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IET comments on Autumn Statement

Responding to the measures announced in the Autumn Statement today, IET Head of Policy Stephanie Baxter said:

“It is very welcome that the Government has recognised the importance of engineering apprenticeships to filling critical skill gaps in the UK innovation and technology sector.

“In addition to the £50m investment through the Apprenticeship Growth Sector Pilot announced in the Autumn Statement, engineering employers say they need agility within the fund for upskilling and reskilling to allow their workforce to be agile and adaptive to new technologies such as AI and Digital Twins.

“The Institution of Engineering and Technology is therefore calling on Government to allow employers to use unspent levy funding to provide short tailored courses (micro-credentials) in cutting edge technologies. 

“It is also important that the Chancellor has committed to wider infrastructure investment to support the UK meet its net-zero targets. However, manufacturers in the UK are facing critical skill shortages in the face of rapid technological advancement: 21% report skill shortages in adapting to new equipment. This hinders our ability to harness digitalisation and new technologies for innovation. Therefore, government must ensure that the investment addresses these skill gaps to gain maximum benefit from the investment.”

Notes to Editors

About the IET

  • We inspire, inform and influence the global engineering community to engineer a better world.
  • We are a diverse home for engineering and technology intelligence throughout the world. This breadth and depth means we are uniquely placed to help the sector progress society.
  • We want to build the profile of engineering and technology to change outdated perceptions and tackle the skills gap. This includes encouraging more women to become engineers and growing the number of engineering apprentices.
  • Interview opportunities are available with our spokespeople from a range of engineering and technology disciplines including cyber-security, energy, engineering skills, innovation, manufacturing, technology, transport and diversity in engineering.
  • For more information, visit theiet.org
  • Follow the IET on Twitter.

IET Media enquiries

Rebecca Gillick
External Communications Manager
Email: rgillick@theiet.org

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