GovWire

Skills Minister John Hayes brought together a team of experts today (6 September 2017) to plot a course to build more transport skills than ever before.

The minister invited specialists in further and higher education to join transport chiefs to explore how best to equip young people to build a successful career in transport.

The Department for Transport works closely with industry to champion vocational skills and training encouraging young people to gain the skills and experience they need for the challenge of a career in the sector.

Skills Minister John Hayes, who is leading the governments work to develop infrastructure skills, believes that more needs to be done to work effectively with the higher and further education sectors, and so has invited experts to the Education Advisory Group to work collaboratively.

Minister Hayes said:

As people know, I have been a champion of vocational skills for many years and so I know the importance of engaging young people as early as possible so they can seize every opportunity to craft a career in transport.

We need to look at the role of schools, further education and higher education institutions in inspiring the next generation, and my new Education Advisory Group will, over the coming months, chart how we can work more effectively together.

The group will advise on best practice in promoting transport through education, working closely with the Strategic Transport Apprenticeship Taskforce (STAT), which aims to get more talented young people into transport apprenticeships.

Mike Brown, Commissioner of Transport for London and Chair of STAT said:

John Hayes has been the leading champion in government of vocational skills, and I warmly welcome his latest initiative to put his vision into practice.

Valerie Todd CBE, Crossrail Talent and Resources Director said:

With the ever increasing number of passengers using our railways and roads, and the unprecedented number of infrastructure projects on the horizon, there are more career opportunities for young people in the transport sector than ever before. By bringing together the transport industry and the education sector we can help the next generation build exciting, meaningful and rewarding careers in transport.

Young people will also be at the centre of the Year of Engineering 2018, which is a year-long, cross-government campaign. The campaign aims to raise the profile of engineering amongst 7 to 16 year-olds and widen the pool of young people that consider engineering as a career, through working in collaboration with a range of partners to give young people direct and inspiring experiences of engineering.

Further information

The Education Advisory Group is made up of Deirdre Hughes OBE, Research Fellow at Warwick University, Prof Mohammed Abdel-Haq, Bolton University, Yvonne Baker, Chief Executive of STEM Learning, Nick Chambers, Chief Executive Education and Employment/Inspiring the Future, Prof John Perkins CBE who is the author of The Perkins Review of Engineering, and Valerie Todd CBE, Talent and Resources Director at Crossrail and member of the Strategic Transport Apprenticeship Taskforce (STAT).

Related reports

• Higher education and the transport sector
• Further education and the transport sector
• The Transport infrastructure skills strategy: one year on

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