October policy roundup

Key outputs

In October, in collaboration with the Institute of Materials, Minerals and Mining (IOM3) and the Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC), we published a report on the skills needed for the circular economy. The report, Jobs and skills for a circular economy: a cross-sector perspective from the chemical and materials science and engineering communities, achieved good coverage in the high-value trade, industry, and professional titles and was warmly received by civil servants. This project, in collaboration with the Department for Business and Trade, will feed into the forthcoming circular economy strategy, and has involved officials from DESNZ and DEFRA. We currently have follow-up meetings with Chris McDonald MP (Minister for Industry) and Baroness Northover to discuss the report’s findings and recommendations.

We have been feeding into government consultations to build our profile as a credible voice with policymakers, with our new policy officer Mitch leading this work. We made a submission to the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s two calls for evidence regarding the strategy and economic regulation of carbon capture, utilisation, and storage. These submissions were drafted with the Oil, Gas and Energy Transition Special Interest Group. We have also made a submission to the Science, Innovation and Technology Select Committee inquiry on innovation and global food security, in collaboration with members in the Food and Drink Special Interest Group.

The Department for Education recently released a white paper on post-16 skills and a consultation on a new vocational education pathway. We are working across IChemE to develop a response to the consultation. We expect DfE to release another consultation soon regarding changes to the strategic priorities grant which provides subsidies to high-cost subjects at tertiary education establishments, such as chemical engineering courses. We have been engaging with the Heads of Chemical Engineering UK to prepare to respond to this.

Events

In September and October, Duncan Lugton (Head of Policy) attended Labour and Conservative Party Conferences. He was invited to speak at two roundtables at the Labour Party Conference (organised by IPPR and the IET respectively) and supported the National Engineering Policy Centre event on the industrial strategy at Labour Party Conference.

On 13 October, IChemE hosted its second event with the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee. This standing-room only event took place in Portcullis House, Westminster and featured a panel with IChemE President Professor Raffaella Ocone OBE, Dr Kate Barclay MBE and Sam Carling MP as chair. There were parliamentarians, policy professionals, researchers and figures from industry in attendance, and the discussion was positive and enthusiastic. Key points from the conversation included the importance of chemical engineers in delivering the industrial strategy, the need for the UK to do better at scaling up innovations, and how we can get a sufficiently large and skilled workforce to deliver the country’s ambitions.

Our second roundtable in Australia took place in October in Adelaide and looked at how to grow the capability to decarbonise heavy industry. Looking ahead, we are planning further roundtables, including with the Royal Society of Edinburgh on the 18 November (looking at skills for industrial decarbonisation). There will also be discussion of how to make engineering a truly diverse profession at the Fellows’ Luncheon on the day of the annual IChemE Awards, and a discussion of policy at networking event in Wales in November.