Source · Select Committees · Defence Committee
Recommendation 17
17
Accepted
Paragraph: 95
We welcome the Government’s acknowledgement that resilience requires investment in increasing the medium and high...
Recommendation
We welcome the Government’s acknowledgement that resilience requires investment in increasing the medium and high skills base. We recommend that the MOD enter into a joint programme of work with other relevant Government Departments to identify and remove barriers which stop UK educational institutions from preparing their students to become the workers required for the UK defence industrial base. Furthermore, we recommend that the MOD pilot a procurement approach whereby a set percentage of apprentices are required to be attached to an acquisition programme.
Government Response Summary
The Department is working with industry to nurture and develop relevant skills in the sectors, including through sharing expertise, making it easier for people to move between Government and industry, and greater outreach by defence and security departments to identify and attract potential talent and highlights the Defence Suppliers Forum People and Skills group.
Paragraph Reference:
95
Government Response
Accepted
HM Government
Accepted
creating and sustaining the sort of vibrant, innovative and competitive industrial base we want to have in the UK. Therefore, the Department is working with industry to nurture and develop relevant skills in the sectors, including through sharing expertise, making it easier for people to move between Government and industry, and greater outreach by defence and security departments to identify and attract potential talent. The Defence Suppliers Forum People and Skills group is a collaborative endeavour between Government and industry which looks to identify and address the skills gap within the UK Defence Sector around STEM related skills. There is ongoing engagement with academia to develop a sustained partnership. This is to enable a demand signal, so that academia is delivering the skills needed. Work, such as the development of a Diversity & Inclusion covenant, is being undertaken to tackle the barriers that prevent diverse people from becoming Defence engineers and on ensuring an inclusive environment to retain those already within the sector. The group also endeavours to reflect and promote the positive attraction of careers within the sector to under-represented communities. Further detail on how Defence continues to support its people will be outlined in the Defence Command Paper Refresh.