Skills and Enterprise Minister Matthew Hancock has announced a £30 million fund to increase the supply of engineers, to encourage more women into the sector, and to address engineering skills shortages in smaller companies. The Department for Business, Innovation & Skills (BIS) says the fund will enable engineering companies to establish training programmes to develop future engineers, and boost the number of women in the profession.
Of the fund, £10 m will be directed to a call to ‘Developing Women Engineers’ and £10 million to a call to ‘Improving Engineering Careers’. A further £10 million will be made available this autumn to develop engineering skills in smaller companies. The calls have been developed in consultation with professional institutions and leading engineering companies from across the sector.
Speaking at the launch of the ‘Manufacture your Future’ initiative in the West Midlands, Skills and Enterprise Minister, Matthew Hancock said: “Skills are central to the UK economy and our long-term competitiveness. In order to allow UK engineering to grow and compete on the world stage, we need a guaranteed supply of highly skilled and talented engineers. As highlighted in the Perkins Review, the engineering sector is currently failing to draw on the whole talent pool. By supporting employers to develop the workforce of the future, and bring more women into the engineering, we’re empowering the industry to unlock its potential.
The announcement forms part of the government’s Employer Ownership Fund that enables employers to design training projects that can address skills shortages holding back their business, providing 50% match funding to employers.
‘Developing Women Engineers’ and ‘Improving Engineering Careers’ are the first of a series of focused calls, ‘centred on priority sectors that play a key role in ensuring the UK’s global economic competitiveness’. Prospective bidders are encouraged to explore how they can support employees, particularly women, looking to return to the sector. and how individuals with relevant skills can be helped to progress to become fully qualified engineers.
BIS added: The calls come as a direct response to recommendations made in Perkins Review of Engineering, published in November 2013. Professor Perkins’ review of skills within the engineering sector recommended the government invite employers to put forward innovative proposals to develop engineering skills in sectors suffering acute skills shortages.
“The Government is working together with industry to address these critical issues and establish the skills training that can guarantee a vibrant and prosperous UK engineering sector. This follows a call to action announced in May 2014 supported by over 170 leading organisations across business, education, and the third sector. The call to action will create some 2,000 employment opportunities aimed at increasing diversity, and put in place a raft of measures geared towards increasing take-up across science, technology, engineering and maths.”
