This included working to promote the industry to girls, increasing the uptake of A-level physics, recruiting more physics teachers and introducing new vocational qualifications for 16-19 year olds. He also urged the professional engineering institutions to work to promote the sector to young people. Upon his retirement Perkins expressed confidence that the government had implemented measures to address the skills shortage. This included providing additional university funding for STEM courses, to fund engineering research and to construct teaching facilities. He also highlighted work done by practising engineers in schools and colleges to promote the subject. As part of the response to the Perkins Review business secretary Vince Cable announced £49 million of funding for improvements to engineering education. This included funding for the new Manufacturing Technology Centre in Coventry, schemes to encourage children to consider engineering as a career and for initiatives to encourage former engineers to return to the industry. The funding was monitored as part of the government's Employer Ownership Fund. A further £2.8 million of funding, as part of the Improving Engineering Careers scheme, was announced in March 2015 to help six companies implement the objectives of the Perkins Review. The companies, which included the Nissan plant in Sunderland, would match the government funding and implement schemes to train more British engineers and offer more job positions. The government will introduce the first T Levels, a new technical qualification for 17-18 year olds from 2020. The review was welcomed by many of the engineering institutions including the Institution of Engineering and Technology, the Institution of Mechanical Engineers and the Nuclear Institute – many of whom highlighted their existing schemes to encourage women and young people into the industry. One key outcome from the report was support for the Tomorrow's Engineers programme, a national initiative to give every 11- to 14-year-old hand-on experience with a local engineering firm. A year on from the report the programme had reached 50,000 school pupils in more than 1,200 schools. Girls who participated in the programme were 50% more likely to see engineering as an attractive career choice. Shortly after its publication the report was debated by the British House of Commons in a Westminster Hall debate on 10 December 2013. Conservative MP Peter Luff advocated targeting campaigns at age groups even younger than the 11-year-olds proposed in Perkins' report, citing research from the National Foundation for Educational Research that intervention at primary school age was most effective – an opinion echoed by Meg Munn. Andrew Miller advocated a more joined up system of apprenticeships as a means of meeting the Perkins objectives. David Mowat called for greater visibility of engineers in the media and noted that, unlike in Britain, in Europe engineers were held in higher regard – on a par with doctors.