Trade unions chiefs and professional association representatives
will be questioned by the Transport Committee as it examines the
rail supply sector's workforce planning and skills
development.
In this inquiry, MPs are investigating how developing long-term,
transparent and sequenced plans – or pipelines – could bring
certainty and security to companies involved in improving the
UK's railways.
Witnesses in this session (full details below) will discuss how a
long-term, cost-effective pipeline of projects needs a skilled
workforce, and whether the certainty of having pipelines could in
turn encourage companies to invest in the skills of their
workers.
The cross-party Committee will ask whether factors such as the
length of Network Rail's five-year spending periods (control
periods) and differences of opinion among changing political
leaders have been barriers to long-term planning.
The Institution of Mechanical Engineers has said that while the
number of engineers across sectors in the UK is rising, many
firms still struggle to fill vacancies. In particular, the rail
sector has an ageing workforce of engineers and technicians. The
Institute also says there is a growing need for railways workers
to develop digital skills.
Meanwhile, the National Skills Academy has suggested plans that
looks 25-30 years ahead would be conducive to achieving net zero
by 2050.
MPs are likely to ask how the sector can adopt longer-term skills
forecasting, about the systems that are used in other countries,
and how workers could be consulted on long term decisions made
about procurement and investment in the railways.
Witnesses from 09:15
- Neil Robertson, Chief Executive at National Skills Academy
for Rail
- Jonathan Spruce, Chair, Policy and External Affairs Committee
at Institution of Civil Engineers
- Miss Lydia Amarquaye, Education and Policy Skills Leader at
Institution of Mechanical Engineers
-
, Chief Executive at
Permanent Way Institution
From 10:15
- Mick Whelan, General Secretary at ASLEF
- John McGookin, National Officer for Rail at Unite the
Union
- Maryam Eslamdoust, General Secretary at TSSA (Transport
Salaried Staffs' Association)
- John Leach, Senior Assistant General Secretary at RMT
