June 2020 highlights
Week 26: 22-26 June 2020
"Working together, making the most of our great place and growing from our strengths, we can shift to a greener, fairer and stronger economy, accelerating opportunities for innovation and change in York and North Yorkshire."
Read more about the vision and recovery narrative here.
See communication pack and recovery plan below:
Greener-Fairer-Stronger-Communications-Pack.pdfEconomic-recovery-plan-outline-June-2020.pdfReports
Nesta: Innovation after Lockdown
Innovation will be vital to Britain’s economic recovery. But unless we change the way innovation is funded and supported, recovery will leave too many behind. Read the full report and executive summary below:
Innovation_after_Lockdown_v5_2.pdfInnovation_after_Lockdown_Summary_v2.pdfTo tackle the climate crisis, the UK Government has set a target of net-zero greenhouse gases by 2050. To achieve this target, a major transformation is required to prepare sectors and workers for the green economy.
Going_Green-_Preparing_the_UK_workforce_to_the_transition_to_a_net_zero_economy.June.2020.pdfResolution Foundation: Rainy days
Families in Great Britain are faced with the most severe economic contraction in more than 100 years. Much of the immediate focus among policy makers has been on the size and distribution of falls in families’ incomes but household wealth, both savings and debt, will play a hugely important role in shaping how far families’ living standards will fall during the crisis.
This report is the first in a series of comprehensive, annual reports covering the state of wealth in Britain. In it we focus on the scale and distribution of families’ assets and debt prior to the coronavirus crisis and what that means for living standards. The report also presents evidence from a new survey on how families’ balance sheets have been affected in the early phase of the crisis. The crisis is disproportionately affecting families on low-to-middle incomes and this has profound implications for policy makers.
Rainy-Days.pdfThe Edge Foundation: The Impact of Covid-19 on Education - A summary of evidence on the early impacts of lockdown
The Impact of Covid-19 on Education summarises published evidence on the early impacts of lockdown including on the youth labour market, disadvantage, schools, further education and higher education.
The economic impact has been felt and will continue to be felt disproportionately by young people and will be one of the defining features of a whole generation of British children. The lockdown has had a severe impact on every family and on every aspect of education in this country.
covid-19_report_final_-_web (1).pdfSocial Mobility Commission: Apprenticeships and social mobility - fulfilling potential
Apprenticeships_and_social_mobility_report_FINAL_proofed_22.06.20.pdf20200617_BrookingsMetro_Great-Lakes-RPUs_FULL-final.pdfBriefings
Ten years after it was first introduced, new research finds that austerity has had a disproportionately damaging impact upon the North of England’s resilience and its capacity to deal with the social and economic impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic.
10-years-of-austerity.pdfRoyal Academy of Engineering: Stimulating R&D for a faster and better recovery
Research and development in UK companies is at immediate risk as we come out of lockdown and requires urgent government intervention to adapt to the economic conditions after the COVID19 pandemic, according to a report published by the Royal Academy of Engineering, based on research with 25 R&D-intensive businesses.
RAEng-stimulating-R-D.pdfWORKING PAPER - Centre for Progressive Policy: Why the government need to pay up before levelling up
The government needs to fully compensate local authorities for lost income and additional costs as a result of the Covid-19 crisis before it can turn back to the levelling up agenda
Local-Gov-Fin_WP_CPP.pdfBlogs & webinar
YU: ‘Starting and scaling up business…in a period of recovery' by Monika Antal, YU Executive Manager
"Last week, a request landed on our ‘virtual desk’, originating from the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and linked to a series of economic recovery roundtables that are expected to inform the emergency budget announcement scheduled for the second week in July."
HEPI: 'An earthquake is coming for universities' by Andrew George
"Deep underground, tectonic plates bump and grind against each other, building immense pressure. The tensions remain latent and unrecognised for years until a sudden shift, an earthquake, changes the landscape forever. "
WonkHE: 'What does it mean to offer a full student experience this September?' by Jim Dickinson and David Kernohan
"It’s great to see Universities UK offering a “full and exciting” student experience involving things like “outdoor sport” and “working with bars”. This sort of commitment to understanding students’ lives and the wider student experience is very welcome."
