Lost mining jobs ‘could be replaced’ by nuclear fusion site
INQUIRY WILL LOOK INTO WHY QUALITY OF EMPLOYMENT IN FORMER UK COALFIELDS IS ‘LAGGING BEHIND’
MPS in Nottinghamshire’s former coalfield communities say the construction of the UK’S first nuclear fusion site in the county could replace some of the jobs lost from coal mining.
A national inquiry has launched to consider questions such as whether the job losses from the coal industry have been fully replaced and whether these jobs are adequate in terms of pay and opportunities.
A devolution deal to give more power to Nottinghamshire councils has also been highlighted as something which could improve longterm opportunities for people living in former coalfield areas. Nottinghamshire was home to several pits in areas such as Ashfield, Bassetlaw and Mansfield, but most of them closed in the 90s and early 2000s, with the county’s last working colliery at Thoresby closing in 2015.
Since then, studies have shown people in these former mining areas find it harder to get good jobs than in other areas of the country. A 2019 report by Sheffield Hallam University found the former coalfields have only 55 employee jobs per 100 residents of working age, compared to a national average of 73.
A separate 2021 report by the same university said: “Prior to the pandemic, in much of older industrial Britain it was usually possible to find a job at or close to the national minimum wage, but good jobs with decent terms and conditions and longer-term prospects were always harder to find.
“Beyond the pandemic, this remains the case. In the weeks and months before the pandemic, the UK government made much play of its intention to level up the regions. Indeed, this remains an expectation among voters in the Midlands, North, Scotland and Wales who helped secure the Conservatives’ general election victory in 2019 and among newly-elected MPS from these areas.”
Levelling up was one of the core ambitions of Boris Johnson when he was elected as UK Prime Minister in 2019. But the chair of the All-party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Coalfield Communities, which is launching the new inquiry, says the recovery of former mining areas has been “slow and partial”.
Alex Davies-jones, who represents the Welsh seat of Pontypridd for Labour, said: “There has been a lot of talk but no real action yet on levelling up and the Government needs to be clear on what it means because levelling up is one of those phrases which means nothing but which also means everything.
“Former mining areas are very distinct communities with their own specific needs, but there is too much focus on cities. Rishi Sunak talks a lot about wanting to make the UK the next Silicon Valley, and there is no reason why areas like mine or in Nottinghamshire shouldn’t benefit from that.
“The jobs lost from mining have never, ever been replaced and so areas like mine suffer from what is called a ‘brain drain.’ People leaving school have the option of going to university, which is very expensive, finding local jobs, which just aren’t there, or they have to go elsewhere to find work.”
But Mans- field’s Con- servative MP Ben Bradley says progress on bringing jobs and opportunities to former mining towns like his will take time. Mr Bradley said: “Meaningful change is a generational thing and the biggest impacts will be in skills, job opportunities and infrastructure. “The average time for the delivery of a major piece of infrastructure is seven to nine years so we have to be very conscious of the things that are in the pipeline. We’ve got £150 million across former coalfields in North Nottinghamshire from the towns fund, we’ve got levelling up fund bids in, but we’ve also got a major devolution deal going on. “We’ve also got STEP fusion, which is a 30-year project. [It will provide] thousands of jobs in highly skilled clean energy production and potentially will replace a lot of coalfield-related jobs but we’re not there yet. These are longterm changes. “There’s a huge amount going on that might not necessarily be visible yet, but that’s the really meaningful long-term change. More scrutiny and the more pressure to improve and apply that principle of levelling up is a good thing, but we need to be conscious that big changes and those huge socio-demographic changes in opportunity will take time to deliver.”
STEP Fusion is the project to bring the UK’S first nuclear fusion site to the West Burton A power station, with the multi-billion pound project expected to generate around 10,000 jobs. Construction work is expected to start in the early 2030s, before the site becomes operational around 2040.
The project was also highlighted by Bassetlaw’s Conservative MP Brendan Clarke-smith as something which could improve the prospects for people in former mining areas. Mr Clarke-smith, who is a former member of the Coalfield Communities APPG, said: “Levelling up is a key commitment from this government and former coalfield communities such as Bassetlaw and others in Nottinghamshire are prime examples of how it can be done successfully.
“We already have a globally significant investment at West Burton with the STEP project, which will bring jobs and other opportunities to the area, and I’d love to see us building on this with an Investment Zone to complement it. I’m really positive about what can be achieved and I believe there’s a lot more to look forward to.”
The inquiry’s report is expected to be published next spring, with Alex Davies-jones adding: “The loss of the coal industry removed the economic and social heart of our communities. We want to use this inquiry to make sure that the distinctive needs of our former coalfield communities are properly addressed.”
The loss of the coal industry removed the economic and social heart of our communities
Alex Daviesjones