10 Nov 22. House of Commons Scottish Affairs Committee,
What does the future of military shipbuilding look like for Scotland?
Evidence Session
Defence in Scotland: Military shipbuilding
Monday 14 November at 15.00, Committee Room 15
Watch live on parliamentlive.tv
The Scottish Affairs Committee will continue gathering evidence as part of its Defence in Scotland: Military shipbuilding inquiry, hearing from academics and the President of RAND Europe.
From seeking views on the National Shipbuilding Strategy to discussing whether the pipeline of Scottish orders is sufficient, the Committee will be delving deeper into whether current policy is supporting the sector in Scotland to reach its full potential. Members are also likely to explore skills and labour, in addition to export opportunities and how the UK Government can involve Scottish small and medium enterprises (SMEs) more in shipbuilding supply chains.
In last year’s Defence and Security Industrial Strategy, the UK Government revised its shipbuilding strategy to allow the possibility of more open international competition, rather than all Royal Navy warships being designed and built solely in the UK.
The Confederation of Shipbuilding and Engineering Unions and the Scottish Government have previously said that issues around skills and workforce represent significant challenges for the industry.
Witnesses
From 15.00:
- Professor Keith Hartley, Emeritus Professor of Economics, University of York
- Hans Pung, President, RAND Europe
- Dhruva Kumar, Curriculum Head, Marine Engineering, Faculty of Nautical & STEM, City of Glasgow College
07 Nov 22. Lords Committee to quiz Education Minister on addressing the STEM skills gap in the UK. The House of Lords Science and Technology Committee will hold the final evidence session of its current inquiry by hearing from the Minister of State in the Department for Education, the Rt Hon Robert Halfon, MP. The session will explore the skills gap in the UK, and current policies to address it
The session will take place on Tuesday 8 November at 10.15am and can be attended in person in Committee Room 4, Palace of Westminster or viewed live on Parliament TV.
The committee will hear from:
10:15am
- Rt Hon Robert Halfon MP, Minister of State, Department for Education.
The inquiry so far has heard evidence that there is a significant STEM skills gap, as well as suggestions of how skills training opportunities in the UK could be improved. We have heard evidence on the declining enrolment in apprenticeships and adult education in recent years, the need for more modular and flexible courses, and the Government’s schemes to try to address these deficits, including the Lifelong Learning Entitlement and the introduction of T-Levels.
Possible question areas
- How well the Government understands the skills deficit, including how it assesses which skills will be needed in the future
- The Government’s approach to ensuring training and reskilling are available to those who need it
- The scale of reskilling and retraining efforts and whether current policies are sufficient to meet skills gaps
- The “missing middle” of technical skills and technician skills at levels 3–5
- The Government’s approach to ensuring there are a sufficient number of skilled teachers and trainers to address the skills deficit
- The extent of co-ordination between Government departments on the issues relating to skills