The West Cumbria community does not get the most from the nuclear sector, according to the former boss of the Nuclear Decommissioning Authority.

In the third and final instalment in a series of exclusive interviews with in-Cumbria, John Clarke – who was chief executive at the NDA for five years – said the region still suffered from having “haves and have nots” despite hosting an industry that bringing more than £1 billion into the economy each year.

And while Mr Clark admitted the challenge of making nuclear money “stick” in the county was tough, he believes communities and businesses can do more to ensure they benefit from the economic impact of the sector.

“The community doesn’t get the most out of the nuclear sector, but it is difficult to measure,” he said.

“Copeland has third highest median salary out of the 390 or so boroughs in the UK, with the two that are higher, and the rest of the top 10, are clustered in and around London.

“As a community we have a lot of people who are well paid, and if you work at Sellafield, you’re well paid – it doesn’t matter what job you do. If you’re a business in the supply chain, you’re well paid too.

“But we have still got haves and have nots. You have a council - Copeland Council - on its knees financially, but with one of the UK’s biggest industrial complexes in its environs. That doesn’t feel right to me.”

Mr Clark said that people’s spending habits and stringent public procurement regulations which dictate that Sellafield Ltd cannot favour local firms over those elsewhere in the UK, were two reasons why nuclear investment was not sticking in the region.

“People don’t always spend their salary on things that have an immediate benefit in the area, but that’s people’s choice,” he said.

“Sellafield’s supply chain spend is around £1bn, £300 million of which goes directly in to Cumbria. That’s great, and there is much more than could flow in to the local economy through these businesses.

“But it is very hard when Sellafield can’t, under public procurement regulations, favour a firm based in Cleator Moor over one based in, say, Sutton Coldfield. There’s a bit about West Cumbrian firms making themselves more competitive.

“But how do you make those pounds sticky pounds, so they go round-and-round the system? I think that’s really hard. “

Mr Clarke said Sellafield was a “double-edged sword in terms of competitiveness” because high wages raised wage expectations – a situation that he believes is deterring inward investment.

“We’ve priced ourselves out of the market,” he added.

And he called on West Cumbrian communities and businesses not to adopt a victim mentality following the collapse of the £15bn Moorside nuclear power station project and instead put forward a positive message.

“The worse thing we can do is become a victim and look for welfare,” he said.

“Welfare is a vitally important aspect of any civilised society in my view, but you shouldn’t choose to demand it and believe you deserve to be bailed out. I don’t think any government of any colour is going to buy that.

“For me it has got to be about what we’re offering. When it comes to the Moorside site, Cumbria and West Cumbria in particular needs to come forward and say ‘this is what we can do for this nation’ – this is our offering, the value and benefits we can create.

“Then we can legitimately ask for what is required for us to deliver these benefits.”

His comments come after Allerdale reported a 40 per cent rise in cases of homelessness and one foodbank reporting its highest spike in demand for more than five years.