Item 4 this afternoon is the second statement by the Minister for Economy, net-zero skills strategy, and I call on the Minister, Vaughan Gething, once again. 

Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. I'm pleased to publish the net-zero skills action plan today. The plan is an important first step in understanding the role of skills in making a just transition to net zero. Our net-zero ambitions include a better, fairer and greener future for us all. Skills are a key enabler to deliver on these ambitions, to ensure the transition is fair and that the most vulnerable in society are not unfairly burdened with the costs of change.

The challenge to meet our net-zero commitment is huge, and our future skills needs will require a collaborative approach across the whole economy. In shaping the plan, we have worked cross-Government, with external stakeholders and key partners to gain a picture of the net-zero skills landscape against the eight emission sectors set out in Net Zero Wales. This plan is the start of a journey. We do not pretend to have all the answers yet. The plan prioritises seven key areas and contains 36 actions. It sets out this Government’s commitment to support the just transition to net zero through a more co-ordinated approach.

Understanding the current skills position and future skills needs for each emission sector in Wales is mixed. Some sectors are further ahead in their direction of travel than others, and there is a level of confusion in some sectors on how net zero will impact the future needs of their workforce. As we transition to a net-zero economy, the skills needs will evolve and become clearer. However, in the meantime, uncertainty will mean the picture will not be static and we recognise that further work is needed to understand the changing skills landscape.

So, we'll start by looking at the skills landscape in more granular detail. l'll undertake a public consultation on the sector-specific skills requirements. This will set out our current understanding of the skills position for each sector, what skills are needed in the short, medium and long term, and how to achieve this with continued partnership work. The outcome of the consultation will support the development of a skills road map for each emission sector, which will support the development and investment of skills in the future. 

Our engagement with stakeholders has suggested that there is a level of confusion and a lack of understanding amongst some businesses, employees and school leavers about what is meant by green or net-zero jobs and the skills required. We need to build a shared understanding of net-zero skills across Wales. We have, to date, interpreted net-zero skills broadly as the skills needed to support each sector on their path to net zero across the whole economy. As a result, all jobs have the potential to make a contribution to help meet our net-zero commitment. There is a strong and urgent need to narrow the definition and to gain a common understanding of the jobs and skills required with a clear flow of information between Government, public and private sectors and employees on the skills needed. We will use the outcome of the Office for National Statistics’ consultation and their upcoming definition of a 'green job' to help inform the definition for Wales.

We need to grow a skilled and diverse workforce and create quality jobs to meet our net-zero commitments in what is a rapidly changing economy. The skills challenges of our workforce are very real now. We need to respond to the growing demand from different sectors for more people to have net-zero skills. Without taking further actions our own net-zero commitments will not be achieved. Supporting people to upskill in existing sectors and to use their existing skills and qualifications will be key to help transition within sectors.

That is why we have invested an additional £10 million in personal learning accounts this year to help upskill employed individuals to help meet our skills gaps, to help secure their own futures. Within this, an extra £1.5 million has been allocated to the green personal learning account pilot that I launched in October. This will provide a total investment of £3.5 million this year to directly support skills in the construction, energy, manufacturing and engineering sectors. 

However, it is clear that we are not starting from scratch. There are many successes across Wales, some of which are contained within the plan as examples. These show the positive impacts and benefits that can be made by delivering change and investing in skills. Working with industry bodies and key partners, we will continue to explore opportunities for new and innovative approaches to grow our future workforce.

We recognise that we need to strengthen the skills system to meet the rapidly growing skills demand from across all sectors. Collaboration between further and higher education, apprenticeships, wider learning provision, trade unions and industry will help us provide the right offer and progression for learners in a more co-ordinated way.

As we know, apprenticeships raise skills levels, help to drive greater productivity, and create more resilient communities. We are exploring options on how the apprenticeship frameworks can further meet our net-zero commitments, but building on these strong foundations, we will look to strengthen the offer of short courses to supplement and enhance net-zero skills for young apprentices in new and emerging technologies and techniques with our personal learning accounts. 

