After Day 100 of pitching, onward to Day 1 of change
100 days ago, Keir Starmer led his government through the doors of No 10 to form the first Labour government in 14 years. Elected on the promise of “change”, Starmer and his team were keen to be seen delivering on this from Day 1 in power. This has resulted in a flurry of government announcements and initiatives – from reforming planning regulations to launching a wave of new bodies.
But so far, the announcements and activity have only produced consultations and reviews – an important first step in setting the direction of travel, but we need to arrive swiftly at Day 1 of Delivery if Labour is to realise any impactful changes over the course of this parliament.
Of most interest to the engineering and technology sector will be:
1. GB Energy and Mission Control
Structures are in place, but a swift and decisive whole-systems approach is needed to deliver clean power ambitions
- With experienced Chairs swiftly appointed to lead Mission Control and GB Energy, and Aberdeen confirmed as the home of Labour’s flagship publicly owned energy company, the foundations have been laid for the Herculean effort which will be required to meet the government’s ambitious Clean Power by 2030 target.
- However, despite the swift appointment of an experienced Chair, the government has yet to set out the clear, defining purpose of GB Energy, and there have been scant details over other key issues such as who it will be governed by and how it will operate and report within the remit of existing structures like Ofgem and NESO.
- These big decisions will need to be made quickly and decisively so that the £8.3bn investment through GB Energy can leverage private investment to transform the UK energy system into one that can handle the anticipated four-times increase in power demand by 2050 – as heat, transport and industry ‘go electric’ in the drive to decarbonise. The planning and delivery of such systems often take decades but must now be accelerated and take a whole-systems approach that considers everything from generation and transmission infrastructure to demand flexibility, skills and future effects of climate change.
2. Skills pipeline
Overdue reviews offer welcome opportunity for fundamental reforms, but the scale of the challenge means the whole pipeline must be augmented
- The government has listened to calls from the sector for fundamental reform of the education and skills pipeline. The review of the national curriculum and launch of Skills England next year offer a huge opportunity to fix the length of the engineering skills pipeline. This includes long-overdue reform of the Apprenticeship Levy into the Growth and Skills Levy to address calls from industry for more flexibility in accessing the funding for SMEs, and for reskilling and upskilling existing workers in areas of critical skills shortages.
- The Curriculum and Assessment Review offers the opportunity to change the curriculum to better engage children from a younger age in what engineering is and what a career in it could look like, to ensure more people are entering the pipeline. However, we were disappointed to see that a STEM expert has not been appointed to the expert panel leading the curriculum review, and are urging the government to reconsider appointing a STEM representative to the panel.
- Further down the skills pipeline, while the ambition of Skills England to map out the skills needed across the country and put in place the right measures to boost the number of engineers and technicians being trained up locally is welcome, we are concerned by the Migration Advisory Committee’s review into curbing overseas hiring for engineering and technology jobs. The scale of the challenge is simply too great and immediate for steps to boost the number of home-grown engineers and technicians to come at the cost of limiting the number of skilled overseas recruits. That is why we need to see a dual approach of building a resilient domestic pipeline of engineers and technologists while continuing to attract the best talent from around the world.
3. Industrial strategy
A data and tech revolution throughout the whole workforce will be key to developing and delivering a modern industrial strategy that drives innovation and growth
- The government has revived the dormant term ‘industrial strategy’ and has pledged to soon set out its vision for a modern industrial strategy, guided by an Industrial Strategy Council which will be placed on a statutory footing. While we still await details of who and what form this will take, the launch of the Regulatory Innovation Office with a mission to speed up public access to new technologies sets a positive tone.
- Technology will be key in driving the growth the government has pledged to pursue, and by building on the previous government’s Science and Technology Framework, which addresses many of the cutting-edge technologies that will be components of a new industrial strategy, we would encourage the government to develop an industrial strategy that takes a whole-systems approach to ensure a competitive, resilient and stable innovation sector that drives investment in communities and delivers high-skill, high-wage jobs in every nation and region of the UK.
- However, the government will not be able to capitalise on any investment in innovation unless they address the lack of adoption throughout the workforce of technologies such as AI, robotics and quantum computing. This is impeding engineering sectors from capitalising on innovations like digital twins, ultimately limiting productivity. Moreover, there is a risk of start-up capital leaving the UK for the USA / Asia. That is why we are advocating for the government to establish a centralised repository of AI resources, tools, and guidelines for businesses, particularly start-ups and SMEs, to access and learn from.
All of these reforms have the potential to radically change and improve the economy and state of the nation. But all will require fundamental shifts to complex institutions and mechanisms which have been entrenched for years, which will take time to implement and refine before the effects are felt. That is why, after the Budget at the end of the month, we urge the government to start the work of turning consultation and review into action and change.
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