Midlands Engine APPG – Energy Subgroup Tuesday 15 June 2021, 14.00 – 15.00 Attendees: Lord Ravensdale (Crossbench) Subgroup Chair Darren Henry MP, Conservative MP for Broxtowe, APPG Co-Chair Lord Coaker of Gedling, Labour Peer Kate Griffiths MP, Conservative MP for Burton & Uttoxeter Jane Stevenson MP, Conservative MP for Wolverhampton North-East Tom Randall MP, Conservative MP for Gedling Mark Pawsey MP, Conservative MP for Rugby Steve McCabe MP, Labour MP for Birmingham, Selly Oak Arthur Virgo, Office of Rt Hon Philip Dunne, MP Simon Whelband, Office of Jane Stevenson MP Abigail Pearson, Office of Dr Luke Evans MP James Falconbridge, Office of Ruth Edwards MP Edward Davis, Office of Harriet Baldwin, West Worcestershire Guests: Sir John Peace, Chairman Midlands Engine Rachael Greenwood, Midlands Engine Executive Director Paul Forecast, Director, Midlands and East if England - National Trust Rachael Glaving, Head of Generation Strategic & Commercial Development, EDF Energy Charlotte Horrobin, Regional Director - Make UK Observers: Will Morlidge,D2N2 LEP Cllr. Matthew Barney Heather Sarno Richard Bradley, Midlands Connect Secretariat: Gayle Aughton, Midlands Engine Minutes: Introductions - Lord Ravensdale opened the meeting, thanking those in attendance and re -caped on the previous meeting of the Midlands Engine Energy Subgroup held on the on 8 December 2020. Following this session there was good parliamentary engagement, and there is hope for the same around the Green Growth Action Plan. - Lord Ravensdale welcomed the Chairman of the Midlands Engine, Sir John Peace who echoed the statements made by Lord Ravensdale. Stressed that over the coming weeks and months, the opportunity to focus on these issues as a region have never been greater, including the opportunities within the upcoming investment conference. - Lord Ravensdale reported that work has been underway to develop the Midlands Engine Partnership Green Growth Action Plan (since July last year); this process has brought Page 1 of 4 together more than 200 voices from partner organisations from key business leaders, researchers, thought leaders, local government and conversation champions – to set out a shared commitment for shaping a green future for the Midlands and the UK. - Lord Ravensdale thanked the Midlands Engine APPG for their input so far – and outlined opportunity for further input from parliamentarians into this partner led work during and to participate in a consultation on the Green Growth 10 Point Action Plan for the Midlands. The consultation on the plan concludes on the 21 June. - Lord Ravensdale set out the agenda and aims for the meeting. - Lord Ravensdale and Rachael Greenwood took members through a presentation on an overview of the journey to develop the Midlands Engine Green Growth 10-point Action plan so far. Presentation from Rachael Greenwood and Lord Ravensdale - Rachael Greenwood: Introduced the Green Growth Action Plan and the engagement which has been undertaken as a part of this, the engagement work has allowed Midlands Engine to respond to the Government’s own 10-point plan. Stressed that there is a need for Midlands Engine to work with MPs and Lords so that the Midlands Engine has the champions needed to make a difference. - Lord Ravensdale: Outlined what the plan is and how it is grouped into three different sections: Places, Energy and Enablers. Highlighted the key potential impacts of the plan, including nearly 200,000 new green jobs, increased GVA and huge reduction in Midlands CO2 emissions. - Lord Ravensdale: Stressed that MPs have an opportunity to feed back into this consultation until the 21 of June. Comments can also be directed to Lord Ravensdale or Rachael Greenwood directly. - Lord Ravensdale: Ministerial launch is pencilled in for the end of June. And following this there are a number of other events planned which MPs can get involved with in the lead up to COP26. Lord Ravensdale invited guest to present which included – Presentations appended. Speaker 1 – Paul Forecast: Places - The Green Growth Action Plan will help make the Midlands a better place to live and work, because it recognises the key point that helping the environment is also an economic opportunity. - The plan works to reduce emissions by making new houses more environmentally friendly and retrofitting existing housing stock, and it will work with the motor industry to make the transition to electric vehicles. Moreover, by creating high-quality blue-green spaces, in urban areas especially, the plan will help create places where people want to live. - The plan also covers the need to expand and grow existing woodland to off-set CO2 emissions, and to improve biodiversity across the Midlands. Page 2 of 4 Speaker 2 – Rachael Glaving: Energy - Introduced EDF Energy and said there is real alignment between the work of Midlands Engine and the work which is doing. Highlighted three specific examples to illustrate this. - Example 1: Nuclear – EDF Energy is supporting low-carbon