Skills development – bite-sized insights from the CEA Manifesto

With the General Election now scheduled for 4 July, it is paramount that the CEA continues to be the voice of the industry to the UK Government.

The CEA Policy Group, established in Spring 2024, prepared this Manifesto to outline our clear and transparent approach to tackling the challenges facing the construction equipment sector and the wider construction, engineering, manufacturing, and education sectors.

The success of UK construction equipment manufacturing and engineering is critical to the country’s overall economic growth. The 2022 GVA of the sector was £2.5 billion, employing over 44,000 people. Digitalisation, technological changes, decarbonisation, AI, and automation are driving rapid change. We need to ensure we remain relevant and at the forefront of manufacturing.

The wider industry has long suffered from a poor ‘brand image’. Similarly, STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) subjects in the UK are poorly understood and despite years of campaigning, the gender gap in STEM remains high.

The skills agenda within manufacturing and engineering has suffered from a fragmented and disjointed approach. The view of the CEA is to provide a forum to connect members with reputable industry organisations that specialise in career advice and skills development such as, but not limited to:

• Primary Engineer
• STEM Ambassadors
• StemAlliance
• Enginuity
• Institute of Engineering & Technology
• Women’s Engineering Society
• Women in Manufacturing
• Women into Construction
• Institution of Mechanical Engineers
• Institution of Agricultural Engineers.

A network of connected organisations will have more power to change the agenda.

Our asks

• Provide the skills ecosystem necessary to enhance further the UK’s position as a centre of excellence for construction equipment manufacturing and technology.
• Avoid unnecessary changes to the education system and apprenticeship programmes, allowing businesses to fully understand and build on the current programmes.
• Continue to develop a joined-up strategy to drive the STEM agenda in UK schools.
• Support further education institutions and technical colleges to attract and retain the quantity and quality of teaching staff required to train future talent.