Eight leading UK engineering organisations last month, in the General Election run-up, issued a “comprehensive call for action” to ensure that engineering “makes the maximum contribution to solving Britain’s biggest challenges: the economy, the environment, education, infrastructure, and public services”.
The call was accompanied by the publication of a 14-page “manifesto”: Engineering the future of the UK – a vision for the future of UK engineering, by the specially-formed “Engineering the future” collective, comprising the Engineering Council, EngineeringUK, the Institution of Civil Engineers, the Institution of Chemical Engineers, the Institution of Engineering and Technology, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, the Institute of Physics, and the Royal Academy of Engineering. A joint letter from all eight organisations’ presidents urged the UK political parties to “grasp the fact that engineering holds the key to creating a new, broader, economic base”. The manifesto says the UK is “not fully leveraging engineering’s potential”, and that radical change is required, with Government needing to “play a central role”. The collective emphasised that discussions would take place with each main political party as they prepared their own manifestos. The document highlights five key policy priorities for Government:
• “Sustaining and encouraging investment in the skills for the future”: the collective said the “high-value, technology-based” industries of the future demanded “a more scientifically literate society, and a much greater proportion of schoolleavers with qualifications in science, technology, engineering, and maths”.
• Making the UK “a leader in low carbon technology”. The organisations say the current regulatory framework “provides inadequate certainty for investment”, and that the Government must adopt “a more interventionist position”.
• Identifying ways to “capitalise on the value” of the UK science and engineering research base. The collective says “despite promising initiatives”, transfer of knowledge into the private sector is “too limited”, and private sector R&D incentives “lag behind other major economies”.
• “Harnessing the power of public spending to encourage innovation”. The collective says: “With a £220 billion annual budget for goods and services, Government is the largest customer in the country. Best practice procurement would create the opportunity for more innovative solutions, and give a better chance to small and medium-sized enterprises.”
• Making greater use of engineering advice in government policymaking. A recent House of Commons Select Committee report (HEJ – August 2008, May 2009, and April 2010) on engineering called for more effective engagement between policymakers and the engineering profession.
