James Mills is a web developer in the North East of England and founder of Refresh Teesside »
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Jez Davison, business writer at the Evening Gazette, is a regular blogger on all things business - particularly finance, entrepreneurship and the state of the Teesside economy » 
Karen McLauchlan is the Evening Gazette's deputy business and features editor - with special interest in all things industry, property and arts related » 
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Deloitte, which has 23 offices across the UK including Newcastle, is among the country's leading professional services firms » 
ClimateNE & Climate Change Schools Project support the move to a low-carbon, resilient economy and help businesses avoid risk and realise commercial opportunities. Posts by Jen Atkinson, Krista McKinzey and Harriet Thew » ONCE again, politicians give with one hand and take away with the other.
On the face of it, the Government's announcement that it will fund student loans for 10,000 extra university places in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM subjects) was great news for Britain's beleaguered manufacturers - but read the small print.
There is no guarantee that ministers will maintain funding for these places, which will put immense strain on already creaking university budgets.
Two things will happen: cash-strapped institutions will choose not to offer the extra places and if they do, the overall course quality could be diminished by unbalanced teacher-student ratios.
This will do little to resolve a skills crisis which is jeopardising manufacturing's long-term future.
The sector needs to reinvent itself as it contributes only 13.3% of Britain's economic output. Even in Tees Valley - historically a star performer - that figure is just 19%.
The country has relied too heavily on breadwinners such as Nissan, Corus and, before that, ICI. And when these companies have fallen on hard times, so has the sector.
If ever manufacturing needed a new lick of paint, it is now. Traditional skills must be adapted to new and emerging markets such as renewable energy. Production should be focused on high-value goods that cannot be found anywhere else in the world.
More work should be done to promote the industry as a sexy career choice for aspirational high-fliers. And the sector should pin more faith in the emerging talents of smaller, agile companies that can adapt quickly to evolving consumer demands.
But this evolution will never get off the ground if investment is not made at source - in the classroom.
Long-term opportunities in aerospace, medical equipment and energy will only be taken if funding is made available for quality training.
Policymakers have never really cracked the skills conundrum and without hefty investment, it will remain a mystifying puzzle.
And the biggest losers will be manufacturers - the niche, high-value producers that could drag this country from the quicksands of recession.
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