WEBINAR: Beyond Covid - Rebuilding local economies after Covid-19 - Mayor Andy Burnham, Neil McInroy & Sarah Longlands
This Beyond Covid webinar saw Greater Manchester Metro Mayor Andy Burnham, Sarah Longland from IPPR North, and Neil McInroy from the Centre for Local Economic Strategies discussing the critical role of local and regional governments in implementing strategies to build back better after the crisis.
Andy highlighted the way in which the government’s centralising tendencies helped undermine its covid-19 response- a problem made worse by years of austerity - and laid out some of the ways in which local authorities and Metro Mayors could respond more boldly to the crisis.
Sarah and Neil spoke of the need for meaningful devolution, with a broader remit for devolved authorities beyond seeing narrowly-defined local economic growth as the target.
Week 25: 15-19 June 2020
Reports & insights
Creative Industries Policy & Evidence Centre: The importance of a UK-wide recovery plan for the creative industries
New research shows that following the global financial crisis in 2008 we saw an accelerated trend towards a greater concentration of creative businesses in London. This should warn us against repeating mistakes in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis and should encourage the government to step in to protect progress made in investing in creative clusters outside of London.
Insights-for-policymakers_-The-importance-of-a-UK-wide-recovery-plan-for-the-creative-industries.pdfCreative Industries Federation: The Projected Economic Impact of Covid-19 on the UK Creative Industries report
“Cultural catastrophe” - over 400,000 creative jobs could be lost, with the UK creative industries projected to lose £1.4 billion a week in revenue in 2020.
The new report, The Projected Economic Impact of Covid-19 on the UK Creative Industries, projects that the creative sector will be hit twice as hard as the wider economy in 2020, with a projected GVA shortfall of £29 billion.
The Projected Economic Impact of Covid-19 on the Creative Industries Report - Creative Industries Federation 2020.pdfLancaster University, Work Foundation - Standing Together? COVID-19 and worker insecurity in 2020 and beyond
Following the outbreak of COVID-19, the labour market is characterised by significant uncertainty. Many businesses are unable to plan effectively for how they will trade through the months ahead; a substantial number of workers are unclear how their role might change or whether they will even have a job in the near future; and policymakers are still establishing exactly what kind of support will be needed for employers and employees over the months ahead.
InsecurityBriefing-June20final.pdfAssociation of Colleges - REBUILD: A Skills Led Recovery Plan
"In a recession, young people and disadvantaged adults are less likely to find work, and more likely to lose their jobs, scarring them economically for the rest of their lives. We can avoid that happening this time, if we focus on getting people trained and ready for when the labour market begins to grow again.
In ‘Rebuild: a skills led recovery plan’, AoC is calling on government for another bold and necessary course of action to reduce the post post-furlough shock, minimise the risk of economic scarring, and prepare the country for the rebuild."
You can find the full and shorter versions of the AOC recovery plan below:
REBUILD - A skills led recovery plan (full doc) FINAL_0.pdfREBUILD - A skills led recovery plan (short doc).pdfThe Centre for Social Justice - The Long Game: How to reboot skills training for disadvantaged adults
"A 70 per cent decline in participation in part-time learning since 2009-10 is identified as one of the core gaps in adult learning provision in a new report from the Centre for Social Justice. Recognising that adult learning represents a vital route to upskilling and improved employment prospects, the report identifies those who left secondary education with limited skills, who are trapped in low-paid jobs, and who are among the highest risk of losing their jobs to automation as particularly in need of effective adult learning provision."
CSJ-The-Long-Game.pdfData & analysis
HESA have published the Higher Education Graduate Outcomes Statistics: UK, 2017/18 this week and HESPA's Sally Turnbull introduced a guide to interpreting and using Graduate Outcomes data.
ONS Labour market overview, UK: June 2020 - Estimates of employment, unemployment, economic inactivity and other employment-related statistics for the UK. Early indicators for May 2020 suggest that the number of employees in the UK on payrolls is down over 600,000 compared with March 2020.
Centre for Cities
Job Retention Scheme and Self Employment Income Support UK cities and large towns: a Yorkshire Analysis
Centre for Cities JRS SEIS Yorkshire .pdfLeeds City Region C-19 dashboard
You can find the full fortnightly report here, and the briefer, weekly dashboard is here.
