Party Political Conferences
The Science Council held two well-attended fringe events during the party conference season in partnership with member organisations.
At the Liberal Democrat Party Conference in Bournemouth, the Science Council hosted a panel discussion titled ‘Will the UK be part of the European science community in 2020?’ The panel included Rebecca Taylor, former Liberal Democrat MEP; Dr Mike Galsworthy, Programme Director, Scientists4EU; Dr Mindy Dulai,Royal Society of Chemistry; and Ed Long, Chair, Association of Liberal Democrat Engineers and Scientists.
At the Conservative Party Conference in Manchester, the Science Council hosted a panel discussion titled ‘Winning the Global Race: how the UK can be the best place to do science’. The panel included Clare Viney, Royal Society of Chemistry; Professor Carolyn Roberts, representing the Institution of Environmental Sciences; Dr Curtis Dobson, representing the Royal Society of Biology. The event was chaired by Nigel Hurst, Managing Director of Haden Freeman who was representing the Institution of Chemical Engineers. The guest speaker was Nicola Blackwood MP, Chair of the House of Commons Science and Technology Select Committee. A write-up of the discussion is available on the Science Council website.
A number of key policy themes emerged across both events including universal calls to ring-fence the science budget; making sure the UK remained a welcoming place to international scientists, students and entrepreneurs; the need to re-evaluate the current model for commercialisation of research and technology transfer; and the UKs future as part of the European Union. Panellists across both events called for the science community to work collectively to make a positive case for the UK remaining in the EU and agreed that scientists should be comfortable speaking out ahead of the referendum.
Science Council consultation responses
The Science Council has responded to a number of recent government consultations.
Apprenticeship policy
In August we responded to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills consultation on protecting the term 'apprenticeship'. While we consider that protecting the terms in law would send a strong signal that the government values apprenticeships, our principle concern is that the government’s attention is being drawn away from the urgent need to address wider issues of the perception, take up and quality assurance of the apprenticeships.
In October we responded to the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills consultation on the apprenticeship levy. The Science Council is broadly supportive of the levy in principle. However, the levy must be used to increase provision of science apprenticeships as there are very few on offer. The Science Council has called on the government to create 100,000 high-quality science apprentices per year, with standards linked to Registered Scientist (RSci) and Registered Science Technician (RSciTech), by the end of the Parliament.
Social Mobility
In September we responded to the House of Lords Social Mobility Committee inquiry into transitions from school to work for 14-24 year olds. Our response highlighted the role of good careers information, improving young people’s ‘science capital’ and perceptions of science, and the quality of non-graduate progression routes in science as ways of improving young people’s transition from school to work.
Comprehensive Spending Review
In September we submitted to the 2015 Comprehensive Spending Review, in which we call for the government to significantly increase investment in the UK’s skills pipeline, particularly at technician level, as well as increasing funding allocations for the delivery of high-costs STEM subjects in higher education.
Teachers’ Professional Development
In October we responded to the Department for Education’s consultation on Teachers’ professional development standards, calling on the government and education institutions to drive improved professionalism and standards in science teaching at all levels and settings through support for CSciTeach. We also called for the Department for Education and training organisations such as TeachFirst and Schools Direct to work in partnership with the Science Council to encourage all science teachers to apply for CSciTeach and communicate its benefits to aspiring teachers and to education leaders.
A list of public consultations relevant to members’ interests can be accessed on the policy pages of the Science Council’s website. For more information on the Science Council’s policy and public affairs activities, contact Oliver O’Hanlon.
Delivering skills for national infrastructure
The Treasury has published a National Infrastructure Plan for Skills, setting out the government’s aim to improve, extend and upgrade the UKs infrastructure by retaining and upskilling around 250,000 of the existing workforce over the next decade in addition to the need to recruit new workers. The Plan acknowledges that current national skills planning is fragmented due to lack of detail on demand and supply, combined with limited training that offers the transferrable skills that enables people to move between sectors and projects.
Science Council comment: We have asked to meet with Treasury officials to discuss how our professional registers can support government’s skills planning framework to deliver the necessary skills required to meet the aims of its National Infrastructure Plan. We will keep members updated on any future discussions with Treasury officials.
The battle for funding: FE versus HE
The further education (FE) sector is in a position of great risk, according to a report from Policy Exchange, stating that “there is a systematic imbalance between the two halves of our tertiary education system.” The report’s main concern is that public funding is heavily slanted towards higher education (HE) at the expense of FE. To ensure the UK has high levels of professional and technical education both further and higher education must be functioning well together, and calls for up to £500 million to be taken from HE to boost the quality of high level professional and technical courses in FE. Universities would be required to meet the costs of high-cost subjects, such as STEM, and widening participation from their own revenues. It also calls for accelerated development of National Colleges and Institutes of Technology, recommending that they are allowed to design, accredit and award their own qualifications based on sustained engagement and approval from relevant employers and industry bodies.
The report has drawn reaction from a range of stakeholder groups in further education (NIACE, Association of Colleges) and higher education (Universities UK and University Alliance).
Science Council comment: We have welcomed the government’s recent focus on improving vocational education. The FE sector has a vital role to play in training and developing technicians to meet the UKs long-term anticipated skills demands. A vital component in developing a highly-skilled workforce will also be to encouraging more young people to study science in HE. The priority for government must be to significantly increase investment across the entire skills pipeline in order to maximise the number of people studying science post-16.
Regulator calls for improvement in apprenticeship quality
Apprenticeship quality remains weak and do not sufficiently match national skills priorities, according to an Ofsted report. Surveying 45 providers, Ofsted found that one third did not provide apprentices with high-quality training and a number of learners were not aware that they were enrolled on an apprenticeship. Ofsted also found that too few employers provide well-funded advanced and associated professional-level skills needed in the sectors with shortages. The report concludes that the government’s reforms must focus on raising the quality, rigour and profile of all apprenticeships, not simply increasing apprenticeship numbers, and concentrate growth on the industries that have the strongest demand for a skilled workforce.
Science Council comment: There is an increasing demand for high-quality vocational education. However, there remains an urgent need to address issues of the perception, take up and quality assurance of science apprenticeships. Linking apprenticeship standards to professional registration requirements where they exist can ensure that apprenticeships provide learners with a clear progression route to the next career level and transferrable skills demanded of employers.