We recognise that we need to promote opportunities for early years and young people to realise their potential. Our children and young people are obviously a key part of the future workforce, and we must motivate, engage and equip them to effectively understand their career opportunities in the changing world of work. The new Curriculum for Wales roll-out is a great opportunity to align our priorities. This plan sets out actions to work with partners to promote engagement to build confidence and knowledge of the world of work.

We know that we can’t tackle the challenge alone, so cross-Government and partnership working will be the cornerstone of our approach. As we move into the implementation phase, we will continue that partnership approach across the whole economy, looking to draw on the strength provided by our social partnership way of working. Delivering a just transition should mean that no-one is left behind, so we would encourage individuals to be part of the conversation, to promote a positive culture that champions fairness and equality in the way that we drive change forward.

Our long-term plan remains to deliver a fairer, stronger, greener Wales for all of us, and invest in the skills to do so. I look forward to working with Members across the Chamber to deliver on this net-zero skills action plan, and of course businesses, trade unions and other partners outside of this Chamber.

Can I thank the Minister for an advance copy of his statement? As you’ll know, we on these benches have been calling for you to bring forward your net-zero skills strategy for many months, so we’re finally glad that it has been published. Because you're quite right: we have a huge job to do if we’re to get to net zero by 2050, and we have many skills that our workforce needs to be able to get us over the line.

It never ceases to surprise me how quickly things that were once rare, such as solar panels on people's roofs, are adopted by people, particularly when energy prices have been so high. The skills shortage just in terms of that doesn't compare to the huge shortage that we're going to have in terms of the wider renewable energy commitments that we've got—to be able to install new wind capacity, both on and offshore, and, of course, to realise our ambitions to ensure that we take advantage of the energy that can be produced by the tides around the coast of Wales too.

Now, clearly, you've mentioned lots of things in your strategy. We certainly welcome the extra investment that's going into people's personal learning accounts. It's important that we promote those with employers because of the benefits that they can bring to their workforce as well as the individuals themselves, who will, hopefully, take advantage of those new resources.

Yet again, you've referred to the new curriculum and the opportunities that that presents. We know that climate change is something that features in that curriculum, and, hopefully, that will energise our young people to look for opportunities and careers in areas that can help address the climate change challenge. But, we need to do so by taking them with us, and one of the things that you haven't mentioned in your statement is careers advice, and the importance of careers advice when people are making choices about the future. I have to say, my own view is that our careers advice, particularly for young people in schools, is pretty appalling; it's not very good and it doesn't always promote the wider opportunities that there are, particularly with apprenticeships. I think that we do need a greater focus on it by the Welsh Government in order to improve that offer and improve the quality of that careers advice.

You've mentioned apprenticeships, obviously, and the role that they can play in addressing the skills gap. It is important to have those industry links, and I know that the Welsh Government has tried to nurture those links, particularly with larger employers. But there are many, many smaller employers that don't always think that they've got the time to be able to develop apprenticeship opportunities within their own workforce—they don't realise the benefits that that can bring. So, I wonder whether you could tell us what you're going to do to reach out to those smaller and medium-sized companies, perhaps where the owners and directors of those businesses are busy rushing around doing all sorts of other things, and the last thing they want on their plate is to have to try and develop an apprenticeship programme, when, actually, it can be pretty straightforward, with the right support and engagement by local further education colleges and others in order to help deliver those programmes.

In addition to that, you've made reference to the need to monitor on an ongoing basis the skills that will be needed, because, of course, there'll be different skills needed in 2040 than we need now, because technologies will move on. So, will this be a document that is refreshed now on a regular basis? Because, clearly, it will need to be looked at fairly regularly, I would hope, in order that we can have a workforce that is fit for the future and meets the aspirations that we all have.

