Speeches by Greenwood.

“Okay, so the industrial strategy focuses investment on the sectors with the biggest potential for growth and advanced manufacturing, with a focus on automotive and aerospace. That was identified as an area where the UK is globally competitive, absolutely at the cutting edge of innovation, and offers the most sizable op…”

“I know that Nissan, for example, runs a skills bootcamp on electric vehicle component manufacturing. That offers people a direct route into employment at its Sunderland factory. That is perhaps an example of a way in that might not be a formal apprenticeship.”

“Alan, I do not know if you want to say more about the skills bootcamps. They are specifically to skill people up with the sight of a job at the end of it, which is really important so that young people or other people know about the opportunities that are available and can actually see what the industry looks like. Som…”

“Maybe the technological shift that is required in automotive and aerospace is greater than it is in rail. I am guessing a little there. Also, the size of the industries is different.”

“One of the things that we are doing is investing in short courses to increase the agility of the existing workforces. That includes the £100 million engineering skills fund that I have already mentioned, which will address skills shortages among engineering professions, such as across advanced manufacturing, clean ener…”

“Absolutely, Antonia. We do not want to lose those fantastic workers, who actually have a huge amount of experience and knowledge, in the transition to new technologies. We want to be able to take them with us and for them to flourish in that new environment. I previously mentioned that the industrial strategy includes …”

“One of the challenges we face in relation to advanced manufacturing more broadly, and obviously transport manufacturing is a subset of that, is attracting our share of STEM graduates. There are lots of people going to university and studying science and engineering degrees, but they are not necessarily coming into manu…”

“That is a really important point, Alex. It is about getting people into the sector in the first place. We know there are outdated views of manufacturing that somehow it is old-fashioned, or dirty, or involves a lot of manual labour. There are physical jobs involved in it, but there is also a wider range of jobs. We als…”

“Well, what we are wanting is for Skills England to work really closely with stakeholders in the transport manufacturing industry to understand their needs. So far it has found that the skills challenges in transport manufacturing are very similar to those in the wider advanced manufacturing sector and are obviously bei…”

“It is about showcasing that. It is actually not a small thing when we go out and do that because it is about making it more visible, is it not? It is so that people can see, oh, look, people like me work in that sector and it does not look quite like how I thought it might look. That is really important. We are changin…”

“In terms of bus franchising, it is the established mayoral authorities that are progressing most quickly with that. Whether we look at the North East Combined Authority or the West Midlands Combined Authority, they have already built up that capability and have obviously been looking at how they are going to boost thei…”

“Thanks for your question. The challenges that we face in advanced manufacturing, and transport manufacturing in particular, include a lack of clear pathways for older career changers, a need for better career guidance, and flexible entry routes to support a diverse range of entrants. As you have heard in the other pane…”

“You can jump in, Rebecca, all right? I am happy to say something about that. In terms of bus manufacturing, as we have seen, there is a shift as a result of the Bus Services Act 2025, with more of the mayoral combined authorities going down the franchising route and potentially procuring buses themselves, because in th…”

“Actually, Alan can probably tell you a lot about skills improvement plans as well.”

“I hope you will not mind if I just make some very brief opening remarks. Obviously, this inquiry into skills for transport manufacturing comes at a really pivotal moment, in terms of the Government’s ambitions for our advanced manufacturing sector. We really welcome the Committee’s scrutiny and insight at this juncture…”

“I am the Minister for Local Transport.”

“Obviously, we do not want to make it so that people who get their car through the Motability scheme are more restricted than other car drivers. They have a right to have the same choice that other people would have. But absolutely, we want British cars to be the car of choice. We are supporting British manufacturers to…”

“We have spoken quite a lot in this session about how important it is to ensure that we are training and reskilling the existing workforce. Of course, that is going to be a partnership and a collaboration between Government and employers. The industrial strategy includes that major skills boost, that £1.2 billion extra …”

“Yes, that is right. Obviously, much of the skills investment is what is being focused on in the advanced manufacturing sector plan. That is drawing on the evidence that is there. The Government are investing, £1.2 billion in skills every year by 2028-29, with targeted support for things like digital, defence and engine…”

“I was going to say, from your perspective, it probably is a bit of a work in progress because it is a changing landscape and Skills England is relatively new. I have had the skills within my portfolio for only a relatively short time, but it is really important that we are bringing those insights together and building …”