STEM Skills in the UK – Lords Committee to hear from senior Government officials
Monday 31 October 2022
Tomorrow, Tuesday 1 November, the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee will hold the fifth evidence session of its current inquiry: People and skills in UK science, technology, engineering and mathematics. This session will explore the policy details regarding visas, the skills gap and challenges facing those in academic scientific careers.
The Committee will take evidence from civil servants from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy, the Department for Education and the Home Office.
The session will start at 10.15am and can be attended in person in Committee Room 4A, Palace of Westminster or viewed live on Parliament TV.
The committee will hear from:
10:15am
- Paul Kett, Director General for Skills, Department for Education;
- Isabel Allgeyer, Deputy Director, Research Talent and European Programmes, Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy and;
- Philippa Rouse, Migration & Citizenship Director, SRO Future Border & Immigration System Programme, Home Office.
The inquiry so far has heard evidence that the UK visa system is far more costly than that of other countries; that there is a significant STEM skills gap as well as suggestions of how the skills training opportunities in the UK could be improved; and that science PhD students and postdocs experience of precarity is negatively affecting the attractiveness of academic careers in the UK.
Possible question areas
- How well the Government understands the skills deficit
- The Government’s approach to ensuring training and re-skilling are available to those who need it
- The cost of UK visas for scientists
- The development of Plan B in the event the full association with Horizon Europe proves impossible
- The Government’s approach to addressing the precarity of academic careers
- The extent of co-ordination between Government departments on the issues relating to skills
