House of Commons - Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills Committee

Re-skilling for recovery: After Leitch, implementing skills and training policies - Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills Committee Contents

Memorandum 6

Submission from the Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI)

KEY POINTS

— The education and skills of the workforce are key to maintaining a thriving research based pharmaceutical industry in the UK.

— Introduction of the Commission for Employment and Skills, and the re-licensing of Sector Skills Councils (SSCs), is an opportunity to introduce joined up activity to meet the education and training needs of industry

— Provision of part time local education, especially part time foundation and honours degree courses in chemistry and biosciences, is often inadequate. Train to Gain skills brokers could have a major impact on helping employers provide ongoing education for their employees by identifying needs across a sector, or similar needs across a range of sectors, and brokering provision of appropriate courses locally and regionally within further and higher education institutions.

INTRODUCTION

1. The ABPI is the trade association for the pharmaceutical and biopharmaceutical industry in the UK. Members include large UK-based pharmaceutical companies, significant overseas investors in to the UK, emerging biopharmaceutical companies and contract research organisations.

2. The historical strength of the UK in attracting and growing R&D investment has been the supply of skills and access to fundamental knowledge in the research base. Access to skills and knowledge—especially in pre-clinical sciences, pharmacology, chemistry and early clinical development—was the UK's key competitive advantage.

3. To support delivery of the education and skills required by this research intensive industry, the pharmaceutical industry has been one of the leading sectors in terms of collaborative research with universities. Collaborations include funding of over 600 PhD studentships and around 330 postdoctoral grants[24] with 78 British universities in 2007. The total value of all of the collaborations reported in the survey is in excess of £65 million.

4. UK pharmaceutical sites also hosted over 530 undergraduate students in their laboratories for periods between 3 months and one year—the vast majority completed a one year industrial placement as part of their degree.

5. The pharmaceutical industry continually reviews the skills needs of its workforce. ABPI has convened a taskforce to review progress against the recommendations made in our 2005 report, Sustaining the Skills Pipeline[25] and to identify any improvements in skills supply or additional concerns.

IMPLEMENTING THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF THE LEITCH REPORT

6. Recruitment into the pharmaceutical industry in the UK is largely at Level 4 and above. Research into the labour market for the pharmaceutical and bioscience sectors by Semta[26] found that, whereas over 70% of sites surveyed had recruited BSc graduates in the last 12 months, and 60% had recruited people with a PhD, only 11% had recruited people who had left school in the last 12 months, and 13% had recruited people who had completed an apprenticeship. Hence the Leitch targets for adult basic skills and level 2 skills are less relevant to our sector than to many others; the proposed shift towards level 3 and 4 qualifications, proposed in the Leitch Implementation plan, are of more relevance to our sector.

7. The same report found that turnover in some types of company was high. In contract research organisations on average nearly one third of current employees had been recruited in the last 12 months, and 27% were new employees in the industrial biotechnology sector. Turnover was lower in pharmaceutical research and development sites (12%) and pharmaceutical manufacturing sites (5%).

8. The Semta labour market survey found that pharmaceutical and bioscience companies spend a considerable amount of time and money on training; the majority of this is on off the job training related to specific job roles. The total spend, for the 132 sites which estimated their training spend, was over £10 million, the majority of companies expect training spend to increase in the next 12 months. Laboratory scientists are most likely to receive training with 78% of sites providing training for this group. Barriers to increasing the amount of training carried out were mainly focussed on allowing staff time off to train and the high cost of local training provision.

9. Regional structures for delivery of skills training are of limited value to an industry which acts globally and where many employees are recruited on a national, and frequently international, basis. The key elements of education for which regional delivery is required are part time provision of HNC in biology and chemistry, and follow on undergraduate degrees. This provision is often lacking, leading to apprentices from Novartis, Horsham having to travel to the University of Greenwich to follow a course that meets their needs.

10. The Commission for Employment and Skills is in its infancy; however we see as an urgent priority, within the re-licensing of Sector Skills Councils (SSCs), more joined up activity to meet the education and training needs of the UK pharmaceutical industry. The lack of clear differentiation of responsibility for scientific and technical subjects between the SSCs[27] (Annex) demonstrates the lack of a coherent framework. This has led to confusion amongst employers and education providers on the most appropriate SSC to engage with and has probably contributed to the slow pace of activity to meet our needs.

11. The education and skills of the workforce are key to maintaining a thriving research based pharmaceutical industry in the UK. Hence the focus for relevant SSCs must include high level education and skills, including university provision, as well as vocational qualifications. A Sector Qualifications Strategy for the Bioscience Sector (SQS) is under development, led by Semta; this will identify the importance of higher education qualifications to this sector. We understand that there has been a recent improvement in the engagement of HEFCE with Sector Skills Councils towards consideration of funding for employer-led demands.

12. Funding for three pilot employer engagement projects has, indeed, already been provided by HEFCE, however much of the funding has gone to support development of infrastructure for employer engagement and co-funded provision. It is too early to see if this funding will have any impact on engagement with pharmaceutical employers. In general HE sector funding for undergraduate education does not put any emphasis on meeting the needs of employers; hence engagement with Higher Education Institutions is likely to be difficult. Effective engagement is, however, essential if the SQS is to be effectively implemented.

13. Enabling SSCs to approve additional vocational qualifications is an opportunity; but it will only be effective if these qualifications are valued, and taken up, by significant numbers of employers. Ensuring that the framework of qualifications is fit for purpose, to allow seamless progression to further and higher education, and to employment, should be the main focus of any curriculum development carried out by Sector Skills Councils. An ongoing review of National Occupational Standards relevant to the pharmaceutical and bioscience sectors has revealed that many areas do not have qualifications suited to their needs and that significant updating of others are required[28].

14. Coordination of further and higher education provision and awareness of opportunities are a major issue. Some companies take on science apprentices, however provision of part time regional education, especially part time foundation and honours degree courses in chemistry and biosciences, is lacking in many regions, forcing students to travel long distances for their higher education. Information on foundation degrees, in particular, is patchy. Although several searchable directories of information on foundation degrees exist, the information they provide is not consistent. This is an area where Train to Gain skills brokers, working with Sector Skills Councils, could have a major impact. However their focus to date appears to have been working with individual companies rather than by identifying needs across a sector, or similar needs across a range of sectors, we have yet to see evidence of this happening.

15. Introduction of Skills Accounts, to be piloted from autumn 2008, together with unique learner numbers, will be a positive move towards engaging adults in lifelong learning. The effectiveness of the system will depend on local provision of appropriate courses; this is the area which we believe must be addressed if all learners are to have the opportunity to progress.

16. The education and skills needs of science based industries will only fully be met when companies and education and training partners work together effectively. Sector Skills Councils, Regional Development Agencies, higher and further education institutions and skills brokers can all play a part in identifying and meeting these needs. The economic health of research based industry in the UK is dependent on effective joined-up working of all these organisations.

April 2008

Annex