Beatrice Barleon, Head of Policy and Public Affairs, EngineeringUK comments on the Autumn Budget
“We welcome the Chancellor’s commitment to invest in education and skills as a central pillar of the government’s growth agenda, not least through the creation of Skills England and the announcement of a £40 million pot to develop new foundation and shorter apprenticeships in key sectors. We look forward to continuing to support the government to develop a new Growth and Skills Levy, ensuring an apprenticeships system that provides ample routes into engineering and technology careers for young people.
The pledges of significant funding uplifts for school budgets and further education colleges will be key to addressing the teacher recruitment crisis, which is particularly acute in STEM subjects. To resolve the teacher workforce crisis in the long-term, this must be accompanied by a similar commitment to teacher retention, such as by reversing short-sighted cuts to subject-specific CPD for STEM teachers.
Moreover, the announcement of a series of new energy and infrastructure projects, such as green hydrogen plants and carbon capture and storage facilities, underscores the centrality of ensuring an engineering and technology workforce that is fit for the future to achieve the government’s mission of turning the UK into a clean energy superpower.
Ahead of the publication of the full industrial strategy next spring, we look forward to supporting the government with the development of sector plans for key growth-driving industries, many of which depend heavily upon the supply of skilled engineers and technologists.”
Ahead of the publication of the full industrial strategy next spring, we look forward to supporting the government with the development of sector plans for key growth-driving industries, many of which depend heavily upon the supply of skilled engineers and technologists.
— Beatrice Barleon, Head of Policy, EngineeringUK
