Oct 11, 2024
By James Gordon, Public Affairs Advisor
EngineeringUK’s policy team recently had the opportunity to attend the Labour and Conservative Party Conferences, whilst our CEO, Dr Hilary Leevers, went to Labour and Liberal Democrat Conferences. In this blog post, we reflect on the key takeaways for STEM education, skills, and the wider engineering sector from the Labour and Conservative Party Conferences.
Labour: Skills, Skills, Skills
Newly appointed ministers, fresh-faced MPs and activists descended on Liverpool last month for Labour Party Conference, buoyed by July’s landslide General Election victory. However, the Prime Minister’s determination to lead a ‘government of service’ in the face of early media turbulence, combined with a tight grip on policy details ahead of the Budget and Spending Review later this month, contributed to a more sombre conference atmosphere than the fanfare many expected.
Nonetheless, ministers spoke passionately of the Government’s ‘mission-led’ approach at fringe events, such as the missions to ‘kickstart economic growth’, ‘make Britain a clean energy superpower’, and ‘break down the barriers to opportunity’. Ministers stressed the importance of skills in underpinning these missions, and reaffirmed their commitment to deliver a 'Youth Guarantee' aimed at eradicating youth unemployment through high-quality pathways into employment via training or education.
Green skills featured particularly prominently at the fringes, with industry leaders highlighting the scale of the challenge around upskilling and re-skilling existing workers (including in fossil fuel-intensive sectors). Despite positive signals with the publication of Skills England’s first report and plans for the creation of an Office for Clean Energy Jobs, questions remain over the government’s skills agenda, such as how Skills England will work with the devolved nations, particularly with GB Energy headquartered in Scotland.
Strikingly, the Prime Minister used his set-piece leader's speech to announce a re-balancing of apprenticeships funding towards young people by making foundation apprenticeships under 12 months (typically level 2 courses, offering routes into full apprenticeships) eligible for funding under the new Growth and Skills Levy. Details on the length, structure, and qualifications are yet to be confirmed, with a consultation likely to follow. As part of this re-balancing, employers will be asked to contribute more to higher-level apprenticeships at Level 7.
Moreover, ministers also sought to highlight the government's drive to reduce migration through a focus on homegrown skills, as exemplified by the presence of Home Office ministers at skills panels and roundtables. The strengthening of the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to investigate skills shortages in key sectors (in partnership with Skills England, the Industrial Strategy Council, and DWP), including as part of its ongoing review of engineering and IT visas, is viewed as a first step towards doing so.
Conservatives: Finding their feet in opposition
Somewhat in contrast to the soberness of the Labour Conference, the Conservative Party Conference in Birmingham exuded an air of optimism and excitement amidst the ongoing leadership contest, despite the party’s General Election defeat. With current shadow ministers uncertain of their future under a new leader from November, ex-ministers of governments past stepped up to fill the void at fringe panels.
A central theme of fringe debates was the need for the Conservative Party to avoid ‘opposing for the sake of opposing’, but rather be proactive in proposing skills and education policies for the new government to adopt. One such policy, suggested by former skills minister Rt Hon Rob Halfon, was for the creation of a ‘skills tax credit’ offering tax reliefs for employers investing in workforce training, modelled on the R&D tax credit.
Current and former MPs and ministers lined up to defend the Conservative Party’s legacy on education and skills, particularly on lifelong learning and T-levels in the previous Parliament, and the success of the UK’s PISA scores relative to other OECD countries, particularly for science. At fringe events on higher education, panelists debated whether there had been an over-expansion of HE provision in the context of meeting current and future workforce needs, though there was consensus on the need for universities to expand their vocational education offer through degree apprenticeships.
The legally binding 2050 Net Zero target was a contested legacy of the Conservatives’ 14 years in government, with leadership frontrunners openly criticising the target in their conference addresses. On the fringes, shadow ministers expressed scepticism over the Government’s plans for large-scale state investment in clean energy through GB Energy, rather than favouring a private sector-led approach.
The Policy and Public Affairs team has been working closely with the new Government and Parliament to promote our Policy Priorities, with the ambition of ensuring the supply of people and skills meets the needs for infrastructure, decarbonisation and growth.
Please do get in touch with James Gordon ([email protected]), Public Affairs Advisor, if you would like to discuss this further.
< Back to Blog