Memorandum 26
Submission from ICE (Institution of Civil
Engineers)
INQUIRY INTO
ENGINEERING
The Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE) was
founded in 1818 to ensure professionalism in civil engineering.
It represents 80,000 qualified and student civil engineers in
the UK and across the globe. The ICE has long worked with the
government of the day to help it to achieve its objectives, and
has worked with industry to ensure that construction and civil
engineering remain major contributors to the UK economy and UK
exports.
The ICE has worked with the Engineering &
Technology Board (ETB) to co-ordinate responses to this inquiry;
this submission therefore focuses on issues specific to the civil
engineering sector.
1. Executive Summary
1.1 Professional engineering services contribute
£2 Billion to the UK economy[93]
and the construction sector in which civil engineering operates
accounts for 10% of GDP[94].
1.2 Civil engineers are central to the creation
and maintenance of the UK's transport, energy, waste management,
water supply and flood defence networks. A stop/start approach
to developing these networks is damaging quality of life and endangering
economic competitiveness.
1.3 Priority policy areas such as climate
change and the house building programme require technology to
be deployed on a massive scale. Civil engineers have the applied
technical skills to deliver such programmes but are not being
utilised by government at the strategic level.
1.4 Action is needed to improve the sector's
capacity to absorb both formal R&D and "hidden innovation"
arising from new business processes, technology transfer and problem
solving on individual projects.
1.5 The UK's current high demand for infrastructure
investment comes at a time when global demand, the retirement
of baby boomers and reduced entry into the sector during the 1990s
are combining to create capacity constraints.
2. Introduction
2.1 All UK engineering services contribute
£2B to the UK economy. Civil engineering sits at the heart
of the construction sector which accounts for 10% of UK GDP.
2.2 Civil Engineering and Civil Engineers
create and maintain the physical fabric underpinning life in the
UK. A historic culture of stop/start investment in our rail, road,
energy generation, waste, water and flood defence networks is
damaging quality of life and endangering future economic competitiveness.
ICE's recent report, State of the Nation-Capacity and Skills identified
the need for a Strategic Infrastructure Planning Body, chaired
by a Chief Infrastructure Advisor, to work with government and
industry to place infrastructure development on a long term, co-ordinated
footing.
2.3 Civil Engineering will be central to
the delivery of many of the government's policy priorities including
addressing climate change, house building and improving UK security
and resilience. These problems require scientific knowledge to
be deployed on a massive scale. Professional Civil Engineers have
the management and applied technical skills to deliver such programmes
in a market environment. Government is not, however, consistently
engaging engineers in this task. For example the recently formed
Climate Committee has no engineers amongst its membership, damaging
its ability to discharge its duty to, "advise on the pathway
to|reduce UK CO2 emissions by at least 60 per cent by 2050".
A Chief Infrastructure Advisor would help address this gap.
2.4 A ramping up of R&D expenditure
in civil engineering will be required to deal with the challenges
outlined above. However, much innovation in the civil engineering
sector derives from improvements in business processes, technology
transfer from other sectors or through solutions to problems thrown
up on individual projects. Government can help create the conditions
that will enable the industry to absorb both this "hidden
innovation" and formal R&D through its role as research
funder, client, regulator and policy maker.
2.5 The closure of the DTI's Partners in
Innovation Scheme and the changing roles of the former government
research laboratories has hastened a decline in "intermediate
research", which transforms breakthroughs into industry codes
and standards. This activity has historically been an important
precursor to the use of new knowledge on civil engineering projects
due to client and investor demands for high degrees of certainty
and concerns over public safety. Industry has a collective responsibility
in this area. However the sector is characterized by highly fragmented
supply chains and a perception that benefits from investment in
innovation will accrue to third parties. When coupled with the
low profit margins common in the sector, this creates a disincentive
to invest. Government as the major client for infrastructure projects
and professional bodies with their knowledge transfer roles need
to show leadership and work with industry to increase investment
in knowledge codification and transfer.
2.6 The UK does face civil engineering skills
challenges. The Office of Government Commerce predicts annual
growth in the infrastructure sector of 4.2% between 2005 and 2015.[95]
This period of high demand comes at a time when a decline in engineering
student numbers (now partially reversed) and looming retirement
of many of the "baby boom" generation are combining
to create skill supply problems.
2.7 The UK's stop/start approach to infrastructure
development is also a factor in creating capacity constraints
as it encourages short termism and an unhelpful environment for
the development of high level skills.
3. THE ROLE
OF ENGINEERING
AND ENGINEERS
IN UK SOCIETY
3.1 Economic and Quality of Life Contribution
3.1.1 Engineering is a major contributor
to UK prosperity. All engineering services contributed £2
Billion to the UK balance of payments in 2006. The construction
sector, of which Civil Engineering is an integral part, accounts
for circa 10% of GDP.
3.1.2 Civil Engineering and Civil Engineers
create and maintain the physical fabric underpinning UK life.
Furthermore the creation and maintenance of modern transport and
telecommunications networks are fundamental to future UK competitiveness.
We therefore welcome that government has at the strategic level
identified investment in infrastructure as a priority area for
improving productivity growth.[96]
3.1.3 Our recent report State of the Nation-Capacity
and Skills identified a historic culture of stop/start investment
in the UK's rail, road, energy generation, waste, water and flood
defence networks. To tackle this problem ICE is promoting the
case for a Strategic Infrastructure Planning Body to work with
government and industry to place infrastructure development on
a long term, co-ordinated footing. In addition to securing more
effective delivery of infrastructure we believe that the increased
certainty such a body would create would create an environment
conducive to greater industry investment in skills and innovation.
3.1.4 Engineers play a major role across
the economy. A recent survey by the Engineering and Technology
Board indicated that three-out-of-ten directors of a sample of
FTSE 100 companies with a first degree, had studied engineering.[97]
The same survey showed that circa 25% of civil engineering graduates
do not enter a professional engineering career but instead choose
to work in other sectors. This demonstrates that the core skills
developed via training in engineering (applied numeracy, technical
literacy, problem solving and cost/benefit analysis amongst others)
are highly valued across the economy.
3.2 Importance of Civil Engineering to Government
Policy Priorities
3.2.1 Civil engineering will be vital to
achieving government's goals in many of its priority areas, including:
- Climate change: adaptation will require
major investments in flood risk management and improving the resilience
of infrastructure and buildings. Mitigation will require action
in three areas underpinned by civil engineering; transport, energy
generation and energy use in buildings.
- House building and the Sustainable Communities
plan. Major investment in infrastructure will be needed to support
the government's planned 3 million new homes.
- Security and resilience. Issues including
energy security and the protection of buildings and infrastructure
from terrorist attack require engineering solutions.
3.2.2 All of these areas will require the
deployment of scientific and technical knowledge on a massive
scale. Professional Civil Engineers have the management and applied
technical skills to deliver such programmes in a market environment.
Government is not however engaging engineers in strategic planning
to tackle these issues. For example the recently formed Climate
Committee has no engineers amongst its membership, undermining
its ability to discharge its duty to, "advise on the pathway
to| reduce UK CO2 emissions by at least 60% by 2050". Government
policy making has been well served by input from the Chief Scientific
Advisor and scientific advisors within departments. Given the
scale of the UK's infrastructure delivery needs there is now a
strong case for the appointment of a Chief Infrastructure Advisor
to fulfill a similar advisory role across government.
4. THE ROLE
OF ENGINEERING
AND ENGINEERS
IN UK'S
INNOVATION DRIVE
4.1 ICE urges the committee to take a broad
view of innovation including:
- Development of ideas (into products and
services)
- Supply/transmission of innovation
4.2 The EU's annual innovation scorecard
indicates that generically, the UK is strong in generation of
ideas but weak in their development, adoption and diffusion.
4.3 A ramping up of R&D expenditure
will be required to deal with many of the challenges outlined
above. However, much of the innovation that has delivered significant
improvement in the civil engineering sector in recent years is
not the result of the direct application of R&D. Other forms
of innovation that have been important include:
- Organisational and construction process
improvements, for example the contractual and risk and reward
arrangements developed by BAA for the construction of Heathrow
Terminal 5 enabled the establishment of fully-integrated expert
teams, allowing contractors to focus on working together and to
share more information than was common under traditional arrangements.
This was a major factor in the successful delivery of this highly
complex project.
- Technology transfer from other sectors,
for example the use of off-site manufactured units in residential
building projects. The steel maker Corus has applied its production
line expertise to develop a range of fully fitted steel framed
accommodation modules. This system has been used for a £1
billion development of accommodation for military and civilian
personnel near Salisbury Plain and Aldershot, resulting in a 30%
reduction in construction costs, reduced delays due to weather
conditions and 50% fewer deliveries to site.[98]
- Knowledge sharing and diffusion. Over 1000
organisations have participated in Constructing Excellence's demonstration
programme, gleaning knowledge from over 450 projects with a value
of £12.5B. Companies participating in the programme are performing
above the industry average against 20 indicators including qualifications
and skills of employees.
- Project based innovation. Problem solving
by the interdisciplinary teams working on individual construction
projects has historically been an important driver of innovation
in the sector.
4.4 There is an opportunity to improve the
civil engineering sector's capacity for absorbing this innovation
by overcoming the following barriers:
- Uncertainty of demand. The stop/start nature
of UK infrastructure development, exacerbated by uncoordinated
procurement across the public sector, does not create conditions
conducive to investment or risk taking
- Industry structure. Civil engineering and
construction are characterised by highly fragmented supply chains
leading to a perception that it is difficult for an organisation
to recover its costs from developing new intellectual property
because the benefits accrue to other members of the supply chain,
or in the case of many major projects to society as a whole.
- Decline of the previously strong "intermediate
research sector". Former government research centres including
the Transport Research Laboratory, the Building Research Establishment
and Hydraulics Research Wallingford, and industry owned groups
such as CIRIA, have traditionally made a major contribution by
codifying emerging knowledge into industry codes and standards.
This activity has also allowed new knowledge to be deployed on
civil engineering projects in an environment where clients, investors
and regulators require high degrees of certainty that a process
is robust, bankable and safe. The closure of the DTI's Partners
in Innovation scheme in 2002 has contributed to a decline in this
type activity at a time when industry needs to be scaling up its
use of new knowledge.
- A lack of demand for innovation from clients,
leading to a culture where organisations develop competitive advantage
via cost efficiency rather than innovation.
4.5 Positive steps that could help overcome
these barriers include
- ICE's proposed Strategic Infrastructure
Planning Body would deliver greater transparency of demand, improving
the investment environment.
- Government in all its forms should be a
more effective client. Incorporating and enforcing a requirement
for whole life costing into public procurement would drive innovation
in areas such as energy efficiency.
- Government should embrace the case for
positive, targeted regulation. Tightening of the Building Regulations
since 1990 has been a driver for major improvements in the energy
efficiency of new buildings.
- Action to reinvigorate the intermediate
research sector. Government as a major client and a proxy for
the public interest should take some direct responsibility. However
we recognise that professional bodies, working with best practice
bodies such as Constructing Excellence, also have a role in this
area.
5. THE STATE
OF THE
ENGINEERING SKILLS
BASE IN
THE UK, INCLUDING
THE SUPPLY
OF ENGINEERS
AND ISSUES
OF DIVERSITY
5.1 The long term maintenance of the UK
skills base must be addressed strategically across the Science,
Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) sector.
5.2 ICE believes that the introduction of
14-19 diplomas is a positive step and is working to support both
the engineering and construction & built environment diplomas.
5.3 It will be particularly important for
future competitiveness to ensure that the UK has world class STEM
teaching in schools and universities. There is a widely held view
that universities are incentivised to maximise research ratings,
with less emphasis placed on the quality of teaching, with consequences
for the quality of graduates.
5.4 In the short term securing the necessary
capacity and skills to deliver the UK's infrastructure investment
programme is a significant challenge. The Office of Government
Commerce predicts annual growth in infrastructure demand of 4.2%
between 2005 and 2015, whilst projects such as Crossrail will
create strong regional demands. Global demand for engineering
services is high, particularly in emerging economies, where returns
on investment are often significantly higher than in the UK.
5.5 This period of high demand comes at
a time when a decline in numbers entering engineering in the 1990's
and the pending retirement of many "baby-boomers" are
combining to create pressure on supply.
5.6 Skill gaps are being filled by overseas
recruitment but there is widespread acknowledgement that the sector
will need to draw on a wider and more diverse range of UK talent.
ICE is active in this area through its ICEfloe initiative aimed
at identifying and removing obstacles to equal opportunities in
the sector. There are also many examples of changing practice
in industry, for example "buddy" schemes pairing older
and younger workers, allowing the former to contribute past retirement
age, whilst improving the transfer of knowledge and skills to
the next generation.
5.7 As noted above, we believe that lack
of transparency of demand encourages short term behaviour in the
sector and militates against organisations and individuals investing
in higher level skills, strengthening the case for a Strategic
Infrastructure Planning Body.
6. THE IMPORTANCE
OF ENGINEERING
TO R&D AND
THE CONTRIBUTION
OF R&D TO
ENGINEERING
6.1 The majority of formal R&D in UK
civil engineering takes place in universities. Annual spend is
circa £40 Million, including around £5 Million from
industry. The UK will require increased spending on R&D and
action is also needed to increase the industry's ability to absorb
research outputs.
6.2 The UK's academic base is currently
performing well. In the 2001 Research Assessment Exercise, civil
engineering academics outperformed the national average for the
quality of their work. In the longer term however, several major
universities are reporting difficulties in recruiting UK students
at MSc and PhD levels, a view supported by Engineering and Technology
Board figures[99]
which suggest that non UK students account for 30% of all (undergraduate
and post graduate) civil engineering students in UK universities.
There is a need for greater understanding of what happens to these
students on graduation and the long term impact on:
- Capacity for world class teaching in universities
- Our ability to retain the cohort of highly
skilled individuals required to attract R&D investment from
overseas
- Diffusion of research and innovation across
UK industry
7. THE ROLES
OF INDUSTRY
ET AL
IN PROMOTING
ENGINEERING SKILLS
AND CAREERS
7.1 ICE and other engineering bodies work
closely with the Engineering and Technology Board in this area.