We know that we've already got a skills shortage in some areas. When you try to get hold of contractors to do some of the work at the moment, even on home adaptations for renewables, it can be difficult to get things scheduled in a timely manner. Of course, that then puts additional risk into the system, because people can go to cowboys and others, which then undermines the success of any programmes that we want to see. So, what action are you taking in the shorter term to make sure that there are proper assurance schemes in place, when skills are out there that people can recognise, in the same way that we recognise CORGI plumbers and things like that, so that we can recognise those people who are accredited to deliver some of the work that is going to be done, certainly in the next five or six years, when people are looking for those home adaptations in particular?

Thank you for the questions. I think on your final point, there's a point that goes beyond trading-standards work and is more about public-facing accreditation to give people assurance. If you think about the way that—. On your point about solar panels, when I was genuinely young, growing up, on our house we had two solar panels. It was very, very unusual, yet now there's been a real explosion in the industry and in fitters. One of the things we're doing in the green business loan scheme I was talking about with Vikki Howells earlier is that we're looking at ways to keep more of that money local, and part of our challenge is the number of people who can do the work and are available. There is still something about working with that industry on making sure there is proper quality assurance. So, it is part of what we're looking to do to make sure those skills don't just become more commonplace, as they will need to be, but will then maintain the level of public-facing assurance. So, that is definitely something we are looking at. It goes a bit beyond the statement, but it is an important and obvious next step.

In terms of the horizon we're going to have with the action plans we're going to draw up, of course, Members across the Chamber will know that the regional skills partnerships are on the same footprint as our economic regions, which also map on the same areas as the growth deals that exist as well. So, we already have areas where we work more broadly on the skills that exist. Within this document, we're also going to look at a short, medium and longer term horizon, so we will need to keep on making sure that we have provision that matches need for people, for businesses and for public services.

Part of the challenge is how dynamic the system is and whether we get regular engagement between skills providers, but also the businesses and public services who need them as well. As I move around the country and talk to different people, every now and again, I hear someone saying, 'I'm really unhappy with my local FE college', and other people saying, 'My local FE college is brilliant, we get exactly what we want and have a really good relationship.' Well, some of that is actually about the nature of the engagement and the relationship, and often it's that the two people who are unhappy don't talk to each other, or the college isn't aware there's a business complaining. So, it is about how we get people into a more regular and constructive dialogue, rather than waiting until things have gone wrong or not worked at all for them.

On apprenticeships, we've been running a public-facing campaign for businesses to take up apprentices. I recognise that, for some businesses, they understand what they need to do, they see the value in doing it. Yesterday, I was talking to businesses in my own constituency, one of them was a hospitality business, and they were saying that, actually, in terms of the local college and the apprentices that come out of that, they're scooped up by larger businesses very quickly. So, there's a challenge about supply there. There's a good career to be had, but the challenge is getting enough of them, whereas other much smaller businesses don't know that they exist. It's why we've been looking to not just promote apprenticeships as an opportunity, but we're looking more at shared apprenticeships as well between more than one employer, potentially. It's something that I saw when I was up in Deeside in the not-too-distant past: people who work with more than one employer to get a full, rounded apprenticeship experience. So, we're looking to do more in that area in the future as well.

On your point about careers advice, I think you're being a little unkind, but I do recognise that there is always more for us to do and to understand how the advice that people give—. People of our vintage, as it were, can remember careers advice was pretty rudimentary, and it was often a teacher who said, 'I think you should do this,' or 'Go and look over there and look at a book and decide what you want to do.' Actually, we are much better than that. Our challenge is, and it's partly about budget, it's also, though, about the capacity to give people, I think, really good work experience during their time in school. But it's also, in a number of our growth areas, the opportunity to keep people's minds open to the future, and it really does come back to lots of things that happen in the curriculum, because most people have made choices, often subconsciously, by the time they're 15 and 16. So, doing everything then is too late for too many people. But to understand the skills you need to have different jobs, there's a conversation we're having with my colleague the education Minister, but also with people in different growth sectors, including in these areas of green skills, to make sure that the information that schools get, that young people get, keep their minds open to genuine career choices for the future.

