role that colleges perform in delivering the economy’s future skills needs.

On the East Anglian coast, significant opportunities are emerging in renewable energy, with the transition to a zero-carbon economy. Over half of the nation’s UK offshore wind fleet is anchored off the Suffolk and Norfolk coast. Sizewell C will be one of the largest construction projects in the world. There is enormous potential for retrofitting, for hydrogen and carbon capture, and for the oil and gas infrastructure, both in the southern North sea and running through East Anglia to serve much of the UK.

East Coast College is doing great work in training, upskilling and providing careers advice. The scale of the opportunity is both enormous and exciting, but the college needs the revenue and resources to rise to the challenge. It also faces a similar dilemma in the NHS and social care sector, where it works closely with the James Paget University Hospital at Gorleston and other care providers in the north-east Suffolk and south-east Norfolk area.

The case for investment in colleges and FE is compelling. Despite recent uplifts, FE funding compares unfavourably with both the university and school sectors. That was confirmed by the IFS in its 2022 annual report on education. It highlighted both larger cuts than other areas after 2010 and no extra funding announced in the 2022 autumn statement. At a time when we are rightly promoting lifelong learning, it is concerning that participation in adult education has fallen at all qualification levels, particularly among those who are worse off.

Colleges are facing extreme challenges in the recruitment and retention of staff, which are exacerbated by funding rates rising by less than 3%. Further education colleges are facing their worst staffing crisis for two decades and they are increasingly constrained from delivering much-needed courses as the pay they are able to offer their staff is way below that which they can earn in industry and in schools. Colleges, I am afraid, are losing staff because they cannot match the pay in those other sectors. There is an ever-widening pay gap with those industries where skills shortages are at their worst: construction, engineering, digital and care.

The college workforce crisis is impacting on the Government’s delivery of key policy priorities, including the roll-out of T-levels and higher technical qualifications. This will ultimately result in growing skills gaps, impacting on our nation’s productivity, efforts to address regional inequalities and the transition to a low-carbon economy. This will leave people in poorly paid, insecure work.

At East Coast College for over a year there have been vacancies in the engineering, electrical and science teaching teams, where there is an urgent need for staff and new recruits. This means the college has had to restrict teaching where businesses urgently need staff, such as for plumbing and electrician apprentices. The college has also been unable to recruit civil engineering teachers for T-levels. Those vacancies are putting enormous pressure on existing staff who in turn, as matters stand, will be looking at minimal pay increases, with their wages comparing very poorly, as we have heard, with other similar local sectors. If the situation is not addressed, with more funding provided, the crisis will get even worse, and at a time when the FE sector has such a vital role to play.

I chair the all-party parliamentary group on further education and lifelong learning, whose secretariat is provided by the Association of Colleges. It has a straightforward five-point plan to address the crisis, which my hon. Friend for Worcester set out and which I will re-emphasise. First, the 2023-24 funding rates must be raised in line with inflation, in recognition of the fact that prices are significantly higher than they were when the three-year budgets were set in October 2021. That would cost £400 million and is in line with what many of us campaigned for ahead of the spring Budget. Secondly, as we have heard, there are clear advantages in allowing colleges to reclaim VAT. Thirdly, we need to ensure that 50% of the apprenticeship levy is spent on apprentices at levels 2 and 3, below the age of 25. Fourthly, we need to provide a larger skills fund to support skills in high-priority areas such as low-carbon energy and healthcare, both of which East Coast College has prioritised. Finally, the Department for Education should collate evidence on college pay, similar to that which it provides for the School Teachers’ Review Body.

I look around and see gaps everywhere, not just gaps on these Benches, but alarming gaps in our economic and education systems; gaps that are ever widening—skills gaps, pay gaps, productivity gaps. We must eliminate these gaps as quickly as possible. It is clear from today’s debate that we are united behind, dare I say it, our champion, my right hon. Friend the Minister, in seeking to secure the funding that will be the first step that is needed in this vitally important work, so that Cinderella really can go to the ball.