The ETB's submission to the Committee will provide more detail
on this work.
7.2 There is a great opportunity for government,
industry and the professions to promote engineering's role in
tackling environmental and human development issues such as climate
change and poverty reduction. These are issues which can attract
bright young people into careers in engineering.
7.3 Within civil engineering, ICE is active
in working with other stakeholders in areas including:
- Promotion of engineering in schools
- Accreditation of undergraduate degrees
and supporting academics with implementing the changes required
to adapt teaching to the profession's changing needs
- Working with industry to sponsor students
at university through our QUEST scheme
- Supporting the early professional development
of engineers through training agreements
- Supporting specialist skill development
through a system of specialist registers
- Engagement with bodies such as the Regional
Skills Fora, the Academy for Sustainable Communities Skills and
ConstructionSkills Regional Skills Observatories
8. RECOMMENDATIONS
Based on our evidence, ICE makes the following
recommendations:
8.1 That government should endorse ICE's
proposal for a Strategic Infrastructure Planning Body chaired
by a Chief Infrastructure Advisor.
8.2 That ahead of the appointment of a Chief
Infrastructure Advisor government should appoint a senior engineer
to the Climate Change Committee and any bodies created to provide
strategic oversight of the UK's house building and security &
resilience policies.
8.3 That government reviews how its role
as client, regulator, research funder and policy maker can improve
the civil engineering sector's capacity to absorb innovation.
8.4 That government should work with industry
and professional bodies to reverse the decline in intermediate
research in civil engineering.
8.5 That government work with industry to
address the long term causes of skills and capacity constraints
affecting UK's ability to deliver and maintain infrastructure.
March 2008
DEPARTMENT FOR INNOVATION, UNIVERSITIES AND
SKILLS
POST-COUNCIL WRITTEN STATEMENT: 29-30 MAY
2008 EU COMPETIVENESS COUNCIL IN BRUSSELS
The Minsiter of State for Science and Innovation,
Universities and Skills (Ian Person MP) has today made the
following written ministerial statement:
The following statement provides information
on the Competitiveness Council which took place in Brussels on
29-30 May. The Research session of the Council was held on 30
May and was chaired by Mojca Kucler Dolinar, Slovenian Minister
for Higher Education, Science and Technology. A Ministerial dinner
took place on 29 May to discuss the location of the European Institute
of Inovation and Technology (EIT). I represented the UK at the
dinner and at the Council.
The Council adopted a Council Regulation establishing
a Joint undertaking to implement a Joint Technology Initiative
(JTI) for Fuel Cells and Hydrogen. The JTI is expected to be launched
as soon as possible.
The Council agreed a Resolution on a Code of
Practice on Intellectual Property for Universities and other public
research organisations, and agree Conclusions on European Research
Infrastructures, family-friendly Scientic Careers, and the launch
of the Ljubljana Process, an initiative which aims to agree a
long term vision and governance structure for the European Research
Area (ERA). I reiterated the UK's support of the Ljubljana Process
and its aims, and emphasised the importance of recognising business
investment in R&D and getting the framework conditions right
to better encourage this. I also stressed the need to develop
a fully effective external angle to the ERA in order to help address
the global challenges of climate change, food supply, and energy
sustainability.
Under Any Other Business, the Council took note
of presentations by the Commission on Better Careers and More
Mobiity for European Researchers and on a Code of Conduct for
responsible nanosciences and nanotechnologies research. I intervened
on nano research, reiterating the UK's support for the Code and
stressed the need to encourage its uptake. (I emphasised the need
for better coordinated research and regulation on nano research
in order to help fill the gaps in knowledge that currently exist
in the development and use of this technology, partcularly in
respect to addressing concerns on health and safety and the potential
effects on the environment.
The Council, also took note of presentations
by the Presidnecy on the progress of two proposals for Decisions
to set up research initiatives based on Article 169 of the Treaty
(Ambient Assisted Living (AAL) and Eurostars),and on improving
EU-Russia research links.
The Council could not reach the consensus needed
to agree the location of the EIT administrative Headquarters at
the Ministerial dinner on 29 May, and has agreed to meet again
on 18 June to revisit the issue.
93 Office of National Statistics (2007), United Kingdom
Balance of Payments-The Pink Book 2007, HMSO, London. Back
94
Pearce, D (2003), The Social and Economic Value of Construction,
nCRISP, London. Back
95
Office of Government Commerce (2006), 2005-15 Construction
Demand/Capacity Study, OGC, London. Back
96
HM Treasury (2007), Productivity in the UK 7, HMSO, London. Back
97
Engineering and Technology Board (2007), Engineering UK 2007,
ETB, London. Back
98
National Endowment for Science, Technology and the Arts (2007),
Hidden Innovation, Nesta, London. Back
99
Engineering and Technology Board (2007), ibid. Back
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