On climate, just finally, my son's eight, and he is a great deal more climate and environmentally conscious than I ever recall being when I was eight years old. So, we're already seeing that young people do have a different view on the world, and the new curriculum, I think, will enhance that. It'll help them to see the world even more as they do already, but I think and I hope, certainly, that will add to what we're trying to do with this skills plan, for people to think about those opportunities to change and recreate the world, and make sure it's there for their children and not just ours.

Thank you for the statement, Minister.

I don't think there's any doubt in the Chamber that the net-zero skills strategy is a step in the right direction. I do think we need to be clear, not just the Government, but us as opposition parties as well, about what we mean when we talk about green skills. That clarity will be all-important, especially when we turn to the FE sector to deliver those skills.

The strategy, as outlined by the Government, will focus, at least in part, on providing training and education to individuals and businesses to support the transition to a low-carbon economy, and there are a number of announcements to welcome in relation to personal learning accounts and the role of short courses. I think it's fair to say that it's not enough to rely on individuals and businesses to make the necessary changes on their own. We only need to look at the current economic and social conditions in Wales, which make it difficult for many individuals and businesses to make the necessary changes. The COVID-19 pandemic, and the subsequent and ongoing cost-of-living crisis, and the impact on supply chains, has had a significant impact on the economy, and many businesses are struggling to survive. I've raised previously with the Minister the need for green energy grants for businesses to invest in onsite renewables. Investing, of course, in sustainable infrastructure and systems can provide new opportunities for growth and employment, but this requires, of course, Government investment and support. 

We heard about the skills shortage from the Conservative spokesperson, and he's right to highlight it. But we must acknowledge, in tackling this, that retention is going to be one of the biggest challenges facing our FE colleges and higher education institutions in the coming years. We can create all of the new places on courses and all the new apprenticeships we want, but if students can't afford to stay on them, then they, ultimately, will fail the Government's objectives. We are talking essentially about large swathes of students from low-income backgrounds being locked out of participating in this new green economy that we always go on about. Keeping low-income students in education is in everyone's interest.

I've talked about EMA, but I think we should also consider the need for a national apprenticeship minimum wage, though, of course, the Welsh Government is restricted, in fairness, in what it can do in relation to this. Previously, the Minister has said that we need to talk about upskilling and education as an investment, and we have rehearsed many a time why that simply won't wash with low-income students, not least because they haven't got the capacity to think that far ahead. But if we stick with that investment narrative for the moment, I'd be keen to understand how the Government will start talking to young people now about some of these jobs that might be available in the new green economy. What is the route map, essentially, available to them? We've heard about careers advice; we can't and shouldn't forget about work experience as well. It's vital that we get this right. 

Finally, Dirprwy Lywydd, and of no surprise to the Minister, I'm sure, I must emphasise the need for the Government to address the issue of job security for those who work in industries that will be impacted by the transition to a low-carbon economy. We cannot expect individuals to make the necessary changes if they fear losing their livelihoods in the process. The Government must work with industries and trade unions to ensure a just transition to a low-carbon economy takes place. This means providing support for those who are impacted by the transition, creating new job opportunities in sustainable industries, and ensuring that everyone who needs to be upskilled will be upskilled. It's welcome to see the Government reflect on this today. We simply cannot repeat the mistakes of previous Governments, most notably Thatcher's Government—the effects of her decisions and lack of transition we still feel today. 

The point about the just transition is something that, as I say, is very much in Ministers' minds in the choices we make about the opportunity, but also the disruption, that moving to a different way of working in a whole range of sectors offers. I think, on the point about what are green skills, I covered that in my statement. The Office for National Statistics will be, I think, helpful in getting there. We decided not to wait for that work before publishing this statement. We've got work to do on action plans, and we can take account of that as we're moving forward. 

On how we engage young people, there's a range of different ways in which we do that. There's different survey work that we do through schools. There's also work we're doing with the young person's guarantee itself, directly listening to people taking part in it. Actually, that has led to some of the changes we've made in Jobs Growth Wales+. From providers, but also from young people themselves, we've actually introduced some further financial support for people to make sure that we were taking care of, and account of, some of the points about travel, but also being able to eat during the day as well when undertaking some of that work. So, we are listening and looking to be flexible on making sure that our offer makes sense for people so they can complete the opportunities that we're providing. 

