PoliSCI (w/e 15 March 2019)

Offshore Wind Sector Deal released

Industry is set to invest £250m to develop the UK supply chain as global exports are set to increase fivefold to £2.6bn by 2030, with a third of British electricity set to be produced by offshore wind power by 2030. The announcement, made by Energy and Clean Growth Minister Claire Perry, will form part of an Offshore Wind Sector Deal – the tenth deal from the government’s Industrial Strategy.

The main aims of the Sector Deal are:

• To provide forward visibility of future Contracts for Difference rounds with support of up to £557m
• For industry to commit to increasing UK content to 60% by 2030
• To increase female representation in the offshore wind workforce by at least a third by 2030
• To increase exports fivefold to £2.6bn by 2030
• For industry to invest up to £250m building a stronger UK supply chain, establishing the Offshore Wind Growth Partnership (OWGP) to support productivity and increase competitiveness

Industry-academia collaboration boosted by £10m fund

A new £10m fund to encourage interactions and research between small businesses and universities has been announced by Universities Minister Chris Skidmore. The fund will be administered by Research England, which is part of UKRI, and will offer between £500,000 and £1.5m for up to ten universities to develop University Enterprise Zones, which were announced in the 2018 Autumn Budget.

Skidmore said: ‘Today’s investment to bring business and academics together will not only lead to the creation of new products and services, it will boost job creation for local areas to feel the benefits of UK innovation which demonstrates our modern Industrial Strategy in action.’

Apprenticeship Levy unlikely to hit targets two years on

Research from the National Audit Office has shown that the Department of Education has failed to meet the targets set by its Apprenticeship Levy, including demonstrating that apprenticeship programme is achieving value for money. The 2017 levy made several changes to the former programme that were hoped to better meet employers’ needs and improve the quality of apprenticeships.

Its main criticism is that the department has not effectively set out how the levy will boost economic productivity – its principal aim. Further data found that apprenticeship starts dropped by 26% in 2017/18.