In the meantime, however, today’s (11 June) Spending Review announcement had more than enough news to tide people over. The statement, given in the House of Commons by chancellor Rachel Reeves, included promising news such as £1.2bn per year to support over a million young people into training and apprenticeships, and a tentpole announcement of £39bn for a new Affordable Homes Programme.
“It was welcome to hear the chancellor announce additional funding for training and upskilling our young people,” said IMechE president Matt Garside.
“Building new science facilities, railways and homes, alongside meeting net zero commitments, will require a growing pool of people with the right skills. This is why we have previously called on the government to work with industry on a National Engineering and Technology Workforce Strategy.
“Overall, this Spending Review shows the government is putting their trust in engineers to design, develop and build a better future and a stronger economy for the UK.”
Here are three of the other key points for engineering.
Funding for big – and small – nuclear
“Energy security is national security,” Reeves said, after criticising the previous government’s record on nuclear, renewables and gas storage facilities. “And so because it is the right choice for bills, the right choice for jobs and the right choice for growth, this government is investing in the biggest rollout of nuclear power for half a century.”
That rollout includes long-awaited funding for Sizewell C, with £14.2bn allocated to build the nuclear power station in Suffolk. The facility will generate enough electricity to power six million homes, the chancellor said, supporting more than 10,000 jobs – including 1,500 apprenticeships – in the process.
The large-scale power plant was not the only beneficiary of the review – Reeves also announced investment of over £2.5bn in a new small modular reactor (SMR) programme, with Rolls-Royce picked as the preferred partner. “This investment is just one step towards our ambition for a full fleet of small modular reactors, as well as providing a route for private sector-led advanced modular reactor projects to be deployed across the UK,” the chancellor said.
The same amount was also announced for nuclear fusion, including for the Step (Spherical Tokamak for Energy Production) fusion plant in Nottinghamshire.
The investments in nuclear, which were trailled by the government earlier in the week, were welcomed by industry bodies. “The funding for Sizewell C will drive the delivery of large-scale clean energy, while investment in SMRs positions the UK as a global leader in innovative nuclear technology,” said the Nuclear Institute professional membership body.
“The government is also right to recognise that pace of delivery matters. We are at a critical moment. The backdrop of global political challenges and the impacts of climate change mean nuclear power has never been more vital…
“Beyond this, the nuclear sector is a huge contributor to the UK economy, supporting around 87,000 jobs, with up to 40,000 net new entrants needed by 2030 to keep pace with the growth of the sector. There is a severe skills shortage of nuclear workers in the UK. This investment needs to help address that skills gap and futureproof the sector.”
Backing for Sizewell C is a “momentous announcement,” said GMB union regional secretary Warren Kenny. “Nuclear power is essential for clean, affordable, and reliable energy – without new nuclear, there can be no net zero. Sizewell C will provide thousands of good, skilled, unionised jobs, and we look forward to working closely with the government and Sizewell C to help secure a greener future for this country’s energy sector.”
City regions welcome transport funding– but ‘disappointment’ in London
Last week, Reeves and transport secretary Heidi Alexander kicked off Spending Review announcements with £15.6bn of funding for local transport projects in England’s ‘city regions’, including South Yorkshire, the North East, the East Midlands and Tees Valley. The investment will fund projects including Metro extensions in Birmingham, Tyne and Wear, and Stockport, and the West Yorkshire Mass Transit system.
The chancellor followed that announcement today with £3.5bn for the Transpennine Route Upgrade, aimed at reducing the journey time for commuters travelling between Manchester and Leeds by a quarter, and a further £2.5bn to continue delivery of East West Rail connecting Oxford and Cambridge.
Other news included £445m for rail infrastructure enhancements in Wales, split between the review and the upcoming Infrastructure Strategy, and funding to progress the next stage of Midlands Rail Hub West, strengthening connections from Birmingham across the West Midlands and other regions.
“The Railway Industry Association welcomes the support chancellor Rachel Reeves announced for UK rail in the Spending Review, and the recognition that the railways are key to delivering economic growth,” said Darren Caplan, the organisation’s chief executive.
“We also welcome the chancellor’s focus on skills and training, as well as her ambition to leverage private investment into transport to help alleviate capacity and connectivity constraints. We look forward to more details on how this will be delivered, when the government’s Infrastructure and Industrial Strategies are published later in June.”
The chancellor also announced a four-year settlement for Transport for London, to “provide certainty and stability for our largest local transport network to plan for the future”.
London mayor Sadiq Khan welcomed the agreement, but said it was “disappointing” that there was no commitment made for new infrastructure. “Projects such as extending the Docklands Light Railway not only deliver economic growth across the country, but also tens of thousands of new affordable homes and jobs for Londoners. Unless the government invests in infrastructure like this in our capital, we will not be able to build the numbers of new affordable homes Londoners need.”
Defence investments
In February, the government announced plans to increase defence spending from 2.3% of GDP to 2.6% by 2027, partly paid for by cutting overseas aid. Reeves restated the move today, with the Spending Review document backing the government’s move to “warfighting readiness” and setting out budget plans for the Defence Investment Plan due later this year.
This will include £15bn for a nuclear warhead programme, supporting over 9,000 jobs; nearly £1bn of new funding for directed energy weapons; over £4bn for autonomous systems, including ‘land drone swarms’; and £6bn for munitions, including at least six new energetics and munitions factories in the UK.
“We will make Britain a defence industrial superpower with the jobs, the skills and the pride that come with it,” Reeves said.
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Content published by Professional Engineering does not necessarily represent the views of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers.