Memorandum 176
Submission from Prospect
INTRODUCTION
1. Prospect is a trade union representing
102,000 scientific, technical, managerial and specialist staff
in the Civil Service and related bodies and major companies. We
represent engineers across a range of disciplines, functions and
sectors. Prospect represents more professional engineers than
any other UK union. Across government we represent 18,000 engineers
and technical staff. However, the engineering community in government
has declined significantly over the last ten years.
2. For example, the number of civilian personnel
employed by the MoD fell from 133,000 in 1997 to 90,000 currently.
The union believes that up to 7,000 more jobs will be cut as part
of the Chancellor's pre-budget report in October. These new cuts
will be in addition to the 7,000 or so job losses already in train
and a significant proportion will be in engineering and technical
functions, falling disproportionately on Army, Navy and RAF front
line commands with a direct and immediate effect on support to
military operations. This exercise typifies Prospect's concerns
about Government's approach to management of specialist staff,
including engineers, since there is no central knowledge of the
location, functions or specialist expertise-and hence no clarity
of what capability is being lost or whether retained capability
will be sufficient to cope with future demands. A similarly short-sighted
approach was evident during privatisation of the Property Services
Agency 15 years ago and has since occurred with depressing regularity.
3. Prospect contributed evidence at an earlier
stage of the Committee's inquiry, in March 2008, and this brief
submission builds on that evidence. We are fortunate in being
able to draw on the knowledge and first hand experience of our
members to inform our views. Responses to the specific issues
highlighted by the Select Committee are set out below.
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
4. Prospect believes that the Government
Office for Science has an important and significant role to play,
though it is not well resourced to deal with a complex and wide-ranging
engineering community. The initiative by the new Chief Scientific
Adviser to establish a science and engineering community of interest
is very welcome but, in practice, its impact will be limited because
it depends on voluntary self-identification and is limited to
core government departments and agencies. Prospect played an active
role in promoting this initiative to our members, many of whom
had not heard of it from their own employer. Others who wished
to become involved were barred from doing so because they work
outside the core civil service, despite the fact that this is
where much of the Government's practical engineering work is undertaken.
5. At departmental level Chief Scientific
Advisers and Heads of Science and Engineering Profession tend
to be even less well resourced, and many combine this responsibility
with other professional roles. Prospect did have high hopes that
Government Skills, the Sector Skills Council for central government,
would provide additional support to the network of scientific
advisers. However, it is becoming increasingly evident that Government
Skills' priorities lie elsewhere. This is of particular concern
given that many of the key challenges for government, such as
climate change and defence security, depend crucially on engineering
and technical expertise. Indeed a recent initiative by the Ministry
of Defence to review its current skills base was abandoned because
it was, by their own assessment, "too difficult".
6. Although Prospect does closely monitor
government policy advice, we would be very hard pressed to identify
examples of either the Government Office for Science or Chief
Scientific Advisers communicating issues relating to engineering
to the public.
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
7. Prospect members are concerned that,
in part due to recruitment difficulties, Government's capacity
as an "intelligent customer" of engineering projects
has eroded. There is insufficient technical expertise both among
Senior Civil Service policy and decision makers and at levels
below Chief Scientific Adviser, resulting in increased use of
external consultants without either contextual knowledge or "corporate
memory". Thus, one member reported that administration managers
are faced with answering questions on bridge design. Conversely
in-house engineers can contribute to innovative solutions through
intimate understanding of project requirements and partnering
with other engineers, for example in universities, to develop
value for money approaches that would not arise within the confines
of a consultancy contract.
HOW GOVERNMENT
IDENTIFIES THE
NEED FOR
ENGINEERING ADVICE
AND HOW
GOVERNMENT SOURCES
ENGINEERING ADVICE
8. Prospect members report examples where
engineering advice feeds effectively through to policy makers,
though often this is through informal means and dependent upon
personal relationships with colleagues in policy teams. In effect,
engineering advice is "loaned out" through the goodwill
of individual engineers and their managers. Whilst this can work
well, the informality of such arrangements means that consultation
does not occur as a matter of course and so there are likely to
be many instances where policy decisions are made without engineering
input.
9. Too often engineering and scientific
advice are called on simply in times of crisis and, on occasion,
to rectify poor quality work done by external consultants.
THE STATUS
OF ENGINEERS
AND ENGINEERING
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
10. Prospect recently conducted a survey
of members in the Civil Service, attracting 5,300 responses of
which around one fifth are from engineers and technical experts.
The survey findings show the engineers' own frustration over the
lack of status that engineering enjoys within the Civil Service
as well as frustration over career prospects.
- Three quarters of engineers responding
to the survey are more dissatisfied in their job now than they
were a year ago. This level of dissatisfaction is higher than
for civil servants as a whole, for which the dissatisfaction rating
was 63%.
- 76% of engineers are either dissatisfied
or very dissatisfied with their level of pay compared with 63%
of all civil servants, and 79% are angry at the lack of pay progression
compared with 74% of civil servants generally.
- Just one third of engineers are satisfied
with training and development opportunities, reflecting the wider
view of civil servants.
11. It is clear that there is considerable
anger underlying these responses. For example, members have variously
commented that:
"Engineering in [department] is a joke".
"With so few engineers available to give
advice, the generalists will never see how valuable their contribution
could be".
"[Department] is by far the worst employer
I have ever come across in my entire working life".
"The structure of the Civil Service is such
that it does not see engineers as playing an essential role in
its policy-making decisions".
"My advice to engineers is not to go within
a million miles of government".
"There is no real career opportunity for
engineers unless we are willing to take a pay cut and move into
a generalist post".
THE ROLE
AND EFFECTIVENESS
OF PROFESSIONAL
ENGINEERS AND
THE ENGINEERING
COMMUNITY IN
PROMOTING ENGINEERING
AND PROVIDING
ENGINEERING ADVICE
TO GOVERNMENT
AND THE
CIVIL SERVICE
12. As previously indicated, many Prospect
members are also members of professional engineering bodies, and
Prospect seeks to work collaboratively with such bodies on projects
of common interest. Initiatives such as WISE and UKRC provide
valuable expertise and resources to enhance diversity, and Prospect
has some involvement with both bodies. The engineering community
faces major challenges to ensure an adequate skills base for the
future, as highlighted in recent work both by the Department for
Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform[23]
and the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.[24]
Sector Skills Councils are starting to address these challenges,
albeit with varying degrees of enthusiasm, but Government itself
needs to ensure a cross-sectoral and cross-departmental approach
to resolving the engineering challenge. In Prospect's view, the
Commission for Employment and Skills could play a valuable role
in taking this work forward.
September 2008
23 Energy Skills-Opportunity and Challenge. Back
24
Skills for a Low Carbon Resource Efficient Economy. Back
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