Blogs
YU: 'Innovation Deals' by Dr Peter O'Brien, Executive Director
"Tom Forth and Richard Jones’ recent report, ‘The Missing £4 Billion’, published by the innovation specialists, Nesta, presents in-depth analysis and a series of thought-provoking, yet practical, proposals on how to rebalance the current uneven geography of research and development (R&D) spending within the UK. The report is timely and has gained much attention, not least for the case the authors make for government to devolve 25 per cent of the planned uplift in R&D funding to nations, cities and regions. A stark statistic contained in the report is that large parts of the UK, including Yorkshire, are missing out on £4 billion a year in public R&D funding."
YU: 'COVID-19 and beyond: understanding student expectations' by Roger Lewis, Associate
"At this time of year prospective students gear up for university. Amidst the uncertainty, 2020 might be no exception despite some of the current thinking. What, in the current climate are students expecting in September? Anecdotal evidence suggests that ‘the student experience’ (i.e. ‘being at uni’) is the first thought of many. It’s always been a moot point as to how far their provider’s responsibility extends into that wider area so let’s focus on specifically educational provision. Last week’s 2020 HEPI/Advance HE Student Academic Experience Survey offers some initial insights at a time of the lockdown period."
WonkHE: 'Mobilising the higher education sector on climate change' by Sonya Peres
"Although the UK further and higher education sector is complex and holds diverse interests, there is widespread acknowledgment that we need to play an instrumental role in tackling this crisis. Indeed, many universities and colleges are already taking action, but we need to do more. We need to act together to strengthen our response to the climate emergency. The Climate Commission for UK Higher and Further Education Students and Leaders, a collaboration between Association of Colleges, EAUC, GuildHE and Universities UK, is coordinating action in the sector."
WonkHE: 'Does the student number cap incentivise over-recruitment?' by David Kernohan
"A curious multi-year effect of 2020s new student numbers cap means that it might make more sense to break it - for certain kinds of university."
"There is no doubt that COVID-19 will deliver a huge shock to the UK economy and the consequences of this impact could last for some time. Although lockdown has now been with us since 23rd March, we are just beginning to build our understanding of the nature and scale of the economic effect. The data on what has happened so far is only just emerging and we are at a very early stage of the recovery."
Wakefield Council's Regeneration & Economic Growth: 'Local Leadership in recession and recovery' by Tom Stannard
Today's ONS statistics showing a record and alarming GDP fall in the UK economy during April are sobering for us all. Some of these short term economic effects of the pandemic, whilst predictable, have alarmed economists because of the sharpness and severity of their impact. It is also worrying to see some recent commentary claiming the economy "is over the worst of it", when we know that recessions cast a long shadow, and the deeper the recession, the longer that shadow can fall.
WEBINAR: The Learning & Work Institute - Getting Britain back to work - tackling unemployment after coronavirus: recording of the webinar.
Week 24: 8-12 June 2020
Reports & articles
Campaign for Social Science: Universities and the recovery of local communities from the COVID-19 crisis: A role for the social sciences
By Professor John Goddard OBE FAcSS (Emeritus Professor of Regional Development Studies, University of Newcastle) and Des McNulty (Assistant Vice Principal for Economic Development and Civic Engagement, University of Glasgow, and Vice Chair of the Glasgow Commission for Economic Growth)
This article was originally commissioned and published by the Campaign for Social Science as part of its COVID-19 programme.
" While universities face major challenges to their funding and business models as a result of Covid-19, many are nevertheless deepening connections and collaborations with the NHS, local authorities, businesses and the community and voluntary sectors in the areas they serve. In these instances, universities are making significant contributions to local and regional responses not only as anchor institutions with significant economic and employment roles and responsibilities, but also as sources of expert advice and support."
The global outlook is highly uncertain: The COVID-19 pandemic is a global health crisis without precedent in living memory. It has triggered the most severe economic recession in nearly a century and is causing enormous damage to people’s health, jobs and well-being. The Outlook focuses on two equally probable scenarios – one in which a second wave of infections, with renewed lock-downs, hits before the end of 2020, and one in which another major outbreak is avoided.
