Data centres are an enabling industry that supports employment, investment and economic growth across the UK. Data centres have been designated CNI which reflects their importance to the secure operation of digital services relied upon by businesses, public services and households. TechUK estimates that the sector supports 43,500 jobs, contributes £4.7 billion in annual GVA and generates £640 million in tax revenue. Each operational job may support a further 1.4 to 2.5 jobs across the economy.

The Government continues to work with industry to maximise local employment, skills and community benefits from new data centre developments.

The Government is taking forward all recommendations from the Nuclear Regulatory Review and published its Implementation Plan in March 2026. Regulatory reform is intended to support the timely and efficient delivery of nuclear projects, with a more effective regulatory framework helping to provide industry with greater certainty to invest in its workforce to deliver these projects.

Great British Energy – Nuclear (GBE-N) is continuing to drive forward Gwyndod, the UK’s first small modular reactor (SMR) project.

GBE-N and Rolls-Royce SMR entered contract earlier this year and are now undertaking design work to progress the Gwyndod SMR project on Anglesey in North Wales.

The project, which represents the most significant industrial investment in North Wales for a generation, will support up to 3,000 skilled jobs on site at peak construction, with thousands more across the supply chain.

The Health and Safety Executive (HSE) has recently consulted widely on proposed changes to the lead in blood exposure levels in the Control of Lead at Work Regulations (CLAW) 2002. The consultation concluded on 7 June 2026, and included consideration of the impact on different categories of workers including women of reproductive capacity and the operability of any proposed changes.

HSE will continue its analysis and engagement to better understand the impact of the proposed levels in the coming months, prior to making any further recommendations for reform. Since early 2025, HSE has been engaging with a range of businesses especially the heritage sector, which employs a high proportion of women, about possible changes to CLAW to inform this work.

The Government recognises that more can be done on transparency around lobbying and is grateful to the Ethics and Integrity Commission for its thorough work. The Government will present its response to Parliament in due course.

With around one million young people not in education, employment or training, this Government will not leave an entire generation of young people behind. In Scotland, health, skills, careers and employment support are partially devolved to the Scottish Parliament, resulting in a mix of Scottish and UK-wide control. Our officials work closely with those in the Scottish Parliament, sharing best practice on providing employment support to disabled people.

We set out our plan for the Pathways to Work Guarantee in our Pathways to Work Green Paper and we are building towards our guaranteed offer of personalised work, health and skills support for disabled people and those with health conditions on out of work benefits. The guarantee is backed by £1 billion a year of new, additional funding by the end of the decade. We anticipate the guarantee, once fully rolled out, will include: a support conversation to identify next steps, one-to-one caseworker support, periodic engagement, and an offer of specialist long-term work health and skills support. The Scottish Government received consequential funding in the usual way.

Disabled people and people with health conditions can face a wide range of unique, yet intersecting barriers, relating to not just their health, but their employment and circumstance. We therefore have a range of specialist initiatives to support individuals to stay in work and get back into work, including those that join up employment and health systems. Existing measures include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres and Access to Work grants, as well as joining up health and employment support around the individual.

Youth Hubs, Youth Guarantee Gateway, work experience and training, jobs grant are available across Great Britain. This includes the expansion of Youth Hubs to more than 360 areas across Great Britain, and the introduction of a new Youth Guarantee Gateway in Jobcentres, to provide earlier and more intensive support to 16–24-year-olds on Universal Credit. Our investment will create up to 500,000 opportunities to earn and learn including 300,000 additional opportunities to gain workplace experience and training and up to 200,000 additional employment opportunities, through a new £3,000 Youth Jobs Grant for employers hiring 18–24-year-olds who have been on Universal Credit for over six months, and the Jobs Guarantee scheme, providing long-term unemployed 18–24-year-olds with a fully funded six month job. The apprenticeship system is devolved in Scotland.

We recognise the crisis of participation that Alan Milburn has so clearly laid out in his interim report. We will use this interim report to continue to build our reforms and look forward to final recommendations in the Autumn.

We know that work is good for health and wellbeing, so we want everyone to get work and get on in work, whoever they are and wherever they live. Disabled people and people with health conditions are a diverse group so access to the right work and health support, in the right place, at the right time, is key. This Government is committed to giving disabled people and people with health conditions, including people living in Somerset, the confidence that working will not trigger a reassessment and a potential loss of benefits.

We have a range of specialist initiatives to support individuals to stay in work and get back into work. These include support from Work Coaches and Disability Employment Advisers in Jobcentres, Access to Work grants and Connect to Work, as well as initiatives joining up health and employment support around the individual through Employment Advisors in NHS Talking Therapies, and WorkWell.

Through the Health Transformation Programme, we are creating a more joined-up health and employment journey for customers. This includes exploring how people claiming Personal Independence Payment (PIP) can be supported to access a range of services that improve wellbeing, independence and, where appropriate, support them to move closer to or remain in work.

As part of this, we are testing a voluntary support offer for some PIP-only customers. PIP Case Managers can refer eligible customers to a virtual hub (telephone only at present), where support is tailored to their circumstances and focused on addressing barriers to wellbeing and independence. This may include signposting to services such as the National Careers Service, and Citizens Advice, and relevant national and local support services, depending on their circumstances. The support offer is currently being tested in a limited number of areas while we learn what works best for customers.

In Jobcentres around 1,000 (full time equivalent) Pathways to Work Advisers, provide personalised one-to-one support to disabled customers and people with health conditions to help them identify and overcome obstacles which may stop them from moving towards or into work or to access employment and wider skills support, and our employment programmes.

