Menu
Fri, 29 March 2024

Newsletter sign-up

Subscribe now
The House Live All
Defence
Policy solutions for tackling prostate cancer – a disease of inequality Partner content
Health
Health
Communities
Press releases
By BAE Systems Plc

Wright: R&D 'absolutely central' to economic plans

British Academy | British Academy

5 min read Partner content

Research and development would be "absolutely central" to any economic plan over the next few years, Shadow Minister Wright has said in a Labour Party fringe meeting.

Wright did not want Britain to try and compete with low wage and low skilled economies, he said, and instead wanted to see a more coherent industrial strategy developed which played to Britain's strengths by building on the already strong research base. If this was lost, the Shadow Business, Innovation and Skills Minister argued, the results would be incredibly detrimental to the UK as a whole.

Speaking in a meeting hosted jointly by the Royal Society, the British Academy, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Academy of Medical Sciences, Wright said he believed the UK was poor at commercialising research and suggested that this was an important issue that transcended party politics. The continuation of policy had been one thing the current government had done well he conceded and praised the work of the Technology Strategy Board and Catapult Centres.

He explained that the key issue with boosting research was not an economic, political or social issue but a cultural one. The UK did not value engineers as much as America, Germany or France, and subsequently lagged behind those countries in the sector. He explained that scientific inspiration was needed to establish the next generation of engineers and scientists.

Lionel Tarassenko, professor of electrical engineering at the University of Oxford shared Wright's opinion that the continuity of policy had been a successful approach and praised all parties for continuing the important work.

He wanted to see more people who studied engineering to stay in engineering and not move into the banking sector. He was hoping the government could work to encourage more applications into engineering courses from state schools and suggested several incentives, such as paying off student loans for qualified engineers to appreciate their contribution to the economy.

Wright agreed that the Labour Party wanted more people to study engineering and suggested that primary education would be a good place to start to encourage students to study sciences, an area that the government was "failing" at currently.

The Business Minister attacked Education Secretary Michael Gove and his policies which were "detrimental to the long term future of the country" he said.

Christopher Pissarides, school professor of economics and political science, London School of Economics, explained that the government was good on research, building upon curiosity and facilities, but bad on innovation which focussed more on investment in equipment and long term finance.

Research was not just about engineers he explained, and there needed to be more support for research carried out by economists and business consultants. He believed that the problem in the sector was a failure of management and productivity. Improving this would see a stark improvement in the economy he argued.

Wright agreed, there was not enough investment in equipment and the "the kit" that helped drive scientific discovery. The productivity gap was widening he explained and the UK would soon find itself lagging behind many nations.

He called for a British investment bank to be introduced to boost funding available for research for small and medium sized businesses (SMEs).

Martyn Thomas, the founder of Martyn Thomas Associates, believed the crux of the problem lay in the lack of engineers. The status of engineers needed to be raised and the potential success of the career needed to be better advertised.

This drive needed to take place locally to be most effective he argued, if research was to be turned into economic growth.

Engineering companies contributed £1trn to the British economy he said, three times the value of the retail sector, and listed some key businesses in the industry such as BAE Systems and Rockstar computer games.

He wanted to see more initiatives like the Enterprise Hub which got entrepreneurs to mentor those science and engineering skilled individuals with strong business based ideas. He admitted that such a scheme would require publicity but hoped it could raise aspirations amongst people significantly.

Christopher Pissarides explained his belief that growth came from engineering inventiveness and urged British companies to look at profitable American and German industries as a model for successful growth. Other countries gave more thought to management techniques and improving productivity he explained.

He said funding for research was falling under the current government and new streams of private investment were required to maintain momentum and economic growth, a model that had been successfully adopted in America. The biggest failure in current policy was the lack of investment in equipment, in contrast with the high levels of funding for land and new buildings.

"Research is flourishing whilst innovation is falling behind" he warned and urged the private sector to "be more adventurous".

He suggested to Wright that a Labour government introduce tax incentives to boost technological innovation.

Pissarides called for a national industrial policy. He wanted a scheme that recognised the key growth sectors and took away any impediments to economic success.

Question and answer session

A question was raised on the issue of established an engineer as a protected title and making sure the engineering sector was properly listened to by government.

Responding to a question on whether ‘engineer’ could be established as a protected title, Iain Wright admitted he was not formally looking at this but was keen to raise the status of engineers and engineering qualifications. The idea of introducing a chief technology officer to oversee the government's work in the sector and dispense independent advice was another idea Wright welcomed.

Alok Jha, science correspondent at The Guardian and chair of the debate asked Wright who was Labour's science champion?

Wright explained that shadow chancellor Ed Balls "was not a bad start". There was a coordinated approach from the opposition, led by Chuka Umunna and Ed Balls he explained and then highlighted the work Shabana Mahmood carried out as well.

Wright admitted that the UK was very bad at getting women into engineering and conceded that it was a struggle to change hearts and minds. Wright did point to Nissan and Hitachi as two good examples of where progress had been made.

PoliticsHome Newsletters

Get the inside track on what MPs and Peers are talking about. Sign up to The House's morning email for the latest insight and reaction from Parliamentarians, policy-makers and organisations.

Read the most recent article written by British Academy - Contact us

Podcast
Engineering a Better World

The Engineering a Better World podcast series from The House magazine and the IET is back for series two! New host Jonn Elledge discusses with parliamentarians and industry experts how technology and engineering can provide policy solutions to our changing world.

NEW SERIES - Listen now

Partner content
Connecting Communities

Connecting Communities is an initiative aimed at empowering and strengthening community ties across the UK. Launched in partnership with The National Lottery, it aims to promote dialogue and support Parliamentarians working to nurture a more connected society.

Find out more