July 1999

Westminster Report, IEE Review

With politicians occupied by the local, Scottish, Welsh and European Elections, it's been a quiet few weeks for engineering at Westminster. Only the indomitable Claire Curtis Thomas MP has kept engineering on the political agenda by regularly pressing the Government to explain what they are doing to help engineers.

In one instance, she urged the Foreign Office to explain what efforts they were making to ensure that men and women with engineering qualifications were entering the diplomatic service. In answer, Foreign Minister Tony Lloyd - in his best 'new Labour speak' - noted that "the FCO encourages a diverse range of candidates to apply for the diplomatic service, so that the FCO is representative of the best of modern Britain." He did at least note that those with engineering degrees were encouraged to apply.

Responding to further questioning, Mr Lloyd said that the senior management structure of the Foreign and Commonwealth affairs included one officer who had qualified as a chartered engineer, although no current Ambassador had this qualification. This last point is illustrative of the problems we face. It is vital that our civil servants in the Foreign Office and elsewhere do not just have academic backgrounds in the arts or humanities. Perhaps it should be a requirement that the civil service must take a certain percentage of students with a science or engineering background - even though I loathe any sort of quotas.

Ms Curtis Thomas also managed to get the Government to explain what would be in the Millennium Dome – no mean feat given that information on this has been somewhat hazy until now! Culture Media and Sport Minister, Janet Anderson MP, noted that the Millennium Dome, alongside its individual exhibits, represented "striking examples of the capabilities and imagination of British designers, architects and engineers". She promised that elements of the exhibition would address issues within the engineering field.

She added that the New Millennium Experience Company was working with the Design Council and had produced some innovative school curriculum resource packs. These packs dealt with a range of construction and engineering issues involved in the building of the Dome.

I welcome these efforts. Although the Dome has been subject to heated controversy, it will now be an almost permanent feature on our landscape. It is vital that the Dome shows to the rest of the world the best of British engineering. It is good that the Government have recognised that acknowledgement of our engineering prowess will be an essential part of the Dome exhibits.

Meanwhile, efforts continue to be made to draw more women into science, engineering and technology. Dr Phyllis Starkey MP, a former Science Administrator, tabled an Early Day Motion welcoming the launch of the Athena Project. This project was launched on 23 February and is supported by a variety of institutions, including academics and the Office of Science and Technology. It aims to ensure that more women in Higher Education participate in science and engineering courses. The Motion, whilst unlikely to be discussed on the floor of the Commons, does help draw attention to this issue and it is printed in the Order Paper on a weekly basis.

I know that the IEE has itself been providing our Education establishment with advice on Post Graduate Qualifications. In a submission to the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education, the IEE, noted that "engineering is an essential element of our society, necessary for national wealth and well-being" and urged for the promotion of the M.Eng qualification as an undergraduate qualification, but with a higher status than B.Eng. Postgraduate qualifications must be made less bureaucratic as a simple structure will enhance the quality of UK postgraduate qualifications.

At the end of May, Science Minister, Lord Sainsbury announced that Government departments and public sector organisations would be heavily involved in the latest round of Foresight. Foresight, which aims to build bridges between business, voluntary organisations, government and the science base, have published their latest Progress report. The report highlights how different departments are using foresight panels to inform policy development. For example, the Department for Education and Employment uses Foresight panels to drive forward its work on education, training, and skills which can only have a beneficial effect on giving impetus to encourage more skills in science and engineering.

Astonishingly, the Education and Employment Minister (Andrew Smith MP) told the Commons that the existing Employment Service systems unfortunately did not allow the Government to monitor the number of firms in the engineering sector that had taken on trainees under the New Deal. Although the Minister noted that an IT supplier had been commissioned to develop an employer database to provide this information, it does seem very surprising to me that this is not already in place.

We need to be able to monitor the New deal to check whether it is providing jobs for the unemployed, but also to see whether the engineering sector is making the most of this Government programme. This is especially important given the vast sums the Government has spent to get the New Deal into motion.

In the Westminster hothouse, Tory Leader William Hague MP, reshuffled his frontbench team and Angela Browning will now shadow Trade and Industry Secretary Stephen Byers. John Redwood has now taken the Shadow Environment, Transport & the Regions Portfolio. The Conservatives will hold the government to account regarding their science policy. They will be keen to ensure that the science and engineering skills base is being developed and that deeds are in line with expectations.

It will also be interesting to see whether devolution in Scotland and Wales helps to promote engineering in those countries or whether these legislatures will just prove another burden of bureaucracy to be met by the taxpayer. Over the next few months, I will be looking at developments to see whether the new legislatures keep science and engineering at the top of their agenda.