The 2020 Public Services Commission ran between 2008 and 2010. It was a major inquiry into how UK public services could respond to the significant challenges of the decade. Chaired by Sir Andrew Foster, Commissioners were drawn from across the political spectrum, local government, academia, and from the public, private and third sectors.
This publication is a collection of essays from those who were part of the original Commission.
The-2020-Public-Service-Commission-Ten-years-on.pdfSOTA Review No 41: June 2020
No41-University-Industry-Collaboration-Are-SMEs-Different-Johnston-FINAL-1.pdfBriefings
House of Commons Library: The UK Shared Prosperity Fund
Background and issues for consideration concerning the Government's proposed Shared Prosperity Fund, which will replace EU structural funding now that the UK has left the EU.
CBP-8527 May 2020.pdfBennett Institute for Public Policy - Levelling Up Regional Resilience: policy responses to the COVID-19 Crisis
"For the newly elected government in the UK, like many of its counterparts elsewhere, industrial strategy has become the most important institutional vehicle through which it seeks to achieve some of its core goals. These include promoting economic growth, tackling falling productivity growth, designing research and innovation policies that will enhance the strengths of the UK economy, and ensuring that its leading sectors are globally competitive. "
Indust._Strat._5_Levelling_up.pdfData visualisation & analysis
Job Retention Scheme and Self Employment Income Support UK cities and large towns by Centre for Cities.
Leeds City Region C-19 dashboard
12 June issue
lcr-covid-19-dashboard-12062020.pdfBlogs & podcasts & webinars
Blog: 'Give the UK’s nations and regions the tools they need to prosper' by Richard Jones
"This piece is based on talks I’ve given to present some of the arguments of the paper Tom Forth and I have just published with NESTA. The full paper is available here: The Missing £4 Billion: Making R&D work for the whole UK. "
"The UK is two countries, economically. In terms of productivity, “Greater South East England” – London, the South East and some of the East of England – is a country with a level of productivity comparable to richest parts of the rest of Northern Europe. But much of the rest of the UK – including the Midlands, the North, much of the Southwest of England, together with Wales and Northern Ireland – is more comparable to East Germany and Southern Italy in its productivity"
Blog: 'It takes a virus? Leveraging COVID-19 to accelerate Levelling-Up' by Prof Greg Clark CBE, Chair, Connected Places Catapult
"Recent reports on the issue of regional disparities within the UK have revealed how complex, extensive, enduring, and deep the challenge is. Multiple inter-dependent and self-perpetuating processes, coupled with different place endowments, contribute to the reasons that some regional economies appear to surge ahead, and others become scarred and fall behind. These divides are further crystalised and entrenched through reinforcing behaviours about locational decisions made by mobile people, firms, and investors. They have been further reinforced by government policies, that unintentionally exacerbate such divides, and give them an almost ‘pre-determined’ aura."
Blog: 'Health, Wealth and Wellbeing' by Dame Jackie Daniel
"This week I’ve been thinking about our city and the legacy we want to create following the COVID-19 pandemic. It’s clear that the North East has been hard hit by coronavirus and given the levels of deprivation experienced by our population that’s not a surprise. It’s another stark example of the challenges we see every day. As the ‘anchor’ health organisation for the North East we are rightly proud of our ‘outstanding’ services and high standards, but we also know that our local population continues to have some of the worst public health outcomes in the UK."
Blog: WonkHE - 'For universities, persuading government post-Covid-19 will mean persuading voters' by Rachel Wolf
Rachel Wolf argues that government priorities post-Covid-19 are increasingly clear, and universities have a chance to influence if they respond now to the changing political landscape
Podcast: IFS - Coronavirus and the economy
Webinar: NESTA The missing £4 billion: making R&D work for the whole UK
The webinar took place on Tuesday 02nd June 2020 - recording of the webinar is now available to view online here.
Week 23: 1-5 June 2020
Reports
"The north of England has some of the most beautiful natural landscapes in the world. From the soaring heights and serene waters of the Lake District, to the rugged, majestic splendour of the Yorkshire Dales, to the spectacular beauty of the Northumbrian coast, and everything in between, the North is rich in a diverse range of natural assets."
nan-finalreport-june20.pdfBennett Institute for Public Policy - An Industrial Startegy for tomorrow - Industrial capacity in post Covid-19 Braitain by Andy Westwood
"For the newly elected government in the UK, like many of its counterparts elsewhere, industrial strategy has become the most important institutional vehicle through which it seeks to achieve some of its core goals. These include promoting economic growth, tackling falling productivity growth, designing research and innovation policies that will enhance the strengths of the UK economy, and ensuring that its leading sectors are globally competitive."
