Manufacturing and Engineering
Debate between Jack Lopresti and Neil CarmichaelWestminster Hall is an alternative Chamber for MPs to hold debates, named after the adjoining Westminster Hall.
Each debate is chaired by an MP from the Panel of Chairs, rather than the Speaker or Deputy Speaker. A Government Minister will give the final speech, and no votes may be called on the debate topic.
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Neil Carmichael (Stroud) (Con)
It is a great pleasure to see you in the Chair, Ms Clark, not least because we are both on the much-loved Environmental Audit Committee, where we have some fun, as well as doing some serious work. [Interruption.] It is always good to set the scene and to highlight co-operation.
It is also great to see the new Minister. I congratulate him on his appointment to an important place—the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills. It clearly has some important tasks ahead, so I wish him good luck and good fortune.
This is a timely debate, not least because the north-east has just had the good news that Nissan is making a massive investment in the community of Sunderland. Incidentally, that investment was supported by the regional growth fund to the tune of £10 million, which is great news. I come from the north-east, and I know that people in the area are particularly pleased with the way Nissan has supported employment and contributed massively to our export position over a number of decades.
The debate is also timely because the Engineering Employers Federation conference is under way today. That is emblematic of the importance of manufacturing and engineering. The Leader of the Opposition will say a few words there, but so, too, will the Chancellor of the Exchequer. That is obviously worthy of mention.
Before I go into the meat of what I want to say, it is critical to underline the importance of the Government’s deficit reduction programme, which will lead to stability in the economy and to low interest rates. We cannot talk about rebalancing the economy if interest rates are not low enough to encourage investment and to support long-term, sustainable economic development. Fundamentally, our macro-economic policy is absolutely right, and we should rest every other argument on that central point.
In April, I am holding a festival of manufacturing and engineering in my constituency, and I am pleased to say that the Minister of State, Department for Business, Innovation and Skills, my hon. Friend the Member for Hertford and Stortford (Mr Prisk), is coming along to open it. The festival will run for five days, and I have three reasons for holding it. The first is to celebrate manufacturing and engineering in my constituency, because we have a large number of very effective firms making high-added-value, innovative products that are often destined for export.
The second reason I am holding the festival is that I want to create an environment in which people feel they want to invest even more in my constituency. It is necessary to point out where we are strong and to say that we can be stronger, with appropriate support.
The third reason I am holding the festival is that I am obsessed with the idea that young people need to be channelled towards manufacturing and engineering when they think about a future career. We have to make it clear that young people should think about manufacturing and engineering. They should do that for themselves because manufacturing and engineering would be a good prospect for them, and they should do it for the economy because it is absolutely necessary that we have the people with the right skills.
Jack Lopresti (Filton and Bradley Stoke) (Con)
I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this important debate. On apprenticeships, is he aware that 30% of the senior management at Rolls-Royce, which has a large facility in my constituency, started their professional lives as apprentices? That demonstrates what a fantastic career people can carve out in manufacturing. It also clearly demonstrates social mobility in action.
Neil Carmichael
My hon. Friend is absolutely right, and I will talk about apprenticeships later. I notice that he has Airbus literally around his neck—its name is on his lanyard—and that is a signal that he understands the importance of large firms such as Airbus and Rolls-Royce in developing our manufacturing and engineering.
The programme for my festival will include investment. I will, for example, highlight the good work of Handelsbanken, which is an effective bank; I have mentioned it on the Floor of the House in connection with investment. We need the right banks—ones that know and understand the sectors they are trying to invest in and the people they are investing with. It is a question not simply of checking out the assets and borrowing against collateral, but of understanding business planning and recognising opportunities for business growth.
Next, the festival will talk about supply chains, which are critical to the economy. It is all very well saying that things are made in Britain when a large number of those things contribute to a bigger thing that is perhaps made in Europe. The importance of supply chains—certainly to my area—cannot be underestimated. The same applies to Wales, Scotland and all parts of England, and it has to be understood. I therefore welcome the measures that the Government are taking to promote good supply chains.
We will also have to talk about women in manufacturing and engineering. We cannot go on with just 2% of girls thinking that physics is a good subject to take; we have to encourage more girls to take it. If we check the economies that are doing as well as, or better than ours, we see they are better at recruiting women into manufacturing and engineering, and we have to do the same.
