Debate contribution: Defence Industries
Debate contribution by Ms Sorcha Eastwood on .
- MLA
- Ms Sorcha Eastwood
- Party at the time
- Alliance Party
- Date
- 20 May 2024
- Type
- Debate contribution
- Business
- Private Members' Business
- Heading
- Defence Industries
- Assembly identifier
- Official Report component 4491172
Read the official Assembly record
Text
We know that the defence industry in Northern Ireland is significant, employing and training thousands of people and enabling a wide range of supplier businesses to develop and expand. Defence spending should be about protecting citizens from attacks by others, not furthering wars abroad. It is in that space that we want to ensure that the high-skill sectors of aerospace and defence in Northern Ireland are given a fair share of UK spending. From the outset, let me say that the ethical questions about whom the UK trades arms with are a separate but critical issue. Domestic and international law requires the UK Government to prevent the transfer of military equipment, where there is a clear risk that exports might be used to commit or facilitate a serious violation of international humanitarian law or international human rights law. We are clear that the UK Government must urgently ensure that they meet those standards and should cease the transfer of military arms to Israel. While the UK Government have signalled an increase in defence spending and a reconsideration of supply chains, there is a lack of clarity about how that is being paid for by the current Government. First and foremost, there needs to be an honest conversation about that to give clarity. I will draw out key aspects of the motion and speak to them specifically. First, evidence has been given to the NI Affairs Committee on the social value aspect of defence contracts for local companies. The social value scoring of contracts should, when done well, incentivise and build our wider industrial base across Northern Ireland. It has to be the case that, when any significant contract is won, smaller suppliers feel the benefits as well. If a more strategic partnership approach is taken, the smaller suppliers will have greater confidence to expand and invest, and we will see our SMEs develop and win contracts in their own right. Social value scoring happens already, but the evidence made it clear that more needs to be done by the UK to ensure that social value is not just a part of the tendering process but a key part that is truly impactful. The other area that I will focus on is skills. We need to ensure that our skills policies enable training providers to be flexible and to meet the needs of industry and society now and in the future. That is not just an issue in the aerospace and defence industries: I make that point clear. It means greater investment in further education (FE), completing the review of FE delivery and implementing the recommendations, and empowering and supporting small businesses to enable workers to undertake upskilling. It means a clear delineation of the roles played by schools, FE and higher education (HE). It means finally making some progress on improving careers advice in schools, having a dedicated skills fund, the expansion of the apprenticeship programmes, a review of vocational —.
Absolutely. I concur entirely with the Member's remarks; indeed, I was about to move on to the reform of the apprenticeship levy. I hope that the Economy and Finance Ministers continue to make the case on it to Treasury. While improving on what we do on a skills policy, we need to keep our skilled graduates and workforce here. That is as much about opportunity as it is about our health service and general standard of living. We also have a significant job to do to consider how we can attract more highly skilled people from the rest of the UK and Ireland. Finally, while the motion focuses on defence, key points are raised that need to be applied across all our key industries. Most significant are the industries that will enable us to reach our climate targets. I would like to see greater focus on those.
638 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.
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