Westminster Hall Debate: Manufacturing Skills

Last Tuesday, MPs met in Westminster Hall to debate manufacturing skills. The discussion focussed on the relationship between small and medium enterprises (SMEs), the vocational skills pipeline, and the Government’s renewed focus on reindustrialisation. 

Early in the debate, Baggy Shanker MP, a member of Policy Connect’s All-Party Parliamentary Manufacturing Group (APMG) and Vice-Chair of our Manufacturing Commission, said: 

“More than half the manufacturers I speak to tell me that the shortage in the skills pipeline is their biggest limiting factor for growth.” 

Shadow Minister of State for Education, Saqib Bhatti MP, echoed this concern, citing Enginuity’s ‘Mind the Gap’ report: 

“Its research found that around half of surveyed SMEs reported skills-related issues in the past year, with 36% experiencing skills gaps and difficulty recruiting workers. It estimates that the failure to plug that gap in manufacturing skills costs the UK economy £5.2 billion annually.” 

This same problem was identified in Policy Connect and the Manufacturing Commission’s recent report ‘Small Means Essential’, that found skills shortages to be a continued investment barrier for manufacturers of all sizes. 

Other Members in the debate linked this costly gap to problems in the skills pipeline, including a lack of clear and accessible apprenticeship routes into manufacturing for young people. Baggy Shanker MP argued that “having more apprentices throughout their early years is a key way to reduce that skills gap”. Richard Quigley MP, who led the debate, welcomed the Government’s emphasis on investing in manufacturing and vocational education, but added: 

“Our challenge now is to ensure that every young person across the country can see a pathway into those careers and access to the training, apprenticeships and the technical education needed to get there.” 

Ian Sollom MP noted a similar challenge on the employer-side of the apprenticeship by highlighting that: 

“Apprenticeship units have been available since April, yet the skills charity Enginuity found that a fifth of manufacturing SMEs have never heard of them.” 

Together, these contributions show that while expanding vocational routes into manufacturing will be necessary to support the Government’s renewed focus on reindustrialisation, an increase in the mere availability of apprenticeships will not be enough on its own. Rather, if the Government is to build an effective and sustainable manufacturing skills pipeline, both young people and employers need clear information about these opportunities, and a simple way to access them.  

This reflects key findings from our Skills Commission report, ‘Earning or Learning’. The report found that SMEs see complexity, rather than direct wage costs, as the primary deterrent to taking on young people, and that 32% of surveyed young people say apprenticeships were never discussed with them at school. 

In response, Recommendations 1 to 3 of the report set out a practical route to making vocational pathways more visible and accessible for young people. They call for every secondary school to offer, or partner with others to provide, at least one clearly signposted 14 to 16 applied learning route; for colleges to offer clearly signposted foundation and Level 1 to 2 routes so that a lack of Maths and English GCSEs does not become a hard barrier; and for a Work Experience Coordinator in every Careers Hub to connect schools with local employers and organise quality placements.  

For employers, Recommendation 11 proposes a single ‘Youth Opportunities for Employers’ service to reduce the administrative burden on SMEs taking on young people. It would provide one digital front door where employers can advertise apprenticeships, work experience placements, and other youth opportunities, instead of navigating multiple portals and schemes. It would also introduce simpler, standardised paperwork for small firms, and offer local brokerage support through Careers Hubs, Jobcentre Plus, and Chambers of Commerce to help SMEs with recruitment, provider liaison, and time-consuming HR processes. 

The Skills Commission is now building on this work through a new inquiry into apprenticeships. For further information on this, please contact Max Bishop at (max.bishop@policyconnect.org.uk). 

The Higher Education Commission will be looking into universities and their regional connections in their new inquiry, to find out more please contact Rhiannon Tuckett-Jones at (rhiannon.tuckett-jones@policyconnect.org,uk. 

If you wish to find out more about our work on Manufacturing policy, please contact Robert Allen at (robert.allen@policyconnect.org.uk)