By Johnny Andrews, Westminster PPC for Strangford
There was great news for the Northern Ireland economy, earlier this year, when the Secretary of State, Theresa Villiers, published legislation to devolve powers to cut Corporation Tax to the Northern Ireland Assembly. Conservatives locally spearheaded the campaign for lower business taxes and we believe the bill will encourage inward investment and new jobs.
However, Northern Ireland’s economy is still substantially behind the rest of the UK and we also believe that the next priority should be providing the skills which potential employers are demanding. These include making sure our education system is delivering the coding and IT skills which are essential to the hi-tech industry.
Currently schools and colleges are missing the opportunity to equip young people for the jobs of the future. It was interesting that the Secretary of State chose the Lisburn based company, Camlin, to make her announcement about Corporation Tax. It’s exactly the sort of business which needs STEM graduates, including physicists and computer scientists, as a priority. If Northern Ireland can’t provide them, growing companies will be forced to hire and set-up elsewhere.
Our schools and universities, with help from the department of education, must start to prioritise STEM subjects. We want to see computer coding introduced to the curriculum, from primary school upwards. While reforms in England have improved the delivery of IT skills, Northern Ireland has been falling behind.
It’s a matter of having a joined-up, coherent approach, across institutions. The importance of computer science and computer skills need to get the emphasis they deserve. We need children to get up to date careers advice, which steers them in the direction of expanding hi-tech industries, rather than always down the oversubscribed path of traditional ‘professions’.
We also need a slimmed down, efficient public sector, which does not crowd out the private sector when it comes to attracting the best graduates. Currently the bloated public sector is stifling all types of private sector business, including IT, computer software companies and engineering. We need our brightest and best to pursue careers in good quality, sustainable private sector jobs.
It will require a culture shift in Northern Ireland and quick, nimble decision making, but we already have some remarkable success stories and there will be more, if the Executive starts to listen to hi-tech industries and tailor policy accordingly. We have many advantages here, but we also need politicians who understand the importance of growing the private sector, making our economy competitive and addressing skills shortages, when and where they arrive.