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The press release issued by HM Treasury on 28 September 2026.

The Chancellor has announced a package to help people into work, education and training, while building the skilled workforce Britain needs for the future.

The package will see the National Wealth Fund used to create and support 130,000 jobs across the UK, expanding local apprenticeship services to connect more young people with employers, and restoring the Union Learning Fund with £15 million a year to help people build new skills. 

National Wealth Fund 

The Chancellor has announced that Government will use the National Wealth Fund’s current capitalisation to create and support a further 130,000 jobs across the UK by 2030. The National Wealth Fund will support good jobs across sectors including AI and technology, defence and clean energy.  

Rolls Royce funding expansion 

In a boost for the UK’s advanced manufacturing sector, the Chancellor announced today that Rolls Royce will bring a landmark £300 million investment into its manufacturing and engineering facilities across the UK. 

The significant investment reinforces the company’s commitment to the UK’s advanced manufacturing ecosystem, with funding going to factories across the UK. In Derby the company is investing more than £140 million on new engineering and manufacturing services facilities to enable future growth, supporting more than 10,000 employees.

In Bristol, the home of UK military power and propulsion, Rolls-Royce is investing over £90 million on a major facility upgrade programme –  supporting the more than 3,500 employees based at the site, including highly skilled engineers.

An investment of £43 million at Inchinnan, Glasgow, is introducing machinery that will enable new engine components to be manufactured while in Rotherham, Rolls-Royce is investing £19 million at its Advanced Blade Casting Facility, doubling its output of advanced turbine blades – a critical component in jet engines – by 2030.

Expanding local apprenticeships services  

Local leaders know their areas best and are ideally placed to match young people with small employers to create the apprenticeships their communities need. 

Budget 2025 announced government funding to pilot apprenticeship brokerage in some Mayoral Strategic Authorities. Today the Chancellor’s announcement goes further, expanding funding to all 14 existing Mayoral Strategic Authorities with directly elected mayors, so they can help provide local apprenticeship services across England from Spring 2027. 

As part of the government’s commitment to expand apprenticeship opportunities for young people, the £100 million of additional funding across 2 years doubles the number of areas matching young people with local businesses. Led by mayors, and driven by the skills and needs of local labour markets, this will deliver thousands more youth apprenticeships, supporting more young people to kickstart their careers.

This builds on government support for the rest of the country including full funding of training and assessment costs for all eligible apprentices aged 16 to 24 and the £3,000 Youth Jobs Grant, while the government’s ambition is to put strategic authorities in place everywhere by the end of 2028.

Union Learning Fund 

The Chancellor also confirmed £15 million a year of additional funding to restore the Union Learning Fund in England, helping working people gain new skills, progress at work and adapt as technology, including AI, changes the workplace. 

The fund previously generated 180,000 learning opportunities every year and will draw on trade unions’ trusted workplace relationships to reach those people and help them access training through their employers and existing skills programmes. 

This fund will help British workers harness AI rather than be outrun by it. 

Employees will not need to be union members to benefit, with potential support ranging from essential English, maths and digital skills, to training for jobs in growing industries such as advanced manufacturing. 

The Budget will set out details how apprenticeship brokerage expansion and Union Learning Fund are fully funded by savings found by the Department for Work & Pensions.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 28 September 2026.

Overseas buyers will be offered a new UK Export Finance loan guarantee to incentivise buying goods and services from British companies.

• The UK Export Finance pilot initiative, worth up to £5 billion, will help British exports gain a foothold to high-growth economies like Brazil, Morocco and Mexico, creating jobs and stimulating growth back home.
• This follows the Chancellor identifying ‘Backing Britain’ through procurement and jobs as one of his main priorities, to drive growth in every postcode and bring hope back to communities.

British businesses will have more opportunities to ramp up their exports overseas and bring jobs and growth to communities back home under new plans announced by the Chancellor.

A new UK Export Finance (UKEF) pilot product – Flexible Finance – will see select buyers who operate in fast growing economies like Brazil, Morocco and Mexico where British exports could be greater, access loans on more flexible terms to incentivise buying British.

