Marking successes and facing challenges at the Prospect Energy Sector Conference
Nearly 100 Prospect energy reps gathered in Birmingham for their Sector Conference on Wednesday, 11 June, for a day of discussion and networking, presentations, and votes on motions to set the policies and priorities for the next couple of years.
Prospect Energy Sector Conference 2025
One of the day’s highlights was a panel debate with four guest speakers on the implications of industrial strategy for energy workers.
Opening the conference, Audrey Uppington, Sector President, said:
“We meet at a critical time within our sector. The UK government’s recent announcements on new nuclear marks a significant step forward in securing low carbon and resilient energy for the future. This announcement must be matched with sustained investment.
“Decarbonisation of the grid isn’t just a technical challenge, it’s an economic and social one. That’s why Prospect continues to push for meaningful investment in energy infrastructure, skills training and research and development.”
Audrey Uppington, Prospect Energy Sector Conference 2025
She added that it was the task of the conference delegates to debate and decide on the work of the sector executive that would allow them to face the challenges ahead and to support their members in their vital work of keeping the power on.
In her remarks, Sue Ferns, Prospect Senior Deputy General Secretary, thanked the reps for their efforts in supporting the work of the union and gave a broad overview of the state of the sector, which has grown to the largest that it has ever been.
She outlined the programme of work that has been undertaken across the sector, such as submissions to the government consultation on the Great British Energy Bill; to the NESO review on the fire that closed Heathrow; and the recent survey of energy members.
In particular, she mentioned the successful campaigns for the government to progress Sizewell C, on Small Modular Reactors and to release land at Moorside for green energy development.
“These are all aims that we’ve campaigned hard to achieve and it’s a sure sign that, after some very difficult years, we are being listened to and we are being taken seriously,” she said.
Sue Ferns, Prospect Energy Sector Conference 2025
However, some significant challenges were also outlined: the budget challenges facing nuclear decommissioning, the fleet of Advanced Gas Reactors that are coming offline, network resiliency, investment uncertainty in offshore wind and the threats to jobs and communities through the transition to clean energy.
“There’s a lot to think about but the opportunity we now have is to influence policy direction and, with the publication of the comprehensive spending review and the industrial and infrastructure strategies to follow, we can ensure that it is as coherent as possible,” Sue said.
“And it must be all integrated with a good workforce strategy because none of this will happen without enough skilled workers.”
‘At our best, we are the best union’
Mike Clancy, Prospect General Secretary, began his address to Sector Conference by paying tribute to three EDF reps, Emma Goodson, Veronique Phillips and Ryan Broadhead (who was present at the conference), who just the previous day had, along with Mike, had met with the Prime Minister, Sir Keir Starmer, to discuss the government’s £14.2bn investment for Sizewell C.
“I can’t emphasize enough, my pride and privilege in being your General Secretary and how having representatives like that conduct themselves with such standing, technical expertise and inspiration. It reminds me, and we as staff, are accountable to you.
“Yesterday told me that when we are at our best, we are the best union and it’s how we continue to have those high standards into the future, when there will be pressures to the contrary… The way Prospect conducts itself is not happenstance. It’s not a matter of ‘That’s just the way we do it.’ We work hard to be a union that’s grounded in the workplace and that is expert on behalf of our members.”
Mike Clancy, Prospect Energy Sector Conference 2025
One of the key reasons for our success, he added, and why employers respected and listened to our arguments, is because Prospect officials and rep conduct themselves professionally and seek ‘constructive engagement.’
Prospect needed to continue working hard to maintain its position of strength, said Mike.
“Our membership is around 160,000 and has growing year-on-year for the last seven or eight years. That bucks a trend in the trade union movement.
“We’re the union that has to be part of the private sector trade union renaissance because if we do not build out in the context of this Labour government, whether they get second term or not, then when the right takes power again, as in a democracy they will, whatever gains we’ve made can be swept way again.”
Mike finished by paying tribute to the membership, saying, “If you look at the breadth of this union: Energy, Defence, Aviation, Heritage, Public Services, Science, and then the whole creative sector represented through our Bectu brand. That breadth means that we as staff have got the privilege to represent fascinating people do fascinating things.”
Presentations
The Energy Sector Conference closed after lunch with presentations from Frances Cusack, Prospect’s General Counsel, and Stuart Hill, the union’s Digital Projects Manager.
Frances Cusack, Prospect Energy Sector Conference 2025
Frances’ presentation gave delegates an insight into the Employment Rights Bill, which she said was likely to the ‘biggest single set of changes to Employment Law since the 1970s.’
The Bill, which is still making its way through Parliament, will include measures such as a ban on ‘zero hours’ contracts; major changes to unfair dismissal; a new right to unpaid bereavement leave; changes to rules on flexible working requests; introduce Equality Action Plans; and new rules to make it easier for unions to access workers who are in un-unionised workplaces, and to then gain recognition.
Stuart Hill, Prospect Energy Sector Conference 2025
For the final business of the day, Stuart gave a walk-through of the latest digital projects, such as the CRM membership database, the new branch email system called Movement, and a preview of the new Branch websites, which will be launching at the end of the month.
Throughout the day, conference delegates had also been encouraged to donate money for Prospect’s charity partners, Trussel and War Child. There were collection buckets at the doors, as well as a QR code for digital payments.
