The Campaign for Science and Engineering (CaSE) has published an analysis of the science and engineering policies of all the main political parties, bringing together manifestos, speeches, letters from the party leaders, and blogs by parliamentary candidates.
CaSE's overview of the Conservative party saw repeated statements from David Cameron and George Osborne that “science is at the heart of their plan” and that the Tory party has spared science and innovation from the worst of the cuts in the past five years. In a letter to CaSE, Cameron told the charity that it could be “assured that a Conservative government will be committed to investing in science and engineering”. However, CaSE said that it was “very concerning” that the Conservative manifesto contains no new money for science and no commitment to continue the science budget ring-fence.
In analysis of speeches from Conservative science minister, Greg Clark, CaSE found that he regularly stressed that his party does not want to put off talented scientists and students coming to this country who contribute to our science base and economy. But, the conservative immigration policy does not appear to back up this sentiment. “Many will be disappointed not to see policies targeted at attracting skilled and productive workers to the UK in the manifesto,” said CaSE. “Next year, visa applications from skilled workers are expected to exceed the cap that the Tories have tied themselves to. This, along with conditions around the use of the shortage occupation list, could be a real concern for companies looking to bring in scientists and engineers from abroad.”
However, the report gave a nod to the positive investment the Tories commitment to nurture home-grown talent, promising 17,500 more maths and physics teachers, commitments on vocational training and loans to allow more people to do post-graduate degrees – although CaSE stresses these were in the Coalition’s Science and Innovation Strategy.
The report also highlights the concern businesses and investors have over the potential exit from the EU that could occur under a Tory government, but adds that overall there is a lot of positive talk on science in the Conservative manifesto – with science and innovation the 11th most popular theme according to NESTA’s Political Futures Tracker, receiving over 50 mentions. CaSE siad: “The Tories say that they should be judged on their past record on science. This will provide some reassurance to the science and engineering community but falls short of providing solid investment policies we can all hold on to should they regain power.”
The Labour manifesto has also failed to pledged a concrete plan on its promise to invest in science and innovation. However, it has announced a 'National Infrastructure Commission' that will have making the UK the best place in the world to do scientific research as one of its ten goals.
In his letter to CaSE, Ed Miliband said that science and engineering has a central role to play in their plan for “Working families and business to succeed together”. But in its analysis of campaign speeches CaSE noted that Ed Miliband and Ed Balls have barely mentioned the importance of science and engineering to economic growth, finding only three set speeches between them that make this link in the past year.
Labour has a number of education and skills commitments that will benefit science and engineering, but which aren’t targeted specifically at Stem subjects. Vocational education features heavily, with a “new gold standard” promised. This, said CaSE, could provide many young people with a non-degree route into a science career.
Science and innovation is the 16th most popular theme in the Labour manifesto according to NESTA’s Political Futures Tracker. CaSE said: “Science and innovation is touched upon in the main manifesto but there is more meat for policy wonks in the companion manifestos, particularly the business one. Overall there are some very positive commitments for science and engineering but there will be a long wait to see if Labour’s investment priorities mean boom or bust for UK science.”
The CaSE report reveals that the Liberal Democrats show a slightly more concrete policy on investment in science and engineering, promising to double innovation investment and research spending across the economy, supported by greater public funding on a longer timescale and more catapult centres.
The Liberal Democrats is the only party to have committed to ring-fencing the science budget in their manifesto. They have also committed to ensuring both capital and current science spending have increased in line with inflation by 2020 (for capital investment this is already Coalition government policy) and to have doubled innovation investment. However, they will not increase current spending until they have eliminated the structural current budget deficit and have national debt falling as a proportion of GDP, which they intend to have achieved by 2018. Assuming a baseline for the science budget of £4.6 billion in 2015, this would put the science budget at £4.9 billion and the capital budget at £1.2 billion in 2020.
Skills and education policies were another strong policy area for the Lib Dems. CaSE said: “Stem features heavily in the Liberal Democrats’ education and skills policies and we’re pleased to see them pledging to encourage every school to have a science specialist.”
In addition, their immigration policies, which specifically favour Stem, aim to ensure the UK is an attractive destination for overseas students. In particular, universities and businesses will welcome the promise to reinstate post-study work visas for Stem graduates who find graduate-level employment within six months of completing their degree. The report said that strong emphasis on science policy in the manifesto suggests that the Lib Dems do support science and innovation, but NESTA’s Political Futures Tracker finds that it is only the 18th most popular theme overall. CaSE added: “The party is in favour of borrowing for investment to stimulate growth – where science and engineering has a strong role – and has proved keen to consider science and engineering when developing policies.”
To view the full report click here