Luke Pollard MP, Member of Parliament for Plymouth Sutton and Devonport, welcomes significant investment in the University of Plymouth and City College Plymouth for the Strategic Priorities Grant funding.
The two institutions will be granted a combined £9 million to deliver defence-focused higher education courses, including both undergraduate degrees and Level 4 to 6 apprenticeships. This will be a huge boost for the sector, with more highly skilled graduates being trained right here in Plymouth.
They are alongside 22 other universities and colleges who will share £50 million in total, the largest single initiative within the government’s £182 million Defence Industrial Strategy skills package. Over £21,500,000 of this will be in the South West, the largest investment package for any region. This will create around 2,500 new student places over five years, with an additional £30,000,000 being provided to build brand new teaching facilities to match. Courses will be focused on engineering and computer science, including areas where defence has some of its greatest skills needs such as cyber security, robotics, autonomous technology, aerospace engineering and advanced manufacturing.
These grants will help thousands of young people to equip themselves with the skills needed for a career in the defence sector. The investment turns the tide on the last government’s abject failure to properly fund defence and strengthen national security, and will ensure the defence sector has the workforce it needs for the future. It comes following the government’s “Backing British” pledge to see Ministry of Defence investments deliver into communities, boosting skills, innovation and productivity at the GMB conference in Blackpool. In line with this, the British Government will now make provisions for any significant sub-contracts to be placed with UK-based companies, or guarantee competitions so that British competitors have a fair shot.
Luke Pollard MP said:
“Plymouth’s defence sector is motoring thanks to brilliant companies, a rising defence budget and investment in new docks and technologies. What we now need are more people with the skills to support our national security. This funding for courses that support defence and dual use careers helps show again that defence is an engine for growth. This funding is a green light to creating more well-paid, good jobs right here in Plymouth helping keep our nation safe.”
“We are creating more opportunities for young people across the UK to learn new skills and secure good, well-paid jobs in defence. 24 superb universities and colleges, including the University of Plymouth and City College Plymouth, will offer more students places to learn these skills of the future.
“For too long the last Conservative government failed to take the necessary steps to invest in defence and bolster this country’s national security, overseeing a hollowed out and underfunded armed forces at their smallest since Napoleon.
“That is changing under Labour. Our outstanding Armed Forces are only as strong as the industry that stands behind them, and through this investment we’re strengthening our national security and helping drive defence as an engine for growth.
“I am proud that this government has pledged to Back British to see defence investments delivering for ordinary people in our communities. This Labour government is putting skills at the centre of our plan to make the country safer and boost jobs across the UK. This is the Labour way: advancing the working people of this country, offering hope for the future, and putting defence at the heart of our industrial strategy.”
The University of Plymouth will receive £7 million and plans to expand opportunities for students in programmes key to defence, security and resilience at a regional and national level.
£1.7 million of this will go to enhance teaching facilities across its campus, with £5.3m being earmarked for increasing the number of students on civil and mechanical engineering, computer science, robotics and artificial intelligence degree courses.
City College Plymouth will receive over £2m and will invest in its higher-level engineering, computing and cyber security education. It has also secured over £1.6 million in programme funding, as well as over £400,000 in capital investment to support the delivery of additional student places and specialist facilities, creating over 200 more higher education student places.
More than 2,500 graduates in Plymouth already work in the defence sector, and this investment will further bolster Plymouth’s contribution to the British defence industry.