Oral Answers to Questions

Nigel Mills Excerpts

Thursday 5th December 2013 Commons Chamber

[Jo Swinson]

The hon. Gentleman is right that many workers are employed on zero-hours contracts. In some cases those can work well, but in other cases there are concerns about abuse. That is why the Department has undertaken a fact-finding exercise, and we will shortly launch a consultation on what action can be taken to ensure that such contracts are not abused.

[Nigel Mills (Amber Valley) (Con)]

8. What steps he is taking to encourage more people to become engineers.

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

In September the Government announced a £400 million boost for science, technology, engineering and maths teaching. Last month we launched the first annual Tomorrow’s Engineers week, during which the Government worked with more than 70 partners. Our recently published Perkins review of engineering skills calls for action from employers, educators and the profession to work with us to inspire young people to become engineers.

[Nigel Mills]

Does the Minister agree with the importance of getting local engineering employers to work closely with skills providers to inspire young people to go into engineering, and will he join me in welcoming the soon-to-open Heanor studio college, which will do exactly that?

[Mr Willetts]

We strongly support such initiatives, which are absolutely what is required to ensure that employers get the skilled engineers they need.