The Timms Review, the first ever full review of PIP, seeks to ensure we have a system that supports disabled people to achieve better health, higher living standards and greater independence, including through employment.

The Review, which is considering how the assessment could ensure people access the right support at the right level, will publish its final recommendations in the autumn.

This Government is transforming the Apprenticeships Levy into a new Growth and Skills Levy in England, backed by £1 billion of additional investment, which will support 50,000 more young people into apprenticeships, give employers greater flexibility to develop the workforce they need, and support the industrial strategy.

The three-year residency requirement forms part of the eligibility criteria for government funded apprenticeships and is consistent with longstanding residency requirements used elsewhere in publicly funded education programmes. The apprenticeship funding rules provide that learners who are temporarily outside the UK for reasons such as employment should be considered ordinarily resident in the UK for the purposes of assessing eligibility for apprenticeship funding on their return. In addition, those aged 16 to 18 may be eligible for apprenticeship funding where they are accompanying a parent who has the right of abode. The Department keeps apprenticeship funding rules under review.

This Government is transforming the Apprenticeships Levy into a new Growth and Skills Levy in England, backed by £1 billion of additional investment, which will support 50,000 more young people into apprenticeships, give employers greater flexibility to develop the workforce they need, and support the industrial strategy.

The three-year residency requirement forms part of the eligibility criteria for government funded apprenticeships and is consistent with longstanding residency requirements used elsewhere in publicly funded education programmes. The apprenticeship funding rules provide that learners who are temporarily outside the UK for reasons such as employment should be considered ordinarily resident in the UK for the purposes of assessing eligibility for apprenticeship funding on their return. In addition, those aged 16 to 18 may be eligible for apprenticeship funding where they are accompanying a parent who has the right of abode. The Department keeps apprenticeship funding rules under review.

The government recognises the importance of aviation apprenticeships in helping employers develop a skilled workforce. Skills England is consulting with stakeholders on the proposal to retire certain occupational standards, often due to low levels of new starts or a range of delivery challenges, including limited provider availability. The potential impact on youth employment and skills development opportunities will form part of the assessment of consultation responses.

As an executive agency sponsored by the Department for Work and Pensions. Skills England reviews standards to ensure that they continue to meet employer need. The current consultation is still live, and no final decision has been taken. Aviation sector stakeholders have been engaged throughout, and we will continue to work closely with them throughout the process.

The government recognises the importance of aviation apprenticeships in helping employers develop a skilled workforce. Skills England is consulting with stakeholders on the proposal to retire certain occupational standards, often due to low levels of new starts or a range of delivery challenges, including limited provider availability. The potential impact on youth employment and skills development opportunities will form part of the assessment of consultation responses.

As an executive agency sponsored by the Department for Work and Pensions. Skills England reviews standards to ensure that they continue to meet employer need. The current consultation is still live, and no final decision has been taken. Aviation sector stakeholders have been engaged throughout, and we will continue to work closely with them throughout the process.

The world in which young people are growing up is changing more rapidly than ever, and we know that human skills will become even more valuable when preparing them to succeed in life and work.

Our refreshed curriculum will deliver high standards for all, making sure that pupils obtain the breadth and depth of knowledge and skills they need to thrive in the future.

They will learn to master the essential technological and digital skills needed for the workplace through a curriculum rich in digital and media literacy.

The government will nurture the next generation of leaders by creating fluent and confident speakers through a greater emphasis on oracy across curriculum subjects.

We will also widen opportunity for all young people and create clear pathways into further study, training and high-quality careers where they live.

Effective workplace support for menopause symptoms is crucial not only for employee wellbeing, but also for ensuring employers can retain valuable skills and experience.

The Government is implementing a variety of initiatives to support employers and employees to manage menopause symptoms in the workplace. This Spring, we launched voluntary action plans for large employers to improve menopause support and address their gender pay gaps. We have published step-by-step guidance, including a list of evidence-informed actions, such as menopause training for managers, transparent, flexible working policies and tailored workplace adjustments.

As part of the plan to Make Work Pay, menopause guidance, including for small employers, has been published on the Advisory, Conciliation and Arbitration Service (ACAS) website, covering practical measures such as uniform adaptations, workplace temperature control and recording menopause-related absence.

Other measures have been introduced under the Employment Rights Act 2025 to build more supportive workplace environments, including improved access to flexible working and enhanced Statutory Sick Pay.

Furthermore, Mariella Frostrup has been appointed as Women’s Employment Ambassador, building on her progress as the Menopause Employment Ambassador, while broadening the remit to address wider health-related workplace barriers facing women.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 10th September is attached.

The information requested falls under the remit of the UK Statistics Authority.

A response to the Hon gentleman’s Parliamentary Question of 10th September is attached.

The department is working closely with employers, providers, awarding organisations and higher education institutions to design high-quality technical and vocational qualifications that reflect workforce needs. These new qualifications will be based on occupational standards, developed by Skills England and co-created by employers, helping to define the content that students need to become competent in their chosen sector.

New V Levels and Foundation Certificates will be aligned with these occupational standards creating clear progression pathways into further study or work-based training, including apprenticeships.

T Levels and Occupational Certificates will be directly aligned to occupational standards and will support greater specialisation. They will enable students to develop the knowledge, skills and behaviours required for skilled employment in their chosen sector, and in the case of T Levels, progression to higher education.

Employers and sector experts are helping to shape nationally set qualification content through ongoing engagement as part of our subject stakeholder groups and responding to our content consultations.