Question to the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, what steps he is taking to increase the number of suitably qualified and experienced personnel (SQEP) in the UK space sector.

The UK Space Agency is working closely with organisations across the sector to understand their varied requirements for SQEP. We are undertaking a nationwide Space Skills Survey to map the current learning landscape and identify gaps in provision of support. A Space Skills Advisory Panel, including expertise from across government, academia and industry, will then prioritise new training opportunities to ensure we can deliver a skilled and enthusiastic workforce for the space sector.

The UKSA has worked with the Space Engineering Trailblazer group to develop a new apprenticeship standard at level 4, and continues to work with industry to finalise the standards for a level 6 apprenticeship in Space Systems Engineering. Work also continues with other Trailblazer Groups to address other space skills issues such as data applications.

The UKSA also continues to raise awareness in the student body of the career opportunities presented by the space sector. This is delivered through country-wide careers engagements as well as through the Space Placements in Industry (SPIN) scheme. This successful scheme provides small grants to enable SMEs in particular to employ university students for short placements within their business, providing both meaningful work experience and developing skills in the interns to improve their employability. This year we received a record number of applications for the programme which was able to proceed with many projects being offered remotely, a threefold increase over previous years.