SMMT News: Summary
There have been a number of positive news items and announcements of interest to the Automotive Industry in recent weeks – we highlight some of the key ones.
- Details of the TSB’s IDP10 competition
- Launch of the Automotive Sector Strategy
- Announcement of the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC)
- £500m additional funding for OLEV to 2020
- Confirmation of Transport Systems Catapult location
- Interim findings from the Witty Review on how universities can contribute to local growth
- Details of revisions to the Design and Technology national curriculum
TSB competition details, IDP10: Building an automotive supply chain for the future
Firstly, a reminder that there will be a consortium building and networking event for the TSB’s IDP10 competition on 5 August at the Motor Heritage Centre, Gaydon. The event will offer attendees the chance to learn more about the recently announced scope of the competition, build consortia and give short pitches to over 400 senior industry delegates on your technologies.
The scope of IDP10 (the latest in the Integrated Delivery Programme of the TSB’s Low Carbon Vehicle Innovation Platform) will be closely aligned with the recently announced Automotive Sector Strategy and the Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) (details of both below). The competition will look to support projects based on developing technologies with a strong potential for future industrialisation, acting as a feeder for the APC to help create a viable UK supply chain for new propulsion technologies.
The competition will open on 4 September with a briefing event held on 17 September. The deadline for registration for IDP10 is 6 November and for applications the 13 November.
The full IDP10 competition scope can be accessed by clicking here:
To register to attend this event please click here:
Automotive Sector Strategy launched
The Automotive Sector Strategy has been launched. Developed collaboratively between industry and government, the Strategy sets out a clear vision and ambition for the industry; building on the investment, growth and innovation that is already happening and ensuring all potential opportunities can be realised.
The Strategy features four key themes:
- Technology: how our vehicles are powered in future
- Supply chain: how Government and industry can work together to grow the UK supply chain and win more overseas business
- Skills: how the right skills are in place to build on the success of the sector
- Business environment: how to maintain the UK’s competitiveness in the global auto industry
Key highlights from the Strategy include:
- The establishment of an Automotive Investment Organisation (£3m over two years) to ensure the UK can proactively support more global investment in the UK, building on the £6bn already committed to automotive over the last two years
- A skills roadmap and commitment to upskill – increasing the numbers of both graduates and apprentices joining the industry
- Actions with the banking sector to improve access to finance – addressing automotive specific challenges such as tooling finance
- Confirmation of shared ambitions for the UK to be a leading market, innovator and producer of ultra-low emission vehicles
- A business environment that enables a competitive automotive industry, through identifying and seeking to address key challenges
Download the strategy click Here
Advanced Propulsion Centre (APC) announced
One of the key items to come out of the Strategy was the announcement of £1bn (£500m from government match funded by industry) for an Advanced Propulsion Centre to support the UK as a leading centre for innovation. Expected to open in 2014, the APC will look to develop, commercialise and enable the manufacture of advanced propulsion technologies in the UK following strategic direction from the Automotive Council, its work stream and members. The APC is backed by 27 companies in the sector, including supply chain companies, and is expected to secure at least 30,000 jobs currently linked to producing engines and create many more in the supply chain. With a supply chain yet to be developed anywhere in the world for this next generation of technologies, the APC represents an opportunity for the UK to build a global competitive advantage.
£500m additional funding for OLEV to 2020
The Secretary of State for Transport, Patrick McLoughlin announced that the Office for Low Emission Vehicles (OLEV) will receive an additional £500m funding to 2020 to advance ultra-low emission vehicle (ULEV) technology and encourage their uptake. The announcement was made in a Written Ministerial Statement (WMS) outlining government’s roads reform command paper ‘Action for Roads’, which provides further detail on roads investment following the Spending Round.
Transport Systems Catapult location revealed
The location of the TSB’s Transport Systems Catapult has been confirmed as Milton Keynes, chosen for (amongst others) its ease of access to the transport community, an accessible, skilled talent pool with relevant expertise, convenient travel times both domestically and internationally and the availability of high quality business space.
With £50m of direct TSB funding over five years along with an additional £100m from private sector business and collaborative R&D projects, the Catapult will aim to provide a national hub for transport modelling and monitoring, allowing UK businesses to develop effective and sustainable solutions to transport needs.
Witty Review: Interim findings on how universities can support local growth
The Witty Review’s interim findings have been published. They include a number of key themes which the full review will pick up and focus on. These include:
- using sectoral/cluster strengths, rather than geographical units, to develop plans for regional growth
- universities playing a stronger role in economic development
- improving small and medium-sized enterprise (SME) access to universities, including university business schools playing a greater role in providing business support to SMEs
- reducing complex funding streams supporting research and innovation
- aligning the incentives and national organisations supporting innovation and regional growth to deliver to their full potential for the Industrial Strategy and for local growth
Preliminary findings include maps showing locations of excellent research, and where the economic activity in the industrial strategy sectors and technologies takes place. They also encourage Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) to work closely with universities and develop strategic plans rooted in a sound understanding of a locality’s comparative advantage. Recommendations will be made in the final report of the review at the end of the summer 2013.
Design and Technology curriculum framework revision
Secretary of State for Education, Michael Gove MP, has published a revised national curriculum framework for, amongst other subjects, Design & Technology. The revisions aimed to reflect the need for Design and Technology to be a more forward-looking subject, designed to help educate the engineers of the future. The Department for Education framework document can be found here, along with Michael Gove’s speech on the reforms, here.