Industrial_stratedy_4_Ind._capacity_in_post_C-19_Britain_3.pdfBennett Institute for Public Policy - Townscapes: England’s health inequalities
This is the fourth in a series of papers analysing the fortunes of towns across Britain. The analysis draws upon data relating to public service provision, economic outcomes and demographic changes.
This report examines the health inequalities between English towns.
Townscapes_Englands_Health_Inequalities_May_2020.pdfScience and Technology Committee - First Special Report
On 12 September 2019 the previous Committee published its Twenty-First Report of Session 2017–19, Balance and effectiveness of research and innovation spending [HC 1453]. The Response from the Government was received on 6 March 2020 and the Response from UK Research and Innovation Response was received on 10 March 2020. These are published as the First Special Report.
download.pdfThe UPP Foundation - How young people can be supported during and after the global Covid-19 pandemic
"Disadvantaged young people under the age of 25 should be given the opportunity to work for 6 months in a paid placement around the country, under proposals published by the UPP Foundation and a coalition of school trusts and charities. In a call for action to “safeguard young people” after Covid-19 and build upon a “mood of civic engagement”, a Community Leadership Academy would deliver a six months full time or part time paid work placement for young people doing work to support local communities - addressing the risk of mass youth unemployment."
2398-UPP-Foundation-Covid-Letter.pdf2398-Covid-19-Report.pdfYork & North Yorkshire LEP - Emissions Reduction Pathways and Carbon Abatement Pathways
DoDs Carbon Abatement Pathways Paper_May 2020.pdfNWY Emissions pathways results exec summary for YNY.pdfBriefings
Centre for Cities - Road to recovery: A framework for policy - How should the Government roll back its support in a way that allows growth to occur across the country?
"The Government was swift to bring in a number of policies to support businesses as a result of the Covid crisis. But how should it roll back this support in a way that allows growth to occur across the country?
There is no easy answer to this, but the timing of the roll back of these policies, as well as what replaces them, will have major implications for the nature of the recovery. This briefing sets out principles on how this should be done to help support the recovery across the country. It makes three main recommendations."
The Sutton Trust - COVID-19 and Social Mobility Impact Brief #3: Apprenticeships
"The COVID-19 pandemic has caused complex challenges across the apprenticeship landscape. The unique position of apprenticeships – which combine education, training and employment – has made the sector particularly vulnerable to the current health crisis. Impacts on training providers and access to learning are being compounded by the profound impacts on employers and the economy."
Covid-19-Impacts-Apprenticeships.pdfData & analysis
Leeds City Region weekly monitoring report on Covid-19 economic impacts
28 May 2020 issue
5 June 2020 issue
lcr-covid-19-monitor-28052020-updated.pdflcr-covid-19-monitor-05062020-final.pdfBlogs & webinar
SHU - 'Moving forwards' by Professor Sir Chris Husbands
"Lockdown is now ten weeks old. Spring has slipped into summer; evenings have lengthened and the days have warmed: last week was glorious May weather. At Sheffield Hallam, as elsewhere, our minds are increasingly turning to the next season, to Autumn and to the new academic year."
CLES - 'Economic recovery and reform: the role of community power' by Neil McInroy and Tom Lloyd Goodwin
"Long before the COVID-19 pandemic, our economy was failing many people and the planet. The imperative then was to create an economy that serves our needs, and shares wealth amongst as many people as possible. This imperative has only been amplified by the situation in which we now find ourselves. We believe the surge in community power in response to COVID-19 harbours the key to building back a better economy."
Forbes - 'An MIT For The North Of England?—Sheffield University’s Blueprint For Innovation' by Trevor Clawson
"It may be something that has been temporarily forgotten due to more pressing matters, but when the U.K. eventually returns to something approaching normality, the success of Prime Minister Boris Johnson’s government is likely to be measured against an electoral promise to “level up” the economy across the regions."