The industrial strategy must drive a bold vision and operate as a fully integrated system across the UK

 

 

The engineering profession has submitted its collective response to the government’s industrial strategy Green Paper in a report entitled Engineering an economy that works for all. The response distills evidence and opinion gathered through a series of 10 workshops across the UK and a survey of the profession that received 1,200 responses. The response addresses all 38 questions posed in the Green Paper, and each of the strategy’s 10 ‘pillars’.

 

The response calls for the strategy to embody an ambitious and bold long-term vision that harnesses the UK’s international reputation for engineering excellence and forges a new global identity for Britain. 

 

A coordinated and integrated strategy 

To achieve the best possible outcomes from the industrial strategy and ensure that the different elements of the strategy work together as a coherent whole, the engineering community advocates that the government takes a systems approach to delivery. A key element of this approach is identifying interdependencies between different parts of the strategy, and the associated fragilities, but also where there may be opportunities to aggregate value and reinforce outcomes.

 

The longevity and stability of the industrial strategy depends on the support of, and coordination with, all government departments. The engineering community would like to see cross-party support secured for the key tenets of the strategy, to ensure that these endure beyond the five-year life of a parliament. 

 

The response recommends that government builds on existing successful initiatives, institutions and infrastructures and identifies examples, some national, others regional, of successful schemes and organisations that are already making significant progress in alignment with the ambitions of the industrial strategy. 

 

The industrial strategy offers the opportunity to realise the potential of underperforming cities, towns and areas across the UK. The response argues that for the industrial strategy to create an economy that works for everyone, a clear strategic framework will be needed within which central government, devolved governments and regional and local institutions collaborate and cooperate and so are mutually reinforcing.

 

Building a low carbon economy through energy efficiency 

 

Government must also take a systems view of energy production and consumption, which joins up the disparate elements of business, energy, and industrial policy into a single coherent and long-term strategy that can also respond rapidly to changes in a complex global landscape. Energy policy is too often approached in silos, separately addressing carbon and the environment, security, and cost, resulting in policies that pull against one another. 

 

The report stresses the importance of embedding sustainability and a low-carbon economy right across the strategy. The report proposes voluntary efficiency targets and incentives to encourage industry to generate their own clean energy where there is competitive advantage in doing so, or sufficient land and resources are available to justify renewable solutions.

 

Investing in innovation and infrastructure

 

The industrial strategy must enable the country to capture value from its world class research base, and therefore investment in that research base must be accompanied by innovation investment in the academic, private and public sectors. The report proposes a target of 3% of GDP for combined public and private R&D investment and calls on government and the private sector to develop a roadmap towards achieving this goal. 

Many of those consulted said that government should be involved in supporting private sector infrastructure investment. It is vital that the long-term approach in the National Infrastructure Delivery Plan is continued after the UK leaves the EU to provide an element of certainty to investors. The UK’s status with the European Investment Bank must be addressed early in the negotiations for leaving the EU, in order to ensure the continued development of large infrastructure projects. 

 

Investment in the UK’s digital infrastructure more broadly was also identified essential to realising the industrial strategy’s ambitions.

 

Developing skills 

 

The report highlights the urgent need for better approaches to skills development at all levels. Teacher shortages in STEM subjects in schools should be addressed as a matter of urgency and there should be greater investment in subject-specific CPD for teachers. Computing is an essential skill for the workforce of the future and should form part of the core curriculum in schools as well as being taught through a new general Computing GCSE, while Design and Technology should be included in the English Baccalaureate accountability measure. 

 

The skills base would also benefit from promoting diversity and inclusion across the workforce, the report argues, which would in turn boost productivity.

 

Professor Dame Ann Dowling OM DBE FREng FRS, President of the Royal Academy of Engineering, said:

 

"The industrial strategy is a critical platform to maintain and grow the UK’s prosperity as we prepare to leave the EU, but needs to extend beyond its current proposed scope into primary and secondary schools and continuing professional development to be truly successful. It provides an unparalleled opportunity to engage the public with the UK’s industrial and engineering strengths. Government should capitalise on this to take the opportunity to excite and inspire the public, especially young people, about the country's potential to develop and grow world-leading innovations and their own opportunity to be a part of the innovation process. It also provides renewed impetus to enable creative and productive collaboration between industry and academia to enhance economic growth.

 

"A good industrial strategy will not make government intervention more likely, but it will make it more predictable - and that builds confidence and encourages business investment. The strategy must be long-term and sustained, with cross-party and whole government support."

 

The report represents a collaboration of all 38 professional engineering organisations, led by the Royal Academy of Engineering, and has benefited from an unprecedented level of engagement by the engineering community. 

 

Read the full report here: RAE industrial strategy report