皇冠体育app

Introduction

Thank you.

And good morning ladies and gentlemen.

I鈥檓 delighted to be here today, and grateful to the Chartered Institution of Highways and Transportation for asking me to speak about a subject that鈥檚 very close to my heart: the unprecedented skills challenge that we face in Britain.

For me, it is the measure of a modern, successful democracy that youngsters from all backgrounds have access to the education, training and job opportunities they need to meet their potential, and succeed in their chosen career.

Achieve that, and we鈥檒l also furnish British industry with the skilled workforce it needs to flourish in our increasingly global economy - today and in the future.

皇冠体育app challenge is very clearly illustrated in transport and requires action now.

Let鈥檚 talk specifics.

HS2, for example, will create 25,000 jobs during construction alone 鈥� 70% outside London.

So today (21 October 2015) I want to discuss what we are doing to meet these objectives.

And how government is working with industry partners to put skills at the heart of our vision for transport.

Skills legacy

We have a rich transport history in this country.

Our maritime prowess created the first global economy.

We invented the railway.

And we played a leading role in the development of road and air transport.

皇冠体育appse ground breaking achievements are often associated with a few brilliant pioneers.

And rightly so.

If it weren鈥檛 for the 鈥楽tephensons鈥� and 鈥楤runels鈥� of the 19th century, the development of transport in Britain would have looked very different.

But what鈥檚 sometimes overlooked is that they also depended on a highly skilled workforce, which was just as important a resource as the coalfields which powered the Industrial Revolution.

But when we stopped investing in transport, we stopped investing in skills.

Skills were no longer handed down to the next generation.

Competitors began to overtake us.

And we鈥檙e living with the legacy of that underinvestment today.

Not just on our roads and railways.

But in our workforce too.

History and heritage can only be built upon through investment both in our industry and in people.

At a time when we鈥檝e committed 拢100 billion to spend on infrastructure, when we鈥檙e building Crossrail, Thameslink, Northern Hub, HS2, and when we鈥檙e delivering 拢15 billion to update our roads and motorways, we urgently need to develop a new generation of engineers, surveyors, designers and construction professionals, as well as all the highly skilled people needed to operate the networks once they鈥檙e built.

Professional training

皇冠体育app skills shortage won鈥檛 solve itself.

We have to solve it ourselves.

First, we are transforming apprenticeships with a commitment to train 3 million apprentices by 2020.

We have appointed Terry Morgan, the chairman of Crossrail, to develop a transport skills strategy, including 30,000 new rail and road apprenticeships in this Parliament.

We are working with suppliers to achieve this, and promoting a culture change that focuses on future need and not just the job in hand.

So when suppliers bid for work, they will also pledge to take on trainees, apprentices and graduates and equip their workforce with the skills it needs for the long-term; we believe it鈥檚 better to invest in home-grown talent now, rather than wait and outsource work to international consultants later.

We are also creating institutions to train our future workforce.

皇冠体育app Tunnelling and Underground Construction Academy, sponsored by Crossrail for example, has already trained 7000 people.

One example from my visit to TUCA was of a mother whose son had been unemployed for quite some time.

皇冠体育app mother asked TUCA to interview her son.

He is now a cement sprayer with a basic salary of 拢80,000.

皇冠体育appn there鈥檚 the Roads Academy to train future leaders.

Seven Network Rail national training centres around the country.

皇冠体育app National Training Academy for Rail in Northampton.

And the National College for High Speed Rail, which opens in 2017 giving a thousand graduates a year a fantastic grounding in modern engineering and construction.

Diversity

But where will all these students come from?

Simply building new training facilities is only part of the solution.

We need to attract a bigger pool of talent.

And to achieve that, we must make a career in engineering or infrastructure more appealing to a wider selection of youngsters.

To deliver the transport projects I鈥檝e outlined, making the workforce more diverse and inclusive isn鈥檛 just beneficial.

It鈥檚 imperative.

Without more women, more black and minority ethnic employees, and a workforce that is far more representative of Britain鈥檚 population today, we will not succeed.

Diversity is evolving.

It鈥檚 certainly not about tokenism or political correctness.

And it鈥檚 not just about fairness and equality of opportunity.

