Copeland Council has ramped up the pressure on Sellafield Ltd and the Government to help grow the region’s economy on the back of its nuclear expertise, as industry heavyweights gather in Cumbria for a major conference.

Copeland mayor Mike Starkie made the call in response to a report commissioned by Sellafield Ltd, which lays bare the challenges the borough faces with reprocessing coming to an end at Sellafield in 2020 and, more generally, its economic and social reliance on what happens at the complex nuclear site.

The Economic Impact of Sellafield report, undertaken by analysts Oxford Economics and using statistics from 2016-17, found that Sellafield sustains more than 55.4 per cent of Copeland’s Gross Value Added (GVA or the value of goods and services produced) and accounts for more than 54.9 per cent of jobs in the borough.

It also highlights a reduction in 3,000 roles at Sellafield over the next four or five years, primarily linked to the end of reprocessing, although Sellafield says the actual figure is expected to be around between 1,500 to 2,000 once “attrition” is taken in to account.

The report says: “Any change in how Sellafield Ltd operates will have real implications at a local level, none more so than for Copeland.”

It also highlights the borough’s “relatively poor skills and a declining working population” as major threats, with Copeland along with Barrow predicted to see a net migration in the coming years.

The report was recently received by Copeland Council’s executive committee and full council, which reacted to the findings by stressing the need for action at a time when serious doubt has been cast over the future of the Moorside nuclear power plant development on land next to the Sellafield site.

The end of reprocessing and the tough Government target to reduce the amount spent on decommissioning the site by around £1.4 billion by 2029, are set to be high on the agenda – along with the future of Moorside – at the second Cumbria Nuclear Conference hosted by Carlisle MP John Stevenson, which takes place at Carlisle Racecourse today.

Speakers at the event include Sellafield Ltd chief executive Paul Foster and his counterpart at Moorside developer NuGen, Tom Samson.

Copeland mayor Mike Starkie, who will be attending the conference, said: “As the borough that hosts Sellafield, there is no doubt that Copeland’s community and economy will feel the impact of the changes far more than any other local authority area.

“We applaud Sellafield Ltd for commissioning the report as it helps the Government, industry and Copeland Council to understand the impact of the move away from reprocessing and to demonstrate the need to actively plan and manage what happens next.

“This is in terms of acting positively and proactively to mitigate the impact of the reduction in spend; ensuring Sellafield Ltd’s transformation plan delivers opportunities for growth and diversification of the supply chain and wider economy; extracting maximum value of the amount that Sellafield Ltd puts into the community, and making sure our community continues to benefit from hosting the site.

“The skills and capability here in Copeland are a national asset and the Government’s own Industrial Strategy and Nuclear Sector Deal both set out how we can grow the local and national economy though the nuclear industry. Any responsible government uses its assets to its advantage.

“We call upon all the Government, the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority and Sellafield Ltd to play their part in driving the changes needed to grow the local and national economy.”

Sellafield Ltd stressed its commitment, with its head of head of development and community relations, Jamie Reed, describing the Oxford Economics report as a “call to arms”.

He said Sellafield Ltd was already taking positive action, by supporting the £33 million Whitehaven Campus development – which will bring together St Benedict’s High School and Mayfield School in to a new building – and its £2.6m commitment to the £4.1m Buzz Station project, which transform Whitehaven’s old bus station site in to a hub for tech, digital, media, and creative start-ups.

On the reduction of roles, he said: “We’ve been extremely clear for a number of years that approximately 3,000 roles will no longer be needed when reprocessing ends in 2020.

“But everyone affected has been guaranteed another job with Sellafield Ltd if they want it. There will be no forced redundancies. Everyone will be given the chance to be retrained and redeployed to other workfaces on the site.

“We also want to go further than that and help grow the supply chain. This means working in a better and more flexible way and helping to create more roles.

“We’ve all seen the long-term damage wrought by mass redundancy programmes. We are determined not to inflict that on West Cumbria.”

Mr Reed also stressed that overcoming the challenges and grasping opportunities resulting from changes at the Sellafield site, was a collective responsibility.

“We have all got skin in the game and a vested interest – it matters to all of us,” he added.

“We need businesses, Government, councils, trade unions and politicians of all colours to come together to overcome the significant challenges we face.

“We have to remember there is another century’s worth of work at the site, and not many other parts of the country have that. But like many other regions of the UK, we need to raise our aspirations, improve educational attainment and broaden our skills base to compete in a global economy.

“We know from discussions with local and national stakeholders that there is absolute agreement on the urgency of the challenges facing us. We can only address these challenges together and we are committed to playing our part.”

Sellafield Ltd’s recently published Social Impact Strategy – a response to the challenges set out in the Oxford Economics report – has sparked controversy, with Allerdale Borough Council’s leader Alan Smith claiming its socio-economic spend in the borough does not reflect its importance in supporting the site’s operations.

Both Sellafield and Copeland Council have dismissed the claims.

The Oxford Economics report says Allerdale residents are paid around £122m per annum by Sellafield Ltd, representing around a quarter of its wage bill.

The figure for Copeland stands at £264m. The study also found that the average salary at Sellafield Ltd was over £43,000 in 2016/17, well above the national average of £34,451.