To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what assessment he has made of the fulfilment by the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority of its statutory obligations under section 9(2)(a) of the Energy Act 2004 in relation to its dealings with the Harwell site. (171819)

The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority set out its approach to maintaining a skilled workforce in line with its duties under section 9(2)(a) of the Energy Act 2004 in its Strategy, which was subject to full public consultation and approved by the Secretary of State prior to its publication in March 2006. The implementation of all aspects of that Strategy is set out in Annual Plans, which are approved by the Secretary of State and against which progress is monitored. There is no requirement for and has been no site-specific monitoring of the application of section 9(2)(a) to individual sites by the Secretary of State.