I think lots of people do have the capacity to understand that there is a potential improved opportunity for them to learn and to earn at the end of those interventions. Our challenge is practically helping people to get through the course to do so, and I know that that's the perspective that the Member takes. We'll keep on looking at what we can do to be as flexible as possible within the reality of the budget constraints that we have. But our completion record on a range of our skills courses, including apprenticeships, is actually pretty good, and certainly compares better to what takes place across England. What we want to do is to not go backwards, and to still be as successful as possible. I do take on board the Member's point on work experience, which we talked about earlier today—the value of high-quality work experience and what that does.

I'll finish on this point in relation to the Member's questions about energy bills and the reality. Again, for individuals as consumers, but for businesses as well, there are real challenges and questions to be raised, and I do hope that the UK Government takes the opportunity in the budget in two weeks' time to do something. The energy Secretary was today saying he could understand that there's a choice to be made, and understands the case being made. Without that, though, a number of the businesses that we want to see survive into the future won't survive the next quarter of activity. There's a real challenge and a real opportunity for the UK Government to do the right thing, and, I think, gain some recognition from people across this Chamber and otherwise. If not, we'll be back here in three or four months' time, talking about, in every region and every constituency, the loss of jobs that should have had a future but have actually not been able to survive because of yet another increase in their energy bills, and the costs for their customers and consumers as well.

First of all, I'm having difficulty finding this new plan that's been published today on the internet. It would be great to know whether it has actually been made available to us all, because I'm very keen to understand which are the seven key areas and the 36 actions.

Following up on the points that you've just made to Luke Fletcher, we can hope that the UK Government will do the right thing about energy bills, but, really, the sustainable short-term solution has to be improving the energy efficiency of our homes. Britain has the most leaky homes in the whole of Europe, and energy bills are really a struggle for about a third of all our households. We know it's the biggest source of indebtedness. No. 1 must be reducing the amount of energy that people have to buy in order to keep their home warm.

I just wondered, within these key areas and targets, how are you planning to upskill the construction industry workforce so that we have the technical and precision skills to massively reduce the cost of heating Welsh homes? As identified by Darren Millar, there's a lot of interest in putting solar panels on people's roofs, but not very many people who know how to do it, particularly those who like to put new tiles on roofs—they're not saying, 'Oh, and by the way, you should put a solar panel on as well'. We really do need to accelerate the process of ensuring that far more people know how to do this, in order to reduce our carbon emissions, as well as the debt, which is going to foreign companies outside Wales.

On the starting point, the strategy has been published, it's available on the Welsh Government website. And it's not just the actions; I think the Member would find some interest in the eight emission sectors, because one of them is residential buildings. We're looking at what happens already as an emissions sector, as well as opportunities to make sure that fewer emissions actually take place in the construction, but then in the operation of residential buildings. On your point about energy-efficient homes, my point is that we need support now for costs that people pay now—and I know that the Member will have people who are really struggling in her own constituency, as indeed will we all—as well as investing in efficiency. That's both retrofitting homes that exist already—and I look at my own constituency; there are large parts of my constituency with very old housing stock, where there's a challenge about how you retrofit—but it's also then about the new homes that we expect to be creating. On your point about solar panelling, where people have got those skills, they're very busy, because there's real demand out there. The challenge is how we can do more in that area that will help both the new homes and also retrofitting a range of other homes as well. There are real opportunities to keep that money locally as well. One of the things that we're looking to do in the green business loan scheme that I referenced is to try to make sure that we can direct people to support to help improve the energy efficiency of their business and to keep that money as locally as possible. Most businesses in Wales are keen to be able to do both of those things. So, I do have a level of optimism, as well as understanding the real imperative I know the Member regularly brings to this debate about the need to do this and the economic return in doing so, and what it will do in dealing with the climate and nature emergencies we also have as well. 

