North-East Independent Economic Review

Debate between Chi Onwurah and Lord Willetts

Thursday 5th September 2013 Commons Chamber

[Chi Onwurah]

I will move on to my closing remarks. We need leadership from Ministers and real power—

[The Minister for Universities and Science (Mr David Willetts)]

I really must correct the record. What the hon. Lady said about apprenticeships is outrageous. We have spread apprenticeships across all age groups, including among older people. We are not devaluing apprenticeships; we are doing absolutely the opposite. We are saying that for an apprenticeship to be real, it has to involve genuine employment with an employer—that is what an apprenticeship means to most people—and we are insisting on that.

[Chi Onwurah]

The Minister should recognise that the changes made to the apprenticeship programme have not met with universal approval. Indeed, there is a report out today criticising the Government for changing the funding of apprenticeships for those over 24 years old.

We need leadership from Ministers and the devolution of real power, including over vital EU funding, which can help to boost our region and its people.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chi Onwurah and Lord Willetts

Thursday 15th March 2012 Commons Chamber

[Mr Willetts]

Ultimately, of course, these decisions must be made by individuals, but we want to make it absolutely clear that students have the opportunity to understand the options available; that is why there is going to be an enterprise society in every university. It is also very important that in the recruitment milk round during the months up until taking their final degrees, students have the opportunity to learn about work in SMEs and work in manufacturing, alongside work in the other classic recruitment areas.

[Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)]

Research undertaken by the House of Commons Library this week shows that our science investment is being cut by 14% by this Government, while Germany and China are increasing theirs. Moreover, it says that the UK is becoming an innovation follower, as one of only a handful of countries in Europe to cut its science investment—and the Secretary of State would appear to agree. In this science and engineering week, will the Minister finally explain why he is damaging our science and engineering base?

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chi Onwurah and Lord Willetts

Thursday 8th December 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Willetts]

We are committed to postgraduate education in the UK, and of course we will continue to review the implications for it as our higher education reforms come through, but at the moment we are seeing an increase in the number of postgraduate students in the UK—a record of which we can be proud.

[Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)]

Eighteen months into a Government supposedly focused on growth, we finally have a paper focused on innovation—the engine of growth. We welcome it and will consider it carefully. However, we have seen that this Government’s fine words are not matched by action. The director of the CBI recently described their action on solar panels as the

“third smack about the head”

for investors in renewables. In China, the US, India, Germany and Finland Governments are taking action to create large-scale technological and market opportunities in renewables, ICT, pharma and nanotechnology. What real action will the Government take as a result of the report?

[Mr Willetts]

The report that we are publishing today is a list of the actions that we have already taken and the further actions that we are proposing to take. That includes technology innovation centres, including specific provision for renewables. It also includes the reintroduction of the Smart awards, which were run into the sand under the previous Government, and a research and development tax credit that will be worth more than £1 billion to companies large and small.

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chi Onwurah and Lord Willetts

Thursday 27th October 2011 Commons Chamber

[Mr Willetts]

Of course, we have been able in the past year to fund six of the eight capital projects that the science community identified as the most important. We think that that has been a considerable achievement in tough times, and we will continue to try to secure financing for other capital programmes in the future.

[Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)]

The Secretary of State recently said that all long-term economic growth was linked to innovation, yet one year after he claimed to have protected the science budget, the independent Campaign for Science and Engineering has revealed that its budget has been slashed by 12%, as my hon. Friend the Member for Sedgefield (Phil Wilson) mentioned. The Minister’s own Department says that cuts to science will damage our world-leading position, yet businesses up and down the country are being denied the innovation support that they need, and the shambles in university funding makes it harder for universities to provide science places. If innovation is the engine of growth, why is the Secretary of State doing so much damage to it?

[Mr Willetts]

We in the coalition are absolutely committed to the importance of science and research, and we are strengthening the links between science and research and the business community. We are also offering cash protection for the science budget across all main current expenditure, which the hon. Lady’s party never did in government. The very source that she has just cited, the Campaign for Science and Engineering, only a fortnight ago

“welcomed Chancellor George Osborne’s announcement that £195m of new investment will be spent on science and engineering.”

Oral Answers to Questions

Debate between Chi Onwurah and Lord Willetts

Thursday 18th November 2010 Commons Chamber

[Mr Willetts]

The Secretary of State and I have seen this correspondence, and I can assure the hon. Gentleman, whose close interest in these matters I recognise, that a very satisfactory solution can be found.

[Chi Onwurah (Newcastle upon Tyne Central) (Lab)]

The Government speak of their support for science—support that has seen the science budget cut by 10% in real terms, stripped away the £400 million of annual science spend by the regional development agencies and exposed science capital expenditure to cuts of up to one third. Now the Minister is abolishing the top scientific post in his Department without even discussing it with the scientific community, which is a move that the former chief scientific adviser, Lord May, described as

“stupid, ignorant and politically foolish”.

So the science community has neither proper funding nor real influence. Does the Minister agree that the Government’s support for science is only skin deep?

[Mr Willetts]

We believe that it is possible to deliver the efficiency savings that mean that the science budget will be protected in real terms, and we are also, of course, committed to making efficiency savings within the Department. We make no apologies, therefore, for reducing the number of civil service posts in the Department. That is the right way to save money. However, as I said in answer to the hon. Member for Ellesmere Port and Neston (Andrew Miller), I am confident that the specific concerns raised by the science community about that post can be addressed.