MPs examine the rail supply sector’s workforce and future skills
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.
Meeting details
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 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.