Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:

To ask His Majesty's Government what assessment they have made of the adequacy of current apprenticeship standards in meeting the UK’s future workforce needs in the digital and green industries.

One of Skills England’s priorities is co-creating and refining a set of education and training products with employers and other partners, including occupational standards, apprenticeships and technical qualifications. Skills England is working with employers and other experts as well as analysing data to ensure apprenticeships and technical qualifications meet the needs of the current and future workforce.

Apprenticeships and technical education in the digital route play a crucial role in developing the next generation of skilled tech professionals, equipping them with the technical expertise and practical experience needed to thrive in a rapidly evolving industry.

Skills England have approved 34 digital apprenticeship standards representing a range of technical roles (e.g. digital support, network and telecoms, cyber, software design and development, data and AI) and unlike most occupations, they underpin a range of industries and employment sectors.

Skills England also has regular meetings with other government departments including DESNZ and DWP to ensure technical education supports Industrial Strategy priority sectors such as Digital and Clean Energy in order to drive growth.

The government’s Clean Energy Superpower mission includes challenging targets to provide lower cost, clean, secure power, with good jobs. The government published a Clean Energy Industries Sector Plan in June and a Clean Energy Jobs Plan in October. These documents set out how the government will contribute to the skills pipeline by making sure skills gaps in green industries are filled through a package of recruitment and training.