Rt. Hon. John Battle - Former Minister of Energy and Industry (May 1997 - Jul 1999)

The Institution of Electrical Engineers

I would like to thank the Institution for inviting me here today. I am delighted to be addressing such a large, and highly respected professional Institution. Established in 1871 it is now the largest group of professional engineers in Europe with over 138,000 members, 20% of which I understand are in fact based outside Europe. It is hard to imagine a world without electricity - no electric lights; no electric motors for transport, industrial machinery or domestic appliances; no telephones or computers - the list is endless. The contribution of electricity to our modern world, and that of the electrical engineers who harness it, is incalculable.

I am also pleased to note that the IEE continues to grow at a rapid rate, reflecting the world?s increasing reliance on high quality electrical engineers. The IEE plays a central role in the development of today?s society, providing information to the scientific and engineering communities through the INSPEC services, and gathering together the views of the engineering community to help inform Government of key issues where we can play a useful role. I know that the IEE is already extensively involved with parts of my Department, the DTI and the OST, and that you have on occasion acted as the voice for the wider engineering profession on behalf of the Engineering Council.

I hope that you will continue to make these valuable contributions, and that the links between your organisation and my Department will continue and strengthen. I believe that it is by working together to inform and influence each other that we can deliver greatest benefit to the wealth and well-being of the country. I am well aware, for example, of your concerns over the adequacy of the numbers and quality of engineers emerging from the formation process. The Government is also aware of the problem, having inherited what was frankly an under-funded and neglected educational sector, and we are determined to do something about it. This afternoon I would like to outline the Government?s thinking on engineering within the context of its plans for the education system and its support for science, engineering and technology as a whole.

There are, as you are all no doubt aware, a multiplicity of factors which affect the performance of the engineering industry, but we can identify three broad headings which enable us to focus more clearly: economic conditions, a supply of skilled engineers and technicians, and the public perception of engineering.

The Government is addressing the two factors that are crucial to UK business success: a stable macroeconomy and competitive businesses.

The Chancellor has been taking action on the first of these, to end the boom and bust cycle which has so bedevilled our economy. It is true that short-term interest rates have been rising - due to the previous Government?s failure to control inflation. But now that responsibility for setting interest rates has been transferred to the Bank of England, long-term interest rates are falling because of the enhanced credibility of an independent central bank.

Our competitiveness strategy is based on three pillars:

strong markets: strong domestic competition benefits both producers, by spurring their performance, and consumers, by lowering prices and increasing choice.

modern companies: we need to work in partnership with industry in determining the steps to take to improve our economic performance.

An enterprising nation: we need to prepare for the future so that we can exploit the opportunities that will arise. The Government therefore strongly supports the work of the Foresight Programme, and your involvement in it, seeking to identify technological and market opportunities for our businesses, and we are establishing a Future Unit in the Department to co-ordinate our strategy.

Within this framework the Government is committed to working in partnership with business through the Competitiveness UK initiative to build a modern, dynamic and internationally competitive economy. As part of Competitiveness UK the President of the Board of Trade, Margaret Beckett, published a report - "A Benchmark for Business" - last November, which shows the UK?s relative international position. We are still some 30% behind average productivity levels achieved in countries such as France and Germany, despite the enormous improvements that have been achieved in many industries over the past decade.

The President has established six business-based Working Parties to help develop proposals for a Competitiveness White Paper to be published later this year. This will decide what policies will raise the UK?s performance, and set out our future strategy.

My second broad heading is the Supply of Skilled Engineers and Technicians that industry needs. I want to focus on two key areas. The first, and probably the most important, is the education system. The second is the promotion of engineering as a worthwhile career for young people.

This Government regards education as the single most important factor in our plans to revitalise our economy. We are absolutely committed to raising standards in literacy and numeracy. Mastering these skills at an early age underpins a child?s future success, and current levels of achievement are not good enough. We have set ambitious national targets for literacy and numeracy for 2002.

This means that from this September, for a period of two years, the top priorities in the primary curriculum will be English and mathematics. But let there be no doubt about the central importance of science as well. It, along with English, mathematics, IT and religious education, will remain unchanged in status in the current curriculum as one of the five subjects which must be taught in detail in schools. We are confident that this opportunity to focus on the key skills which all children need, will provide pupils with a head-start to progress on to secondary education.

It is important also that we take a broad and coherent view of further and higher education. Wherever courses are located we want to see high quality provision that is accessible, responsive, flexible, cost-effective and available. We must succeed in this if this country is to get the education system it deserves and needs in today?s competitive world.

The Dearing Report suggested that the most likely future demand for higher education would arise through increased demand for sub-degrees. We recognise the importance of responding to increased demand for higher education to meet the needs of both individuals and the economy. Margaret Beckett and I will continue to work closely with Baroness Blackstone at the DfEE on the implications for engineering of the Dearing Report, and, in particular, its effects on the Engineering Council?s Standards and Routes to Registration (SARTOR) document.

Although the establishment of a high quality educational base is of paramount importance, we must also create a vision of engineering for the 21st century and consider how we attract our young people to choose it as a career. A great deal of work has been done in this area and the Government is committed to building on the foundations laid under initiatives such as Action for Engineering, which received valuable support from the IEE. Many of you will be familiar with existing schemes aimed at promoting engineering, and I do not intend to outline them here, except that I do want to mention SETNET ( the Science Engineering Technology Mathematics Network).