nuclear jobs in the Midlands. There are around 5000 people directly employed in the industry in the Midlands and 6000 indirectly employed – many in EDF supply chains. - Example 2: Net Zero development - EDF is seeing their assets related to oil and gas reach the end of their life and is trying to find Net Zero alternatives. EDF is engaging with their two coal power stations in the Midlands and working with local actors to see how these can be repurposed for Net Zero development. - Example 3: Hydrogen – The interest in hydrogen has ballooned in the last 6-12 months and EDF wants to be involved in promoting innovative solutions. They are working to see if existing facilities in the Midlands currently used for gas storage, can be used to store hydrogen, and conducting research on using hydrogen powered trucks for Sizewell C. Speaker 3 - Charlotte Horobin: Enablers - Said there is boundless ambition in the Midlands on the Green and environmental agenda and there is good reason for this. The Midlands has all the resources required to take advantage of their green growth potential. - The first Enabler is Green Innovation. The Midlands need to design, manufacture and sell innovative products which make the world a better place. The region is also working hard on innovative solutions to make supply chains greener. - Green Workforce is the second enabler. Already, 1 in 4 of England’s energy jobs are in the Midlands. But what is needed now, is to lay the foundations to support and grow this workforce right through from apprenticeships to PhDs. The region will focus on building green skills at all levels and making sure that a green workforce is inclusive and fair. - The third enabler is Green Finance. There is already growing interest from the finance sector, so what is needed is the development of investment programmes which will deliver the green infrastructure, buildings and transport that is Midlands need. Lord Ravensdale thanked the guest for their presentation and invited members of the APPG to ask question. Questions: Q: Darren Henry - Reiterated the point about skills, saying this is also part of the Levelling Up agenda. The Midlands need the workforce to really play a role in the green transition. - Charlotte Horobin: Training and education is more important than ever, and employers and influences all have a role in driving the change towards life-long learning. Q: Steven McCabe – Asked about the relationship between Midlands Engine and the energy accelerator research programmes at Midlands universities. Asked what will happen on skills between now and 2025? - Rachael Glaving: EDF has a really good relationship with the energy research accelerators and is involved in two specific research projects. Page 3 of 4 - There is a huge amount of specialist knowledge and expertise in the UK research centres, but there is also a need to build on these skills and grow the workforce, so that the specialist skills base is not lost. - Charlotte Horobin: Skills is a consistent issue which merits a lot of focus. Make UK are calling for a review of the apprenticeship levy – to make it reflective of the true cost of training engineers and other technical roles. Says that more funding and investment is also needed for technical training providers. Q: Mark Pawsey – Said that the move to renewables has not benefitted my constituency of Rugby. How can we make certain that we are taking advantage of the opportunities in the Midlands, and making sure that no place is left behind? Specifically, opportunities around automotive industry and the development of a giga-factory? - Charlotte Horobin: Huge potential in the Midlands and many opportunities to take advantage of. There is a need to build and create green infrastructure to meet the Government’s 2030 and 2050 ambitions. Make UK wants to ensure that developing this infrastructure creates jobs. Multiple giga-factories are needed in the UK and very good case for them to be in the Midlands. - Rachel Glaving: The 10-Point Plan creates much better opportunities for investment in various communities, as it gives investors certainty about where the country is headed and what government support will be forthcoming. Plans for future parliamentary activity - Steve McCabe – A Westminster Hall debate should be held. But the Action Plan needs to be clearer about specific asks to government which can be brought up in the debate. - Sir John Peace – There is an upcoming investment conference in October in Windsor, and Sir John would like to work with MPs to shape both this, and the Midlands-specific investment conference which will be held next year. Sir John will approach MPs to formulate plans for this. - Lord Ravensdale - Following the launch of the report, there is a need for targeted questions in both the House of Commons and House of Lords. - Darren Henry – Regarding a Westminster Hall debate, this should also make a point of focusing on SMEs in the Midlands and the support they need to participate in the green transition.