Thank you, Minister, for bringing forward today's statement on the Welsh Government's net-zero skills strategy and the action plan as well. Minister, you'll be glad to hear that, last week, I had the pleasure of attending Growth Track 360's Westminster parliamentary reception, joined there also by a number of MSs, MPs, council leaders and members of the Lords as well, from across parties. During this event it was great to see highlighted the fantastic cross-border work and collaboration opportunities through organisations such as the Mersey Dee Alliance and the work of our local councils in north Wales, who are working with businesses, as you know, to help enable a net-zero economy in north Wales. Of course, all of this comes along with thousands of well-paid green jobs, which further support and enhance north Wales's economy, all of which, though, as I'm sure you agree, need those right skills to enable these jobs to happen and for the ambitions of Growth Track 360 and the Mersey Dee Alliance to come to fruition, otherwise we risk all these great ideas just becoming an academic exercise. So, Minister, how will you use this skills strategy and the action plan within it to ensure that current growth deals and future economic opportunities are fully realised? And how will you ensure this strategy is properly futureproofed for the ambitions of organisation like the Mersey Dee Alliance and for projects like Growth Track 360? 

It's part of the point about the eight emissions sectors and the action plans for each one of them, making sure they join up with not just the Net Zero Wales plan, but that we actually have some consistency and understanding within those regional skills partnerships, within the growth deal areas as well, where people are collaborating more effectively, so across north Wales as well as the Mersey Dee Alliance, in seeing the opportunities that exist. This is one of those areas where there is a risk for the future in not being able to transform our economy, in not being able to do that, not just for the climate and nature emergency, but the fact that we will have lost an opportunity economically as well if we don't do so. So, I don't see anything that is inconsistent with our desire to grow the economy in a sustainable way and the imperative to act in a way that reflects on the climate and nature emergency we have, the emission sectors, where we'll be drawing up those individual plans, and, as I said earlier to Darren Millar, the short, medium and long term perspective on what we'll need to do to actually generate the right skills for the different sectors of the economy as well as reducing emissions in those eight key sectors. I'm sure the Member will enjoy going through all 36 action areas, and to look to come back in the short, medium and longer term to see how much progress we have made. 

And finally, Samuel Kurtz. 

Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd. I thank the Minister for his statement on the net-zero skills strategy. Prior to the statement, I took the time to read through the 'Stronger, fairer, greener Wales: a plan for employability and skills' action plan and the annexe, 'Skills emission sector overview and cross-cutting themes'. I was disappointed to find no mention of Pembrokeshire or Pembrokeshire College, only one mention of Coleg Sir Gâr, and no mention of floating offshore wind. I won't read too much into this at this stage, depending on the Minister's answer to this question, as he'll know that I'm a big advocate for both my constituency and floating offshore wind, but to get the benefits for these communities that I represent we need the whole supply chain there. So, given that there are no mentions of these are there, what guarantees can you give to my constituents that your net-zero skills strategy, in aiming to get net zero by 2050, ensures those supply chains will be as local as possible? Diolch, Dirprwy Lywydd.    

That's a key objective to what we're looking to do and the opportunities the Member highlights. I've said regularly in this Chamber I don't just want to see a decarbonisation of the way that power is produced; I want to see the economic opportunities as locally as possible. I don't want to see those opportunities taken up in France and in Spain in the manufacture of the equipment and in the skills that will be needed in very long-term jobs. I want to see that investment take place in the different parts of Wales. Whether it's in south-west Wales or across north Wales we have a real opportunity to generate significant amounts of power and jobs with a long-term future. It's always the way that, when you give examples of what is taking place in different parts of Wales as examples of what's happening, some people say, 'My part of Wales hasn't been mentioned often enough.' I know that, between Sam and Samuel, you regularly talk about the parts of Wales that you currently represent, and I can give you this assurance: in delivering on the ambitions set out within this plan, in setting out the action plans for each of the emission sectors, there could and should be a real benefit to every single constituent in every single region in Wales, and this is part of what we see as a future in genuinely creating a fairer, greener and more prosperous Wales.

Diolch i'r Gweinidog.