Engineering: turning ideas into reality - Innovation, Universities, Science and Skills Committee Contents


Memorandum 174

Submission from the Engineering and Technology Board

SUMMARY

  Engineering is vital not only to our economy but also to solving many of society's most pressing problems. Engineers are key to providing solutions to global challenges such as climate change, renewable energy and clean water. Consequently it is vital that the UK can access a ready supply of highly skilled engineers and technicians. Government, through its Science and Innovation policy and programmes, has a vital role to play in ensuring a well founded science and technology base. Within Government, whilst DIUS leads on Science, Innovation and Skills, the role and contribution of engineers, engineering and technology impact upon virtually all Government Departments.

  The Engineering and Technology Board's (ETB) purpose is "to promote the vital role of engineers, engineering and technology in our society and to inspire people to pursue careers at all levels in engineering and technology".

  Its strategic goals are:

    -  to improve the perception of engineers and engineering;

    -  to improve the supply of engineers; and

    -  to raise awareness and credibility of the ETB with key stakeholders.

  The ETB partners business and industry, Government and the wider science and technology community: producing evidence on the state of engineering; sharing knowledge within engineering; and inspiring young people to choose a career in engineering, matching employers' demand for skills.

  We recognise the crucial role that government plays in driving forwad the innovation agenda and specifically welcome its interest in harnessing enginering skills and technologies for UK plc through its Enginering Inquiry. The ETB has already responded to this major inquiry into engineering and supports the undertaking of this case study Engineering in Government. In this regard we would remind the committee that ETB-commissioned research, which quantifies the contribution of Science, Engineering and Technology (SET) to the UK economy, indicates that SET-intensive sectors produced £252.3 billion (27.3%) of the total UK gross value added (GVA) in 2002 and that the high SET-intensive sectors contributed 27.1% of the improvement in labour productivity over 1993 to 2000: science, engineering and technology are key drivers of productivity.

  Additionally, there are about 2.5 million people in SET occupations in the UK, both within the SET intensive sectors and elsewhere, including services. SET skills are fundamental to our economy's success, yet among SET employers and occupations, women represent a significantly under-utilised resource. Also appropriate skills at the technician level are becoming scarce.

  As well as the above general comment, the ETB also provides the following specific response to issues cited in the Engineering in Government case study.

1.  THE ROLE AND EFFECTIVENESS OF THE GOVERNMENT OFFICE FOR SCIENCE AND THE CHIEF SCIENTIFIC ADVISERS IN PROVIDING ENGINEERING ADVICE ACROSS GOVERNMENT AND COMMUNICATING ISSUES RELATING TO ENGINEERING IN GOVERNMENT TO THE PUBLIC

    (a) We note that many of the science and technology issues facing Government are common to several Departments, so individual Chief Scientific Advisers (CSA) will be frequently called upon to advise on matters which have common technological foundations. We also note that the individual backgrounds of CSA's are diverse and complementary. Despite the formal job title, it should be recognised that some are distinguished engineers. The input for engineering from suitably qualified personnel must be maintained.

    (b() We commend the coordinating initiatives of the Government Chief Scientific Adviser and groups of individual CSAs in tapping into their collective experience and the UK expert base through the Royal Society, the Royal Academy of Engineering and individual science and engineering institutions. This is particularly important in new and emerging areas of which sustainable systems engineering is a good example.

2.  THE USE OF ENGINEERING ADVICE IN GOVERNMENT POLICY MAKING AND PROJECT DELIVERY, INCLUDING EXAMPLES OF POLICY DECISIONS OR PROJECT DELIVERY THAT HAVE BEEN OR WILL BE TAKEN WITH OR WITHOUT ENGINEERING ADVICE

    (a) Science, engineering and technology have evolved into a continuum. Thus it is often difficult to separate their individual roles in providing solutions to the sorts of problems that impinge upon Government policy. Government is, therefore, unlikely to seek engineering advice in isolation but rather advice that is underpinned by mathematics, science engineering and technology. For example, dealing with the outbreak of Foot and Mouth depended upon the combined advice of mathematicians, chemists, biochemists and engineers. Similarly the risk management of flooding in the UK (post Hurricane Katrina) involved advice from across the spectrum of leading edge mathematical modelling to heavy civil engineering advice sourced from our Institutions.

3.  HOW GOVERNMENT IDENTIFIES THE NEED FOR ENGINEERING ADVICE AND HOW GOVERNMENT SOURCES ENGINEERING ADVICE

    (a) Engineering professionals are members of Institutions and networks of peers. The Chief Scientific Advisers and their staff are well plugged into these networks so they are likely to be only one or two steps away from independent authoritative specialist advice.

    (b) The vast majority of the UK's top engineers are Fellows of the Royal Society, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the major Professional Engineering Institutions. The Chief Scientific Advisers fall into this group themselves. The Fellows are, therefore, the group that are the source of expert engineering advice.

    (c) The major challenge is for the Chief Scientific Adviser on behalf of the Government, to determine the nature of the advice that is currently needed and importantly identify future issues where early advice could be sought.

4.  THE STATUS OF ENGINEERING AND ENGINEERS WITHIN THE CIVIL SERVICE, INCLUDING ASSESSMENTS OF THE EFFECTIVENESS OF THE SCIENCE AND ENGINEERING FAST STREAMS, AND THE ROLE AND CAREER PROSPECTS OF SPECIALIST ENGINEERS IN THE CIVIL SERVICE

    (a) In some Government Departments the term "engineer" was synonymous with "technician" so that professional engineers were described as "scientists". It is important that the civil service recognises and embraces the professionalism and contribution of its graduate scientists and engineers.

    (b) The science and engineering institutions have professional competence-based grades of membership that have international currency.

    (c) The ETB recommends that the effectiveness, status and career prospects of the science and engineering members the civil service, including fast streamers, would be greatly improved if they were encouraged to follow the initial and continuous professional development (IPD/ CPD) offered by a science or engineering institution.

    (d) Governments Departments should pay the fees for such membership and professional development.

    (e) We also note and welcome the recent announcement by DIUS through its current A Vision for Science and Society consultation para. 6.12. which states: Within government, the Government's Chief Scientific Adviser (GCSA) is leading work to strengthen the skills and raise the profile of the science and engineering community within the Civil Service, a major employer of scientifically skilled workers. Key to achieving this is the revitalisation of the HoSEP (Head of Science and Engineering Profession) network.

5.  THE ROLE AND EFFECTIVENESS OF PROFESSIONAL ENGINEERS AND THE ENGINEERING COMMUNITY IN PROMOTING ENGINEERING AND PROVIDING ENGINEERING ADVICE TO GOVERNMENT AND THE CIVIL SERVICE

    (a) The role of the ETB is to promote the vital contribution of engineers, engineering and technology to our society. This includes their promotion to Government and the civil service.

    (b) In this context "the ETB" means the Chairman, Chief Executive and the other fifteen members of the ETB Board.

    (c) The ETB believes that with a newly constituted Board which is more representative of the broad engineering community coupled with a proactive partnership based engagement strategy the Government and the civil service will experience a step change in the effectiveness of the promotion of engineering.

6.  INTERNATIONAL EXAMPLES OF HOW ENGINEERS AND ENGINEERING ADVICE ARE IMBEDDED IN GOVERNMENT

    (a) Generally, other nations do not have the multiplicity of engineering institutions (nor the rich science and technology base). In these cases, independent advice is achieved through the single professional institution/academy. In others, there are large Government funded agencies that provide expert advice. We would suggest that DIUS should look at these different national models with the view to extracting best practice that can be translated into the UK.

September 2008





 
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