Schemes to help those returning to work after break
COMMUNITY OPPOSITION to fracking has softened, according to an Ineos director.
Tom Pickering, operations director at the firm’s shale unit, said unease about the UK’s energy security once Britain leaves the 27-nation bloc was casting the nascent industry in a more positive light. While opposition and anxiety remain, he said the change in perspective following the Brexit vote had tightened the focus on the economic benefits of fracking.
Mr Pickering has been holding public meetings to allay fears about the industry after the company snapped up shale gas licences across swathes of Yorkshire, the East Midlands and Cheshire.
Ineos Shale is investing £779m into shale gas exploration in the hope of starting extraction in two years.
Mr Pickering said: “I have seen a shift in the tone after the Brexit vote.
“People are saying that ‘you just need to be getting on with this. We want you to do it properly, but this stuff matters now’.
“People understand that when you present the figure to them that over 50% of our gas is being imported, that is a cheque we are writing out every day to another nation.
“I find that is a theme in the conversation.”
Ineos Shale – an arm of the 40-billion-US-dollar (£31bn) petrochemical company Ineos – has launched a vast study to discover if Britain can establish a viable shale gas industry. A 3D seismic survey mapping the geology of sites is expected to be finished this year. The firm is also looking to pinpoint areas for fracking by submitting 11 applications for core drilling across all English licences by the end of 2017. NEW PROGRAMMES are being launched to help teachers, social workers, health professionals and civil servants get back to work after career breaks.
The schemes, funded from £5m earmarked in this year’s Budget, will offer training and support to help “returners” refresh their skills, as part of the Government’s drive to close the gender pay gap.
Many of those taking advantage of the scheme are likely to be women who have taken time out of the workplace to bring up their children, but the programme is open to both genders and could benefit people who have taken a career break for other caring responsibilities.
Skills Minister Anne Milton said: “We want to help people who are looking to get into work, which is why we are going to do more to help people get back into work after a career break.
“Millions of us need to take time out from our careers, but it can be really hard to return. This is bad for the people affected, and the businesses who miss out on their talents. Women in particular find the routes back into employment closed off after taking time out to start a family.
“These returner programmes will make it routine for women to go back to the workplace and get on with their careers. It ultimately should also help us to tackle the gender pay gap.
“I think it’s important that the public sector leads by example and introduces programmes to support people returning to the workplace.”
Research by the Institute for Fiscal Studies has found that women who take time out of work earn around two per cent less when they return for every year spent out of paid work.
The chair of the Local Government Association’s resources board, Claire Kober, said: “We are pleased that the Government has recognised the importance of supporting the return of good experienced social workers back into the profession.”