Cable faces call for a national manufacturing strategy

The letter from MHA's Chris Coopey (pictured), comes just a week after survey results from the association revealed that 90% of UK manufacturing sector respondents surveyed do not believe that the government currently has a specific manufacturing strategy in place. In arguing for a national strategy, Coopey, himself a former engineer, used the example of Secretary of State for Education Michael Gove's decision to strip the Engineering Diploma of its GCSE equivalency; a move that will have a detrimental effect on recruiting the next generation of engineers at a time when British trained engineers are already in very short supply. Chris Coopey, a partner and practice director at accountancy firm Carpenter Box, said: "Gove's decision to strip the Engineering Diploma of its value will undoubtedly damage the prospect of attracting pupils towards engineering and manufacturing. The Diploma, originally introduced in 2008, used to be the equivalent of five GCSEs. With Mr Gove's intervention it is now equivalent to one. I recently asked Vince Cable whether he had been consulted. He replied that 'he was now in conversation with Mr Gove'. " Coopey added: "If manufacturing is to reach its full potential in the UK, it seems clear that we will need a national manufacturing strategy. Only with such a strategy are we likely to achieve the rebalancing of the economy to which the government seems committed."