Hawley Group (Hansard, 23 March 2001)

§ Mr. Alan Johnson

[holding answer 22 March 2001]The Hawley group was established at the instigation of my noble Friend the Minister for Science and Innovation in October 1999. The group was chaired by Dr. Robert Hawley, Chairman of the Engineering Council, and consisted of representatives from the Engineering Council, the Department of Trade and Industry and the Department for Education and Employment. My noble Friend received regular progress reports from Dr. Hawley throughout the course of the Hawley Review and also chaired public events on 23 May 2000 and 14 February 2001. DTI officials on the group were closely involved in the development of the review and they consulted colleagues within the Department, including those in the Office of Science and Technology, on a wide range of issues. Significant contributions were also received from officials in the DETR.

The Hawley group report entitled "Making the Best of Valuable Talent" was published in December 2000 and contained some 43 recommendations for re-positioning the Engineering Council to meet the needs and aspirations of an increasingly diverse and non-traditional engineering community. The report was circulated widely for discussion within the engineering community and the initial response proved most favourable. During the consultation exercise my noble Friend spoke directly to a number of senior representatives of the engineering community, from industry and from many of the engineering institutions, to seek their views on the contents of the report. All were strongly supportive.

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The culmination of the consultation process was a public event held at the Institution of Electrical Engineers on 14 February 2001 which was attended by senior representatives of the engineering profession, engineering industry, academia and Government. The meeting voiced its overwhelming support for the broad thrust of the report and gave a mandate for the Engineering Council to evolve into the Engineering and Technology Board. The Hawley group ceased to exist as of the end of the meeting and a series of six working groups have now been established to carry forward the process of change.

We have consistently expressed our support for the aims of the Hawley Review and welcomed the proposals outlined in the Hawley report. However, ownership of the process remains firmly with the engineering community itself and the shape and remit of the new Engineering and Technology Board is a matter for them alone. We are, of course, willing to provide continued support and encouragement during the transitional phase and DTI and DfEE officials will be taking an active role in a number of working groups.

The Engineering and Technology Board is due to come into existence in October 2001 and it will, therefore, be some time before a sensible assessment can be made of the impact of the new arrangements on the engineering and technology base in the UK. However, the Hawley group, led by Dr. Robert Hawley, can take a great deal of credit for initiating a wide ranging and radical assessment of the current structures within the engineering profession and encouraging a much needed debate on the future of engineering.

A copy of the Hawley report has been placed in the Library of the House.