Unlike UKEF’s existing guarantees, this product will give borrowers greater flexibility in how they use funding, while encouraging finance-seeking buyers to work with the UK by accessing UKEF support and choosing British suppliers. Alongside this, UKEF will engage with UK suppliers through matchmaking and procurement support.

UKEF guarantees – up to £5 billion-worth in total under this pilot – will cover up to 80% of a commercial loan for select overseas buyers. This widens access to finance for the foreign borrower and establishes a relationship with UKEF. UKEF will partner with the borrower to grow their imports of goods or services from British companies.

This follows the Chancellor identifying ‘Backing Britain’ through procurement and jobs as one of his main priorities, to drive growth in every postcode and bring hope back to communities.

Chancellor of the Exchequer, John Healey MP, said:

We’re backing British businesses to strike more deals overseas. Especially in countries which are growing fast but we don’t have a big British footprint.

This is a new approach and part of the argument I will make in my speech in Liverpool on Monday that we are backing British industry and British innovation; helping create more markets abroad and more> jobs at home.

Secretary of State for Business, Innovation, Science and Trade, Jonathan Reynolds said:

We believe in Britain’s ability to sell to the world, and that includes taking strides into new markets with all the opportunities they bring for the UK.

Through Flexible Finance we are not just sending out a message to other nations that they should buy British, we are laying the foundation for good growth and jobs in the UK, as British companies bring home the benefits of a thriving export market.

This is the latest of various additions made to UKEF’s offering as it responds to the Industrial Strategy and follows the launch of a new defence export facility in June, increasing UKEF’s capacity for supporting defence exports by £50 billion.

The press release issued by HM Treasury on 28 September 2026.

Two major maritime projects to be part of “new age of industrialisation” for Britain.

• Government backs British shipyards with multi-billion pound investment in three major maritime projects to strengthen national security, support skilled jobs and drive growth in every part of the UK.
• Chancellor confirms three new floating docks for the Royal Navy’s submarine service at HM Naval Base Clyde will be built in Britain supporting Britain’s defence industrial base and securing key sovereign capabilities.
• New marine research vessel to be built in a British shipyard, backing coastal communities, sustainable fishing and long-term economic growth.

British shipyards will be at the heart of two major maritime projects worth billions of pounds, helping to create high-skilled jobs, drive growth and strengthen the UK’s long-term industrial and national security capabilities.

Chancellor John Healey will pledge a “new age of industrialisation” for Britain today as he confirms the multi-billion pound projects will be built by British workers, supporting jobs and a pipeline of small British businesses. 

Healey will confirm that the Royal Navy’s submarine service at HM Naval Base Clyde will receive three new floating docks – known as Programme Euston – through a UK-only competition, in light of their importance to national security and sovereign British industry.

The new facilities will provide crucial maintenance for the UK’s current and future fleet of nuclear submarines, allowing essential inspections, upgrades and repairs to be carried out.

In addition to this, the Chancellor has also committed to funding for a new marine research vessel to help protect our seas. Set to be operational in the early 2030s, it will continue the delivery of core research on our seas and oceans, replacing the current vessel which is nearing the end of its life.

The evidence it collects will help ensure the security of our seas, support sustainable fishing and give coastal communities confidence that fish stocks are being managed for the future.

Both projects will be delivered by UK companies, as part of a greater focus on how government spends taxpayers’ money to boost national security whilst also supporting British jobs and growth in local communities.

Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey said:

“Britain has a proud shipbuilding heritage, and every pound of this strategic investment in a critical sector is backing British jobs on the Clyde and businesses across the UK, supporting growth in every postcode.

“By backing British shipyards, we are not only boosting national security but also securing resilience in the industries that will drive growth today while building the capabilities the country needs for the future.”

Defence Secretary, Wes Streeting said: 

“Defence spending should make Britain stronger in every sense. That means backing British by buying British wherever our industry can deliver.

“HM Naval Base Clyde is at the heart of our submarine service. Programme Euston will modernise it for decades to come, while backing British shipyards, workers and engineering.

“That is defence driving the reindustrialisation of Britain and strengthening our sovereign capability.”