But times change and the phrase has been rehabilitated – Prime Minister Theresa May has said the Government will publish a Green Paper outlining its thoughts ‘by the end of the year’. Once comments have been considered, a White Paper is planned for the first half of next year.
Last week, the Chancellor allocated substantial amounts of money to set up the National Productivity Investment Fund. This has two elements: the Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund, to be managed by Innovate UK and the research councils, and which will attempt to replicate the US DARPA programme; and further funding for innovation, applied science and research, including what is said to be a ‘substantial increase’ in grant funding through Innovate UK.
More money for technology R&D is always to be welcomed, but one thing missing from the Chancellor’s statement was commentary on skills. Professor Dame Ann Dowling, president of the Royal Academy of Engineering, pointed out: "It will be important to match these investments with a substantial drive to attract and train more skilled engineers."
And Prof Dowling’s comment is well made: while the UK has been seen as good at coming up with new ideas, commercialising them – where the UK has not been so good – needs engineers, not scientists.
Interestingly, a newly published report has found that, while half of small businesses with more than five employees are planning to grow their headcount over the next two years, finding skilled staff is their greatest challenge. On a sectoral basis, manufacturers had the highest level of concern, followed by the technology sector.
So it will be interesting to see what the Government’s industrial strategy might be, which areas it might regard as important and – critically – how it addresses the issue of developing the engineering skills this country is said to need.
