Conservative Party manifesto: What's in it for tech?

Key pledges on technology investment, skills and AI

For a 76-page document, the manifesto was short on tech and digital policy detail, but heavy on solutionism.

Beginning with education, the Conservatives propose to abolish the current system and introduce the Advanced British Standard (ABS), which is a broader, Baccalaureate style qualification.

Continuing maths education to 18, taking the best of A-Levels and T-levels and increasing the number of teaching hours could all have a positive effect on the readiness of young adults for the tech workplace. But the lack of emphasis on digital skills has concerned some people:

CEO of upskilling company Academy, Ashley Ramrachia commented:

"No one can doubt the importance of English and Maths, but the Conservative manifesto needs more of a focus on digital literacy. The digital age is here and it is crucial that all future generations are equipped with the skills needed to take advantage of the abundant opportunities it will provide. The UK is facing a concerning skills crisis that risks hampering our chances of benefitting from the fiscal and societal benefits that a career in tech is able to offer."

There are also other practical challenges which the manifesto fails to acknowledge such as teacher shortages. Amanda Brock, CEO OpenUK said:

"The Advanced British Standard with compulsory maths to 18, and the use of boot camps to fill the skills gap are a welcome step forward, and apparently enabled by financial recognition for teachers in core areas like computer science. However, a tax free £30k bonus over 5 years, is never going to touch the salary differentials for anyone skilled in tech or incentivise their move to teach. "

The manifesto also pledges to create 100,000 more apprenticeships in England every year by the end of the next parliament. This will be funded by curbing the number of ‘poor-quality' university degrees.

This is a pledge revealed in advance of the manifesto launch – cracking down on ‘Micky Mouse degrees' being a Tory attack line which has historically landed well with certain portions of the electorate.

Apprenticeships can be hugely beneficial for tech employers and young people, but the scheme is troubled, with £3.3 billion of levy funding unused and a collapse in starts.

Rishi Sunak announced changes to the levy earlier this year to allow larger business to transfer a greater proportion of their levy (up to 50%) and hopefully cover the costs for SMEs in full. Delivering this should arguably have been the focus rather than creating more apprenticeships may not be taken up.

Tax breaks for tech

The Conservative government has announced plans for the UK to become a "science and technology superpower" time and again, but there are more union flag graphics than mentions of start-ups and scale-ups in the manifesto.

That said, the Conservatives are continuing their policies of creating a financial environment which encourages investment in tech start-ups. For example, they pledge to retain the Seed Enterprise Investment Scheme (SEIS) and the Enterprise Investment Scheme (EIS) which gives tax breaks for investing in starts-ups ad later stage companies.

There are also plans to maintain the current rate of tax relief that founders can claim on R & D and a continuation of the Mansion House reforms which should make it easier to invest in UK tech companies rather than have them all up sticks to Palo Alto because they find it impossible to secure the investment and people they need to scale here.

There is also a pledge to "secure a £250 million Invest in Women Fund." Sunak announced this policy earlier this year and it's designed to try to increase the proportion of venture capital awarded to female founders from its present rate of 2%. There are no details on how this sum will be secured.

AI features in the manifesto. There is a pledge to continue investment of £1.5 billion in large-scale compute clusters to support research into safe and responsible use.

Ekaterina Almasque, is General Partner at OpenOcean, an early-stage European VC said of this commitment: "If realised, the Conservative Party's manifesto commitment to invest £1.5bn in large-scale compute clusters would be a boon for UK start-ups. It could enhance the country's AI capabilities significantly, supporting both cutting-edge research and the development of scalable, sustainable AI solutions that can drive future economic growth. Such a strategic allocation of funds would lower barriers for start-ups and established companies, fostering an innovative ecosystem where technological advancements can flourish.

"However, it would be absolutely vital to create frameworks allowing innovative start-ups access to these resources at a fair rate."

AI Solutionism

Beyond the investment detailed above, AI is mentioned only in the context of delivering public services more cheaply.

It is in the part of the manifesto focusing on health and social care that the tech solutionism really kicks in. Apparently, AI will be used to "free up doctors' and nurses' time for frontline patient care." Tens of thousands of outdated computers will be replaced, and the ongoing digitisation of processes such as the Federated Data Platform will reduce millions of lost clinician hours every year. There is also talk of a "medtech pathway" but no further definitions, plans or costs.

The use of AI to help clinicians read scans faster and more accurately does sound feasible, but the aspiration to make the NHS App "the single front door for NHS services," might not go down well with older people and those who dislike the deployment of apps as gatekeepers.

Finally, there is one glaring omission from this manifesto. The word "cyber" crops up twice, first in the context of the proposed National Service plans, and secondly:

"We have toughened our cyber defences and national security laws to protect the nation from terrorists and hostile state actors."

This isn't even a pledge, it's part of a statement entitled "Taking Pride in our Record." It's also patently untrue. Attacks on public infrastructure are becoming increasingly common, the most recent of which are the attacks on London hospitals. Our cyber defences have not been toughened up. On the contrary, according to a report last year from the Joint Committee on National Security Strategy our public and critical infrastructure remains vulnerable.

And that should worry us all.