I am also going to talk about energy and recycling, because such new technologies are important in generating ideas for the future.
Last but not least, we have to get into schools to make sure that they are properly linked to business and that there is a proper interchange of ideas and understanding. We cannot have schools simply saying, “We’re not interested in business, because that’s beyond our ken.” Instead, we have to make sure that schools fashion their courses in ways that encourage pupils to get involved, and interface with, the world of manufacturing.
Neil Carmichael
That is right, and a good point, which underlines the one I was making. I like statistics that do that, so I thank my hon. Friend. We simply must make sure that we have that kind of range and opportunity.
I wanted to discuss planning. We need a cultural change in local authorities. They must start to think in terms of economic growth, as well as slapping up houses, so to speak. We cannot have them being awkward about business planning applications. I came across a good example yesterday, relating to investment in our super-broadband highway. Too often planning authorities stand in the way of the very investment that is needed, by being awkward about granting planning permission; that is something we must deal with.
Procurement is the next area I want to mention. There is another great firm in my constituency: DuroWipers makes the best wipers imaginable for battleships, or any ships, in really rough weather. They will not break. What does the firm want? It just wants better access to the big buyers such as the Ministry of Defence. We say that we want small businesses to have that access, and we must make sure they get it. DuroWipers is a good example of the kind of firm that would benefit enormously.
My hon. Friend the Member for Filton and—
Neil Carmichael
Yes. My hon. Friend will have to speak up, because I am a bit deaf. He talked about apprenticeships. Training and skills are critical. In virtually every firm in my constituency where I have talked to people, they talk about that. ABB, a global leader in power transmission and distribution technologies, is a good example. In Stroud—in Stonehouse—one of its biggest factories employs 250 people and makes gear for the water and power industries. Sixty per cent. of its products are exported, so that is an example of success not just for local employment but in the sense of reaching out to markets. That firm keeps telling me that we must narrow the STEM skills gap—science, technology, engineering and maths—and it is right to say that.
That is a critical fact, and it means we must focus on maths and science in schools. We must ensure that pupils have access to good teaching, and that they get results that they are comfortable with, so that they can look for the jobs that are available, which will be good for them. That underlines the point I made before—but it keeps coming up in business—about the need for more contact with schools, and the need to get in early, to encourage young people to think of manufacturing and engineering.
One thing that I would like—I am not sure that we will get it, but the Budget is coming up, so I shall mention it—is national insurance relief for companies that support apprenticeships. That is an interesting idea and I am putting that marker down now. We need an update of careers advice, so that careers advisers are fully aware of the opportunities in manufacturing and engineering. Of course, ABB has had some successes in apprenticeships, because one of its apprenticeships is currently in the final of the Gloucestershire Apprenticeships Awards. That is great news; such local recognition is important to businesses and shows what good value apprenticeships are.
The Government have taken some great steps on research and development, but we must be sure that we do the best we can for those who are interested in it. It is true that the manufacturing sector, contains a large research and development sector, and that many firms produce groundbreaking products, but we must carefully manage the transition from academic research into the production of useful commercial products. I referred earlier to patents, and to firms such as Renishaw, which has a good relationship with academic organisations. However, we must think carefully about the question of patents. We need to ensure that the relationship between the academic and business worlds is mutually beneficial, and that it encourages the right degree of investment.
Jack Lopresti
Just for the record, my constituency is Filton and Bradley Stoke. My hon. Friend and I are virtually neighbours, so he should remember.
I wanted to ask whether my hon. Friend recognises the importance of university technical colleges in increasing the range of training and opportunity for young people, and providing the link between business, manufacturing and the education sector.
Neil Carmichael
I thank my hon. Friend for his correction about the name of his seat. I was slightly confused about it, because I know it is getting a new name in the boundary review, and I was discussing that with him yesterday. I apologise for my misunderstanding.
My hon. Friend is right. The UTCs are important. I fully support that initiative and I know that Lord Baker has been pivotal—as, indeed, has Lord Adonis—in supporting those projects. We want more of them. In my constituency, I have been vigorously promoting the engineering centre in Stroud college. Funnily enough, there is another link there with the constituency of my hon. Friend because the college has merged with the one in Filton—and quite right too, because is a good strategic alliance. The point I want to make is that it is necessary for engineering to be promoted in organisations, including colleges.