On Tuesday Chi Onwurah who is the Labour MP for Newcastle Upon Tyne Central wrote two questions to the Government that both focused on STEM. This is very good for an MP to be challenging the Government. The questions and answers are below. Along with her being the Newcastle MP she is also the Labour Shadow Minister for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy. The person who responded the first one who responded was Robert Halfon and the second person was Alex Burghat and they are both Ministers for the Government.

The first one is here which is entitled STEM Subjects: New Businesses

Chi: To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if her Department will take steps to produce a strategy on increasing entrepreneurship among STEM higher education students.

Robert: The Government has established a supportive framework to empower universities in equipping students with the essential skills required for success.

The department is investing in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) education at all levels to ensure students have access to high-quality STEM teaching and STEM career opportunities. The department is investing approximately £750 million of additional funding over the three-year period from 2022/23 to 2024/25 in high-quality teaching and facilities. This includes additional funding in science and engineering, in subjects that support the NHS, and in degree apprenticeships. This includes the largest increase in government funding for the higher education (HE) sector in over a decade to support students and improve teaching.

The Higher Education Business and Community Interaction (HE-BCI) survey showed that the number of graduate start-ups increased by 5% (from 4,528 in 2020/21 to 4,735 in 2021/22), which is the highest annual figure in the survey’s history.

The National Careers Service also provides free, up to date, impartial information, advice, and guidance on careers, skills, and the Labour Market in England. The service provides support to individuals studying STEM subjects in HE, and helps industry sectors to disseminate key information and updates.

Students and taxpayers invest tens of thousands of pounds in HE. This must lead to good quality qualifications, which equip students with the skills they need to achieve their potential.

The second one is here which is entitled Civil Servants: STEM Subjects

Chi: To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, with reference to the Department for Science, Innovation and Technology’s news story entitled Civil Service Fast Stream exceeds target to boost STEM expertise across Government published on 25 October 2023, what proportion of Fast Stream hires in the 2023 recruitment campaign had a STEM degree qualification; and of those, what proportion held degrees in (a) science, (b) technology, (c) engineering and (d) maths.

Alex: Over 50% of Fast Stream hires in the 2023 recruitment campaign had a STEM degree qualification. Our STEM categorisation is based on subject groups provided by the Higher Education Statistics Authority (HESA). Therefore it is not possible to break hires down by (a) science, (b) technology, (c) engineering and (d) maths; as we do not collect or analyse the data in this way.