This is the government funded joint venture company set up under Action for Engineering to provide a one-stop-shop for teachers and parents to access the wide variety of schemes, awards and initiatives which are in operation to encourage schoolchildren into science, engineering and mathematics. Good progress is being made in setting up the SETNET regional network. I am pleased that the IEE is a Patron of SETNET. I would like to see broader support for this organisation from the science and engineering community and also from industry. Those here from industry who are not supporting it should begin to do so.

Despite continuing encouraging signs such as: very competitive starting salaries for graduate engineers (average £16,000); extremely low unemployment in the engineering profession (less than 2%); and significant numbers of engineers in senior management posts (38% of all Directors of UK manufacturing companies have science or engineering degrees); there remains an entrenched view that engineering is a low paid profession with little prospect of advancement. We have to change this.

This leads me on to that age old problem, and my third broad heading, the public perception of engineers and engineering.

It is true that engineering does not command the public respect given to other professions, and the reasons for this are many and varied. However, it would help if Engineers make sure that the public is aware of the exciting things they are doing without which modern life as we know it would not be possible. From the daily delivery of water and electricity across the UK when many millions of people elsewhere cannot rely on such essentials, through to sophisticated healthcare equipment and the new telecommunications age, the products of engineering are vital to us all.

Young people are passionate about the protection of the environment. I believe that if we are to attract the brightest of our young people into engineering we have to tap into this enthusiasm and promote the major role which engineering has to play in improving the quality of life through environmental solutions and sustainable development. On 4 February John Prescott announced the Government?s sustainable development initiative calling for public views on creating a "fairer, greener and richer Britain". I want and expect to see engineers and the engineering profession making a major contribution to this debate. Not only is this environmental sense but it is going to be increasingly good business. It will provide an ideal opportunity to promote this "clean" engineering to today?s environmentally aware young people and attract them into engineering.

On Monday night I helped launch a report called "Future Life", produced by the Institution of Chemical Engineers to commemorate its 75th Anniversary. I thought it was terrific. It recognised that we have to analyse the complete life cycle of every project at the design stage so that they have the best possible environmental impact. It was also a brilliant example of communication and gave the lie to those who say engineers cannot present themselves positively. The IChemE had a head?s start on you with this because they commissioned it last year. I look forward to seeing, and perhaps helping to launch, the IEE response to the Government?s sustainable development initiative. There can be no bigger challenge for the engineering professions.

And this is nothing new for engineers! There are numerous examples of engineering playing a positive role in the environment, such as:

Conoco disposing of four offshore platforms during 1996 and achieving 99.7% reuse or reclamation of the materials.

The Queen?s Building at the School of Engineering and Manufacture, De Montfort University. Opened in 1993, it is the largest naturally ventilated building in the UK and uses under half the fuel of an equivalent conventional building.

In more general terms, and in addition to the good work being carried out already in this field, I see great potential, and value for money, in:

Identifying successful top engineers and publicising their achievements (and salaries)

Publicising and promoting the engineering aspects of exciting projects: such as the Millennium Dome, Wembley Stadium and the McAlpine Stadium in Huddersfield.

Courting media personalities and journalists who have an interest in SET

I believe also that we need to look at who we are trying to persuade of the merits, value and plain excitement of engineering and when, where and how this is best done. We need to look at all the evidence. For example recent research has it that by late primary school most pupils have rejected most jobs on the basis of perceptions. We have to prevent engineering being among the rejections!

I know that a number of the major players are preparing a proposal for a new initiative aimed at promoting engineering and I have made it clear that, in principle, my Department is prepared to give its support. If we are going to do so, and if such a campaign is ultimately to be successful, I believe it will be essential for it to be based on an accurate perception of where matters stand now. It must have clear, measurable, achievable and challenging objectives set against an assessment of the future needs of employers.

So I urge the engineering community to think long and hard about the aims of the new campaign before it starts. Sound preparation is vital.

As I come to a close I would like to say something about the importance of partnerships. The impact of any promotional effort will be reduced if the organisations involved sing different tunes. Action for Engineering achieved significant collaboration. However, to build on this, the engineering community needs make significant progress in achieving a unified and coherent voice. We see the reformed Engineering Council as the central point of focus for our dialogue about matters affecting the engineering profession as a whole. I am therefore delighted at the way the Institutions are now genuinely working in partnership with the Engineering Council to promote the profession.

The Government will aim to provide the economic and educational basis for a successful economy, and stands ready to provide support for concerted and co-ordinated action by the engineering community. The Institution of Electrical Engineers will, I am sure, be in the forefront in enabling engineers and engineering to meet the challenges that lie ahead.

Other speeches by Rt. Hon. John Battle - Former Minister of Energy and Industry (May 1997 - Jul 1999)

(the following are available from the archive)
• The ACTIVE Conference (11/11/98)
• Closing Speech at the Council of Europe Parliamentary Conference on the Oceans (19/03/98)
• The House Of Commons Private Member's Adjournment Debate (18/03/98)
• The Institute of Physics Annual Congress (17/03/98)
• The Parliamentary Group For Engineering Development (25/02/98)