We have made no assessment of the public cost of removing tuition fees for students taking Science, Technology, Medicine, Engineering or Mathematics subjects.

Q3

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Neil Carmichael (Stroud) (Con):

Will the Prime Minister join me in thanking businesses, schools, my Festomane team and the college for organising the

week-long festival—week long—of manufacturing and engineering in my constituency, which was opened by the Prince of Wales? Does my right hon. Friend agree that by focusing on innovation and productivity this Government will deliver more exports and higher standards of living?

I certainly join my hon. Friend in that. People might know that this is an annual week-long festival, championed by him, that showcases local manufacturing success stories. I remember that when I visited his constituency we watched a 3D bike being printed in metal—it was extremely impressive. We need to continue with the long-term plan, which is delivering a more balanced recovery, with manufacturing growing, as well as construction and services. Our commitments to increasing the number of apprentices, to helping companies with research and development and to keeping tax rates low are all delivering a very strong manufacturing success rate for Britain.

The aim of the School-Business Partnerships pilot is to establish long lasting and mutually beneficial partnerships in which schools and businesses work together. The primary focus of the partnerships is on business, particularly local business, rather than national organisations. In addition, each partnership is focusing on the sectors best suited to the local area.

Four out of the five partnerships have incorporated some element of STEM activity in their programme. For example, two have partnered with STEM Ambassadors to deliver activities in schools and one partnership is hosting an event with The Royal Academy of Engineering next year. In addition, Government has shared information on the activities of Engineering UK, the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Royal Society and STEMnet with the British Chambers of Commerce.

We are promoting science, engineering and mathematics in primary schools in a number of ways. From September this year, we introduced a new primary curriculum which aims to align England with those countries that have the highest-performing school systems in the world. Our new primary curriculum sets out the essential knowledge pupils need to progress. There is a greater emphasis on the acquisition of scientific knowledge, an increased focus on practical work, and more emphasis on written methods of calculation. To ensure the focus on written and mental arithmetic, we have also removed the use of calculators from the end of Key Stage 2 tests.

The Department funds several programmes to support the teaching of science and maths at primary including funding 50 local Science Learning Partnerships that deliver professional development to science teachers. In mathematics, we have established a network of 32 new Maths Hubs across England backed by £11 million of funding. These centres of excellence will implement the Shanghai-style mastery approach to mathematics. Central to this is a Shanghai teacher exchange programme. The hubs will also lead a project to trial the use of textbooks at the core of a mastery teaching approach in selected primary schools.

A focus of Civil Service Reform is to build the capability of civil servants to ensure they have the skills they need to do their work better.

The 2014 Capabilities Plan Annual Refresh set out the steps which all professions should take in order to improve the capability of their members. These included ensuring talent management programmes are in place, curricula, professional networks, and qualification options.

All Government departments have undertaken two annual reviews of their skills levels and requirements. The results of these reviews are fed into Departmental Capabilities Plans and Departmental Improvement Plans.

Recent years have seen record numbers of pupils taking science and mathematics at GCSE and A level, with a rise of more than 30% in the number of students taking separate GCSEs in biology, chemistry and physics between 2010 and 2013. There has also been a 15% rise in the number taking mathematics and physics A level, and a 19% rise in the number taking further mathematics A level over the same period. Girls are now as likely as boys to take separate science GCSEs, but more needs to be done, particularly to address the low numbers of girls taking mathematics and physics A level.

The Government has taken action by: reforming the national curriculum and academic and vocational qualifications, to ensure that they enable young people to acquire the necessary knowledge and understanding to progress to further study and employment; recruiting top graduates into teaching by providing bursaries and scholarships in mathematics and the sciences of up to £25,000; supporting schools through professional development and enrichment programmes, such as the Stimulating Physics Network and the establishment of 32 maths hubs; and through the “Your Life” campaign which will change the perceptions of science and mathematics, with a communications campaign targeting 14-16 year olds being launched from September.

I certainly join the hon. Lady in paying tribute to everyone who worked on the growth deal in her area. Over the next few years, growth deals collectively will represent a transfer of £12 billion of Government money away from Whitehall—out of Departments here in London—and into the hands of local communities and local enterprise partnerships. That is a really big, bold act of decentralisation, which I think will finally break the back of the excessive centralisation from which we have suffered for far too long.

My right hon. Friend recently visited Solihull college in my constituency, and saw for himself the brilliant work that it is doing with skills and apprenticeships. Will he join me in welcoming the Birmingham and Solihull LEP growth deal, which will, among many other things, make an aviation engineering training centre a reality, and help Birmingham international airport to become the go-to place for the world’s airlines when they need engineering, maintenance and repair work to be done?

BIS funds or supports a range of activities aimed at increasing the number of women in science and engineering roles. 55% of National Science and Engineering Competition prize winners were girls, as was the UK Young Engineer of the Year 2014.

BIS also funds STEMNET to run the STEM Ambassadors programme: a nationwide network of over 28,000 volunteers who visit schools to inspire young people, act as role models and bring STEM career opportunities to life. 40% of STEM Ambassadors are women. 91% of UK state secondary schools accessed STEM Ambassadors between 1 April 2013 and 31 March 2014.

