MPs and stakeholders discuss Prospect’s green industrial strategy for West Cumbria

Key stakeholders from industry and politics, including MPs from Labour’s shadow energy team, joined a roundtable discussion in Parliament this January on proposals from Prospect for a Green Industrial Strategy for West Cumbria.

A key employer in West Cumbria is Sellafield, which in 2021 accounted for 21,650 jobs in the area, or equivalent to 28% of local employment.

However, these well-paid and highly-skilled jobs are in decline. In addition, the West Cumbrian economy faces sectoral problems, such as an ageing population, challenging digital connectivity and concentrated pockets of potential workers in need of training and skills development.

This poor outlook for the local economy prompted Prospect to begin work last summer with the leader of Cumberland Council and representatives of Sellafield to discuss how such trends could be reversed, with a view towards creating good, long-term jobs and a stronger local economy.

Among the attendees at the meeting in Parliament to take those discussions further were local stakeholders, industry leaders, Ed Milliband MP, the Shadow Secretary for Energy Security and Net Zero and the Shadow Minister for Industry and Decarbonisation, Sarah Jones MP.

Priorities outlined in Prospect’s blueprint included:

• A Small Modular Reactor for West Cumbria;
• A Renewables Park for the West Coast to serve as a hub for manufacturing and processing materials for the local green economy;
• A proposed 1.2GW wind farm, dubbed Project Colette, which would be community owned and also includes possibilities for green hydrogen and steel production.

A key statement from the document says:

“Now is the time for renewal and the existing partners look forward to working with other stakeholders to realise a better future for West Cumbria.

“There are some key challenges though a wider engagement programme can resolve them. The core requirements are ones of political leadership and governance.”

Download the leaflet, “A green industrial strategy for West Cumbria”, from the Prospect Library.