Hansard

Peter Aldous highlights the success of contracts for difference (CfD) auctions - a government mechanism that helps reduce risk for investors - in developing the offshore wind sector in the UK, and calls for changes to maximise job creation in places such as Lowestoft and to ensure that we adopt a strategic approach to the provision of enabling infrastructure such as ports and the grid.

Peter Aldous (Waveney) (Con)

T8. The contracts for difference auctions have been very successful in kickstarting the British success story that is offshore wind. [Interruption.] However, the mechanism now needs adaptation to maximise job creation in places such as Lowestoft and to ensure that we adopt a strategic approach to the provision of enabling infrastructure such as ports and the grid. I would welcome an update from my right hon. Friend on the Government’s work on this important issue. (905798)

The Minister for Energy Security and Net Zero (Graham Stuart)

I could only just hear my hon. Friend’s question, as the shadow Secretary of State made it quite hard to hear. The Government recently completed a call for evidence on this very subject, looking at the introduction of non-price factors in the contracts for difference scheme so that it values things other than just cost deployment. My hon. Friend, like all Members on the Government Front Bench, wants the maximum number of jobs created and retained in this country.

Hansard

Speaking in a debate on an e-petition calling for an increase in the HMRC Approved Mileage Allowance Payment rate, which has not increased since 2012, Peter Aldous highlights the impact on volunteers and employees using their own vehicles for work-related travel and, particularly, on community transport providers such as BACT who provide essential services to vulnerable people in Waveney.

Peter Aldous (Waveney) (Con)

It is a pleasure to serve with you in the Chair, Mr Sharma. I congratulate my hon. Friend the Member for Carshalton and Wallington (Elliot Colburn) for leading this e-petition debate. Petition 600966 calls for a review of the approved mileage allowance payment rate—the AMAP rate—which, as we have heard, has remained at the same level since 2012. The petitioners are supported in their campaign by the Community Transport Association and by my hon. Friend the Member for Harrow East (Bob Blackman), who has previously called for an urgent review to reflect the soaring cost of living increases.

When previous campaigns have been launched calling for a review of the AMAP rate, the Government have invariably responded by stating that the rate is not mandatory—that employers can set whatever level of mileage reimbursement they want. However, very few set a different rate, due to the tax liability implications for employers and volunteers. The rate is thus a standard to which the vast majority of businesses and charities adhere; it is regarded as best practice and avoids the complications of drivers having to pay income tax.

I acknowledge that the 5p per litre cut to petrol and diesel prices, announced in the 2022 spring statement and extended through to next year, has provided respite and support to drivers, but the current cost of living crisis has brought into clear focus the need for a review. If it is not carried out, I fear that there will be negative knock-on implications for services such as the NHS, social care and public transport, and that ultimately the Treasury will pick up the bill.

Many of my concerns revolve around community transport and the great work that is carried out in north-east Suffolk and south-east Norfolk by BACT, which provides community transport for people for whom other forms of public transport are not easily available. BACT has its own minibuses and wheelchair-accessible vehicles, but a significant proportion of its services are provided by its volunteer drivers using their own vehicles. The failure to review the AMAP rate is imperilling the crucial lifeline services provided by BACT and many other community transport providers.

I shall briefly set out what I believe is a compelling case for a review. First of all, it should be pointed out that the cost of motoring has increased significantly since 2011-12. The petition, as we have heard, highlights that inflation has increased overall prices by over 25% since 2011, and that of fuel by over 20% over the past five years. Since 2011, vehicle maintenance costs have risen by 38% and, as we have heard, the RAC Foundation’s cost of transport index has increased by 41%.

The third sector—that is, the voluntary sector—plays a vital role in local communities. We would not have gotten through covid without volunteers, and we need them even more now to get through the cost of living crisis. Many of those working for charities and organisations like BACT use their own cars, and it is only right that they are fairly recompensed for doing so. Currently they are not, and that disincentivises volunteers to offer their services. Community transport operators like BACT increasingly report challenges with driver recruitment and retention.

