Weekly Events Blog: 23 April | IPT

Igniting Talent: Closing the Nuclear Skills Gap

On Tuesday 23 April 2024 the Industry and Parliament Trust (IPT) hosted a breakfast meeting for parliamentarians and industry representatives on ‘Igniting Talent: Closing the Nuclear Skills Gap’. This discussion was chaired by Baroness Bloomfield of Hinton Waldrist, with guest speakers Greg Willetts, Vice President Technology, Consulting & Innovation, Jacobs and Professor Colin Boxall, The Lloyd's Register Foundation Chair in Nuclear Engineering and Decommissioning, Lancaster University. The event discussed securing the future workforce of the nuclear sector.

Key discussion points:

  • There is a need to train people on a larger scale to meet the workforce shortage in nuclear skills.
  • It would be worthwhile to slim down training to make it more efficient, in a way that doesn’t compromise health and safety and content knowledge to allow more people to be working on site.
  • It would be beneficial to visit primary schools to engage children in the nuclear sector at a young age and be more open and transparent, offer tours of sites to engage and excite people.
  • Organisations with too many applicants for roles should consider helping the unsuccessful people into the nuclear industry by placing them in their supply chains.
  • Apprenticeships in the industry are very location dependent and rely on local people to fill the vacancies, offering a higher wage or student loan type offering for apprentices would enable talent from across the UK to discover nuclear.

The Future of Access to Cash

On Tuesday 23 April 2024 the Industry and Parliament Trust (IPT) hosted a dinner event for parliamentarians and industry representatives on ‘The Future of Access to Cash’. This discussion was chaired by Anne Marie Morris MP, Member, Treasury Select Committee, with guest speakers John Howells, Chief Executive, LINK and Eric Leenders, Managing Director of Personal Finance, UK Finance.

Key discussion points:

  • Cash is in decline but is still a lifeline for the poor and vulnerable. These groups also rely on access to other banking and face to face services.
  • Banking hubs are being rolled out to fill the gap of closing branches. These can also be used as a vehicle to provide digital education to the local community but are not being rolled out fast enough in some areas and opening hours are limited.
  • The Post Office plays an important role in providing banking services to local communities. Banking services are now also key to the viability of the Post Office.
  • The pace of digitalisation will vary across the country. Rural communities are often left behind and a lack of digital infrastructure and skills makes access to cash essential. 
  • There is a clear trend towards digitalisation. There is a shared responsibility of banks, tech companies and other players to provide the funding and support to consumers for that transition.