Scientific committee warned ‘staggering’ deindustrialisation is leaving parts of the UK behind

ENGINEERS are needed to facilitate the energy transition, but without investment in manufacturing, better policy, and a more diverse workforce, the UK risks being left behind in the race for net zero.

That was the main takeaway from the first Parliamentary and Scientific Committee meeting since the formation of the new government, hosted by IChemE.

The briefing was held at Portcullis House on the Parliamentary estate and asked the question: In the next Parliament and beyond, how can engineers contribute to achieving a more sustainable world?

It was led by a series of speakers in the political and engineering space, including Mark Apsey, IChemE’s current president, Maddie Dinwoodie, the director of engagement programmes at Engineering UK, and Chris McDonald MP, who is an IChemE member and the first fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering to become an MP.

McDonald said: “We talk a lot about diversity and quite rightly, but I think that says something about the lack of diversity of thought in the industry and the detrimental effect it has had to industrial policy.”

Investing regionally in the UK

McDonald warned that manufacturing is in danger of being neglected in favour of the financial sector as climate concerns shape industry decisions.

He said: “We have taken a view in the UK that industrial strategy is something best left to the market, seeing a staggering amount of deindustrialisation.”

Though the UK steel industry contributed £1.8bn to the economy in 2023, demand and production have decreased to “historic” lows, according to a report by UK Steel. The report found that production was 7.6m t in 2023, a decrease of 6% compared to the previous year.

Investing more in UK manufacturing rather than financial services will incentivise international investment, according to McDonald, bringing in money to regions of the UK with existing industry infrastructure.

“On this issue of inequality, in Stockton North and across Teesside where I am, manufacturing pays £19,000 a year on average more per job than other services do. There are highly paid financial services jobs, but they are not in Teesside.”

Women in engineering

The Climate Change Committee (CCC) projects that up to 735,000 new jobs are needed by 2030 to support the energy transition, with the bulk being engineering jobs.

However, Dinwoodie aired concerns over gender diversity in the workforce, warning that engineering not only needs to attract more women, but retain them too.

“Only 15.7% of the engineering workforce is made up of women,” she said. “We are seeing a slight increase of women entering; however, we are seeing woman leave between the ages of 25 and 44.”

Dinwoodie explained how building a workforce strategy specific to engineering is needed to get more women into the profession, as research from EngineeringUK found that 36% of girls said that science was not for them, and 12 % saying engineering specifically did not fit in with their career aspirations.

The committee also discussed the role teachers have to play in encouraging students into STEM-related professions and how further upskilling and reskilling is needed in education, as science subjects in the UK are often taught by non-specialist teachers.

Dinwoodie added: “There are programmes run by organisations like STEM Learning that connect teachers into industry, so they can understand it and bring that engagement, inspiration, and knowledge of careers into the classroom.”

The unique position of engineers

Apsey shone a spotlight on the many industries where chemical engineers are essential.

He said: “Chemical engineers are uniquely positioned to help with a sustainability transition as we are trained under systems thinking and understanding how systems and processes work.”

The energy transition has seen demand for engineers in the UK skyrocket, with EngineeringUK reporting that vacancies for “green engineering” have increased by 55% in the last five years.

Apsey acknowledged the demand, and welcomed an increase in interest among young people, but said that more funding is needed to improve education, not just for students, but professionals already in the industry that may need upskilling to work in emerging green technologies.

He said: “We are asking for more research funding in areas like rapid process intensification, decarbonisation of energy, biological engineering scaleups, and energy storage and systems.”

He added: “[As IChemE] we want to help and engage with as many people as possible, and across other engineering organisations, to offer our expertise to tackle these challenges.”