In many areas, including Suffolk and Norfolk, community transport operators have become a vital part of the public transport system. They are, in effect, the Heineken of the system—they go where commercial operators and the local transport authority either cannot or will not go—and heavy reliance has been placed on them to provide their services. Without their drivers, a system that I sense already operates on the brink would collapse altogether and many vulnerable people would be left isolated. Community transport operators like BACT provide a vital service to the NHS, driving people to hospital, GP surgeries, vaccination centres and dentists. The latter can be quite a trek, even assuming that an NHS dentist can be found. They also provide non-emergency transport to hospitals, and if they are not around to do that, that will be another cost that the NHS has to bear at a time when it can ill afford to do so.

A product of covid has been a dramatic increase in social isolation and loneliness. During the lockdowns, many vulnerable people were left marooned in their own homes, and it was almost always local volunteers who rallied round to ensure they were not alone and not forgotten. Post lockdown, many people have only tentatively come out of their homes, and for some their only lifeline to the outside world is provided by the volunteers who drive them for their weekly shop, without whom life would be very lonely.

It is important to acknowledge that the service provided by community transport operators like BACT is vital in rural areas, where for many people there is no alternative means of public transport. If the volunteer drivers throw in the towel because they are not being properly recompensed, another group of people will be left stranded, unable to access services that most of us take for granted.

Finally, I come to social care. The Government rightly recognise the importance and the need for an integrated and improved health and social care system that keeps people independent in their own homes. That will need a whole army of dedicated social care workers on the road, invariably in their own vehicles, to visit and support their clients. Unfortunately, they are not well paid, and the last thing they need is a mileage allowance that does not cover the cost of keeping an old vehicle roadworthy. Skimping and saving on the AMAP rate will result in recruitment becoming even more difficult in this vital sector.

The case for a fair, urgent and transparent review of the rate is compelling. I look forward to my hon. Friend the Minister’s reply, but I urge him to take the message back to my right hon. Friend the Chancellor of the Exchequer that he should instigate the review straightaway, with a view to announcing the outcome in the spring Budget.

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Peter Aldous 

That was an interesting point, and I just need to digest what the Minister was saying. I think he was saying that volunteer drivers can claim extra tax relief provided that they can show that they are not making a profit. Does he have any figures showing how many are actually doing that? I suggest that the system is so complicated that very few take it up. It would be far simpler to increase the rate.

The Exchequer Secretary to the Treasury (Gareth Davies)

The point I would make is that volunteer organisations do not need to use AMAPs; all that is required are receipts and evidence of journeys. Volunteer organisations can set literally any rate as long as that evidence is shown. The AMAP is a simplified rate and applies to employees of private organisations and businesses, for example.

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Peter Aldous 

I have listened very carefully to my hon. Friend and I thank him for his response, but would he not agree that, over the past decade, there has been a societal change in the way that community transport has become a vital component of our public transport system, and in the way that health and social care is delivered? Health and care workers often go to people’s homes now, rather than those people coming to hospitals. That in itself warrants a fundamental review of the system.

Gareth Davies 

My hon. Friend was just in the nick of time, but he makes a valid point. I will answer that in two parts. On care providers, the rate paid is a matter for the employer. It is entirely up to them, in the light of changes to how care is provided, to offer a rate that they deem appropriate; as I say, the NHS has offered a higher rate for those travelling fewer than 3,500 miles.

My hon. Friend made a broader point about the importance of community organisations, and mentioned community transportation. Those organisations are a vital part of our communities, particularly in constituencies like mine, in rural parts of the country. That is why this Government have got behind voluntary and community organisations. As I say, we recently announced another £100 million of support to specifically target charities and community organisations. That support will remain, just as it has for many years.

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