BIS is also part of the ‘Your Life’ campaign that is designed to boost participation in science, technology, engineering and maths at school and beyond. Over 180 leading businesses and institutions have pledged to do more to highlight the career opportunities open to those studying STEM subjects, committing to create over 2000 new entry level positions including apprenticeships, graduate jobs or paid work experience posts.

As one of our pledges under the Your Life campaign, on 12 June 2014, the Minister for Skills and Enterprise, my hon. Friend the Member for West Suffolk (Matthew Hancock), announced £30 million funding to increase the supply of engineers, to encourage more women into the sector and to address engineering skills shortages in smaller companies. The fund will enable engineering companies to establish training programmes to develop future engineers and boost the number of women in the profession. £10 million of the fund will be directed to a call to ‘Developing Women Engineers’ and £10 million to a call to ‘Improving Engineering Careers’.

We recognise the importance of manufacturing and engineering skills to the economy: these will be vital to building the Solent area’s strengths in marine and maritime. BIS is working closely with industry, Job Centre Plus, and Portsmouth council to support those employees impacted by BAE’s decision to close its shipyard in Portsmouth, including providing upskilling and reskilling opportunities.

In the Southampton & Portsmouth City Deal, we announced a £1 million DWP Rapid Response Service that will support those recently made redundant and that Government and local industry will invest £3 million in a Marine and Maritime Employer Ownership for skills Programme, responding to the immediate skills needs in small and medium sized enterprises in the advance manufacturing sector. Alongside the City Deal, £5 million from the ‘Solent Future’ Regional Growth Fund programme is available to support the up-skilling and re-skilling of BAE staff facing redundancy.

The Skills Funding Agency is also working with colleges and training providers in the Solent area to ensure that support is available to any employees at risk of redundancy to update/reskill—supported by £2.5 million of Skills Support for Redundancy European Social Fund money. Additionally the existing UK wide talent retention solution is available to help match skilled workers to engineering jobs in the local area (currently advertising 692 vacancies in the south of England on its website¹) and the National Careers Service is available to offer free impartial careers advice to those impacted on updating skills or retraining for alternative employment.

The Solent Local Enterprise Partnership and Enterprise M3 Local Enterprise Partnership are involved in detailed negotiations with Government for Growth Deals that will see powers and funding devolved from Whitehall to local partners to drive growth in their area—which covers Hampshire. Solent and EM3 have both put forward proposals to grow the skills—particularly STEM and engineering skills—in their areas. We expect to make announcements on growth deals shortly.¹ Active TRS vacancies listed on 11 June 2014.

Q8

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Iain Stewart (Milton Keynes South) (Con):

The Government are making a substantial investment in renewing and expanding the nation’s infrastructure. There is, however, a real need to get more young people into engineering so that we will have the long-term skills base for these projects. Will my right hon. Friend assure me that this Government will do all they can to inspire the next generation of engineers?

I absolutely back what my hon. Friend says. I know he has been campaigning very hard to get the HS2 academy to go to Milton Keynes, because there is a vital bit of skills work that needs to be done. [Interruption.] I am sure there will be a lot of competition. The key thing about these investments, whether it is Crossrail, the Olympics or HS2, is to plan in advance for the skills that we are going to need so that we can fill the jobs with British people leaving school and college wanting to take on those skills. Today the Chancellor and the Minister for Schools have launched the “Your Life, Your Choice” campaign, which is all about encouraging young people to get into STEM subjects—science, technology, engineering and maths—and to stay in STEM subjects, because there is a massive fall-off from GCSE to A-level, particularly in physics among young women, and we need to encourage them to go on studying.

I did indeed see the fantastic work at Anthony Best Dynamics, which supplies 20 out of the top 20 automotive companies in the world. Yesterday, the Deputy Prime Minister and I visited the Transport Research Laboratory to announce £500 million of support over the next five years to ensure that the United Kingdom is the best place in the world to develop and manufacture ultra-low emission vehicles.

Last Friday, my right hon. Friend the Chief Secretary saw the world-class robotics engineers of Anthony Best Dynamics in Bradford-on-Avon. What is he doing to create the conditions in which such successful manufacturers can continue to grow right where they are?

The Government is working with employers, professional bodies and HE and FE institutions to encourage more women to enter engineering and to remove barriers to their progression.

The Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) funds the Royal Society and Royal Academy of Engineering jointly to run a programme of work aimed at understanding and addressing issues of diversity in the STEM work force.

The Royal Academy of Engineering has developed a diversity concordat which 70% of engineering institutions, representing over 90% of registered engineers, have now signed. They also run the Diversity Leadership Group, made up of senior industrial representatives from an array of engineering disciplines who steer and review collective actions to increase the size and diversity of the engineering talent pool.

BIS contributes to the cost of hosting the finals of the National Science and Engineering Competition at the annual Big Bang Fair which took place last month. 55% of Competition prizewinners were girls and the Fair promoted Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) careers to a record number of schoolchildren.

BIS also funds STEMNET to run the STEM Ambassadors programme: a nationwide network of over 27,000 volunteers who visit schools to bring STEM career opportunities to life. 40% of STEM Ambassadors are women.

No, the Royal Navy has disestablished the Artificer system in favour of a more coherent engineering technician structure which sets a headmark of achieving accreditation through the appropriate professional institutions and apprenticeships.