It鈥檚 about making transport better and relevant to people鈥檚 lives in the career choices they make.

It鈥檚 about attracting the brightest and best people from all sections of society, whatever your faith, sex, age, skin colour or background.

And it鈥檚 about the make-up of the sector reflecting the customer base we serve.

For example, why is it that in 2015, men still make up 94% of airline pilots in this country, 90% of transport and logistics managers, and over 80% of Network Rail staff?

Why is it that transport trails other industries when it comes to diversity of employees?

皇冠体育appse are the sort of serious questions we have to ask ourselves.

It is simply not good enough and frankly unacceptable to say certain professions are not attractive to women.

Let鈥檚 be honest and ask the question, why?

And more importantly, what are we going to do about it?

And I have some answers.

Women working in the transport industry still complain of unequal pay.

皇冠体育appy mention boys鈥� club cultures in the workplace.

And discrimination over issues such as childcare and maternity leave.

But I think it鈥檚 also the way we promote the industry.

We need to explain the social value of what we do.

How transport binds together our society.

How it is the backbone of our economy.

How it helps people get on.

How it ensures businesses function.

How engineers change the lives of millions of people.

From walkways to runways, from bicycles to planes: transport matters.

And we also need to sell the value of engineering qualifications, and how those skills are appreciated by employers across the economy.

So an engineering degree or embarking on an apprenticeship is not perceived as narrowing your future career opportunities, but precisely the opposite; as expanding your choices, and empowering you.

An apprenticeship is as valuable as an academic qualification.

皇冠体育appy complement each other.

And it鈥檚 open to all.

But to tackle these deeply-held, inaccurate prejudices, we have to go right back to basics, to our primary schools.

As I鈥檝e discovered recently on several visits to schools around the country, girls are put off what they see as a 鈥榖oy鈥檚 career鈥� in engineering at an early stage.

That influences their GCSE choices.

And that鈥檚 why less than a quarter of pupils who took A-level Physics last year were girls.

We have to change the image of a career in transport if we truly want to nurture and inspire a more representative, and more skilled and aspirational workforce.

Partnership working

And I must say I鈥檝e been impressed since my appointment as Transport Minister by the many excellent groups working to raise awareness of these issues.

Women in Rail and Young Rail Professionals, for example, which have been working with the Rail Supply Group to promote rail careers to women.

皇冠体育app 100 Years of Women in Transport campaign, supported by TfL, which has established a network of over 8,500 individuals and 260 organisations.

Everywoman, which holds an annual transport awards.

And everyone who contributed to National Women in Engineering Day, when I hosted a summit with female engineers working in rail, aviation and construction, alongside students from London Imperial College.

CIHT toolkit

But the success of all these initiatives depends largely on galvanising the industry to recruit and train the diverse workforce of the future.

That鈥檚 why I鈥檓 so pleased to support today鈥檚 launch of CIHT鈥檚 toolkit - 鈥楻outes to diversity and inclusion鈥�.

It does what it says on the tin.

Here鈥檚 a sobering revelation, that 鈥�96% of CIHT鈥檚 corporate partners have difficulty attracting and retaining people with the right skills they need.鈥�

皇冠体育app toolkit is a fascinating and penetrating analysis of employment practices across the sector, and what can be done to make transport careers more diverse and representative in the future.

I cannot recommend it more highly.

But my advice to industry is this:

Don鈥檛 wait.

皇冠体育app time for action is now.

In just two years, we start building HS2.

皇冠体育app procurement process has already started.

And the supply chain is already gearing up to compete for contracts.

But HS2 is only part of a much bigger infrastructure programme that will overhaul the fabric of Britain over the next few decades.

Crossrail, Transport for the North.

From rail stations to airports, across the UK investment is taking place in infrastructure.

So the investment you make in skills today is an investment for tomorrow.

And the investment you make in diversity today is an investment for tomorrow.

We face an unprecedented skills challenge.

皇冠体育app rewards for meeting that challenge will be unprecedented too.

So let鈥檚 get out there and grasp the opportunity.

Let鈥檚 play our part in inspiring a new generation, reflecting diversity and aspiration, to meet the challenges of tomorrow 鈥� to ensure the UK PLC is truly competitive on the global stage.

Thank you.