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

The Parliamentary Group For Engineering Development

I would like to thank Bill Olner, Chairman of the Parliamentary Group for Engineering Development, for inviting me to address you tonight. The contunuity of the Group is testimony to the strength of feeling amongst Parliamentarians that engineers and engineering are vital to the prosperity and well-being of the nation. With the increase in the number of engineers in Parliament, the Group is well placed to build on its past achievements and continue its good work.

This evening I would like to outline the Governments thinking on engineering within the context of its plans for the education system and its support for science, engineering and technology as a whole. I would also like to take this opportunity to set out a number of ideas on how we - the engineering community - might advance the cause in the future.

Coming from Leeds, a city with a fine tradition of engineering excellence, I am well aware of the fundamental contribution that engineering has made, and is making, to the development of modern Britain. Engineers and engineering are key to the success of virtually every sector of the economy, a fact which, unfortunately, all too many in our society fail to recognise.

Having established that engineering matters we must look at the conditions which enable it to thrive, and provide the right climate for it to do so. 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.

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. The forthcoming Competition Bill will enhance the competitive environment.

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. We are establishing a Future Unit in the Department to co-ordinate our strategy, complementing the work of the Innovation Unit and Foresight Panel.

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 this initiative 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 UK?s future prosperity lies in producing high quality, high ?added value? goods and services. And yet too often the complaint is heard that the British are good at research but less good at applying the results to the market place. I am keen to see that British excellence in basic science gets translated into British business success. That is the way to secure sustained competitive advantage for the long term.

But, to achieve this, both business and the ?knowledge base? need to be more outward-looking. In particular, it is vital that industry is encouraged to make use of the great wealth of technology, knowledge and skills available in Britain?s higher and further education sector, in the independent research and technology organisations and in the research institutes that make up the ?knowledge base?.

It is generally accepted that people are the key to the effective transferring of technology between the ?knowledge? base and business. For that reason, the DTI and the Research Councils fund a number of initiatives involving what is referred to as ?people movement?, in other words, the transfer of technology from the ?knowledge base? to business ?on the hoof?.

I would like to spend a little time on one of these initiatives, namely, our major ?flagship? scheme in this area - the Teaching Company Scheme - TCS. The TCS enables graduates to work in a company on two year projects which are challenging, inspired by the company and central to its commercial needs. It is worth recording the fact that the TCS began life over 22 years ago under a Labour Government - and was conceived as the engineering student?s equivalent of ?teaching hospitals?.

I am delighted that, since those early days, it has gone from strength to strength and I want it to continue. TCS currently offers one thousand graduates the chance to discover that British industry is not a backwards-looking, last resort career option, but is modern, competitive and preparing now to face the challenges of the 21st century. That is why, in 1997, some three quarters of TCS Associates were offered a permanent job by their host company when their project was complete.

A Panel chaired by Sir Robin Nicholson conducted a full scale review of TCS and reported their findings to me last year. Sir Robin?s Panel found "TCS to be a major, established success story" and "a highly successful, valuable and versatile scheme offering value for money". In response to the panel?s recommendations, I agreed to allow more flexibility in TCS rules in order to enable a much wider spectrum of organisations than just universities, including independent research and technology organisations, to participate in the scheme.

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 most important, is education. 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 is 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 and, mathematics will remain unchanged in status in the current curriculum. 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.

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. It is important 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 and related to employers? needs. We must succeed in this if this country is to get the education system it deserves and needs in today?s competitive world.

Although the establishment of a high quality educational base is of paramount importance, we must seek to 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. You will be familiar with many of the existing schemes aimed at promoting, engineering, but I would specifically like 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. However, I would like to see more support for this organisation from the science and engineering community and also from industry. Those of my Parliamentary colleagues who are not familiar with the excellent work they are doing should take a look.

Despite continuing encouraging signs such as: very competitive starting salaries for graduate engineers (average £16,000 compared to £15,500 for accountants and £15,190 in management); 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. We need to raise the status of engineers and move away from the 19th century profile to a new image for the 21st century.

It is true that engineering does not command the public respect given to other professions, and the reasons for this are many and varied. We need to make the public aware of the exciting things that engineers are doing without which "life as we know it Jim" 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 Information Technology 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 .

Last week I helped launch a report called "Future Life", produced by the Institution of Chemical Engineers to commemorate its 75^th 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. I look forward to seeing the engineering community as a whole responding to the Government?s sustainable development initiative. I believe that this is an opportunity for engineers to be part of the solution and not, as sometimes perceived, part of the problem. There can be no bigger challenge for the engineering profession.

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

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.

Shell?s recent announcement that is is to dismantle the Brent Spar and re-use most of the steel in the construction of a new roll-on-roll-off ferry quay in Norway.

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

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 in the engineering community 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 is essential that it is based on an accurate perception of where matters stand now and has clear measurable and achievable but 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 pleased that SARTOR (Standard and Routes to Registration) is now off the ground.

There is more to be done in matching SARTOR to Dearing and I want to see the engineering profession working closely with its academic and industrial partners to develop and incorporate appropriate Output Standards as quickly as possible so as to keep in step with the work being done by Government on the development of Life Long Learning. This is important and it requires unity if we are to see the engineering profession make its full potential contribution to the future of this society.

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. I am sure that the Parliamentary Group for Engineering Development will play a significant role in meeting the challenges that lie ahead.

Thank You.

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 Institution of Electrical Engineers (19/02/98)