May 2020 highlights
Week 22: 25-29 May 2020
Reports & articles
by Tom Forth, Open Data Institute Leeds and Richard A.L. Jones, University of Manchester
The UK’s geographical imbalances in economic performance are exacerbated by regional imbalances in R&D spending. This report sets out why this has happened and how to harness R&D to redress longstanding regional economic inequality.
The_Missing_4_Billion_Making_RD_work_for_the_whole_UK_v4.pdfLSE Centre for Economic Performance - Covid-19 and social mobility
by Lee Ellot Major and Stephen Machin
The unprecedented economic and educational shocks of the Covid-19 pandemic could inflict longterm damage to young people’s prospects in life, a new study finds.
According to the authors, the ‘Covid generation’ – young Britons currently under the age of 25 – face declining social mobility unless bold moves are made to create a fairer society – including a job guarantee scheme for those facing long-term unemployment and catch-up tutoring for disadvantaged children.
The new report – Covid-19 and Social Mobility, published today by the LSE’s Centre for Economic Performance (CEP) – points out that before the crisis, younger generations were already facing declining ‘absolute mobility’: falling real wages, fewer opportunities and stagnant or declining living standards.
cepcovid-19-004.pdfTortoise Media Article - Universities in crisis: Off campus by Chris Cook
Fighting over students, debts on the rise and little prospect of an early return to normal, will universities survive Covid-19?
"Floors have been marked with tape. One-way systems have been established. Lectures are moving online. But the monumental task of restoring life on campus will take much more than that."
Project Syndicate: The Big Failure of Small Government by Mariana Mazzucato, Giulio Quaggiotto
"It is no coincidence that countries with mission-driven governments have fared better in the COVID-19 crisis than have countries beholden to the cult of efficiency. Effective governance, it turns out, cannot be conjured up at will, because it requires investment in state capacity."
Blog
HEPI - 'Are we on the cusp of a wave of university mergers?' by Nick Hillman
"There is huge interest at the moment in whether higher education institutions will be more likely to merge with one another as a result of the financial pressures caused by the pandemic. The Universities UK list of asks to the Government included the important suggestion of ‘A transformation fund to support universities over the next two to three years to reshape and consolidate through federations and partnerships or potentially merge’ (which is realistic but may still have come as a surprise to any policymaker who was hoping mergers might save money)."
Taskforce
The purpose of the taskforce is to provide an advisory forum for ministers at BEIS and DFE to engage with university research and knowledge exchange stakeholders with the aim of sustaining the university research base and its capability to contribute effectively to UK society and economy in the recovery to coronavirus (COVID-19) and beyond.
Week 21: 18-22 May 2020
News items
It's been #MentalHealthAwarenessWeek this week:
Innovate UK has (Wednesday 20 May) confirmed £40m grant funding for business projects tackling post COVID-19 global impact.
The University of Cambridge has announced that its lectures will be online until summer 2021.
Inquiry into the impact of C-19 on DCMS sector
The DCMS Committee has launched an inquiry into the 'Impact of Covid-19 on DCMS sectors'. It will consider both the immediate and long-term impact that Covid-19 and the related social and financial measures are having on the wide range of industries and organisations under the Committee’s remit. The Committee expects to hold a number of evidence sessions from late April onwards to hear directly from stakeholders, arms-length bodies and Government about what is being done and what further support is needed.
This inquiry is currently accepting evidence - The committee wants to hear your views. We welcome submissions from anyone with answers to the questions in the call for evidence. You can submit evidence until Friday 19 June 2020.
Reports and essays
Policy Yorkshire - '2030 Vision: Where Should Yorkshire be in ten years' time?'
Launched on 22 May - Collection of essays by:
Dan Jarvis MBE MP, Mayor of the Sheffield City Region
John Cridland CBE, Chair of Transport for the North
Clare Crabb, Director (North of England), The Prince’s Trust
James Mitchinson, Editor of the Yorkshire Post
Mark Arthur, Chief Executive of Yorkshire Country Cricket Club
Andrea Jenkyns MP, (Morley and Outwood)
Lord Haskins of Skidby, Chair of the Humber Local Enterprise Partnership
Bill Adams, Regional Secretary, TUC Yorkshire and Humber
Carolyn Frank, Development Manager (North Yorkshire) Federation of Small Businesses
Professor Sir Chris Husbands, Vice Chancellor of Sheffield Hallam University and Chair of Yorkshire Universities
Gary Hetherington, Chief Executive, Leeds Rhinos
Policy Yorkshire Essays - Email Version.pdfCentre for Progressive Policy - ‘Back from the Brink: Avoiding Another Lost Generation’
"Recessions have long-lasting effects. After the 2008 recession, it took five years for economic output to recover, and it took until the end of 2019 for wages to fully rebound. But some local areas took even longer to recover; 26 places are still below pre-crisis levels of output some 12 years later. Many areas are simply not resilient to economic shocks let alone in a position to thrive over the long run."
CPP-Report-Back-from-the-brink.pdf"After a decade of failed austerity, working people can’t pay the price for recovery again. This time we need to build back better.
The coronavirus pandemic and the measures taken to tackle it have exposed serious flaws in how the UK economy works.
This crisis has shown who really keeps the country going – and also just how poorly paid many of our key workers are.
It has also revealed the scale and depth of existing inequality in this country , with women, disabled people and BME workers more likely to be affected because they are disproportionately stuck in insecure jobs on low pay."
TUC Report 'A Better Recovery'.pdfInstitute for Employment Studies - 'Help wanted: getting Britain back to work'
This paper has been written in collaboration between IES and a range of other organisations, experts and partners in employment and social policy – including Learning and Work Institute, Reform, Impetus, Youth Futures, the Association of Colleges, the Employment Related Services Association, the Recruitment and Employment Confederation and the Institute for Employability Professionals. It sets out evidence- and practice-based proposals for the employment and labour market response to this crisis.
Help-wanted-discussion-paper_FINAL-3.pdf"This report looks at the picture of apprenticeships at levels 6 and 7, equivalent to a bachelors or postgraduate degree. Degree apprenticeships in England were launched in Autumn 2015, and offer a potentially powerful combination of on the job training and academic learning. With the prospect of gaining industry-specific skills, a university-accredited degree qualification and leaving without tuition fee debt, they have grown rapidly in popularity. They offer the potential to be powerful vehicles for social mobility, however this report, authored by Carl Cullinane and Katherine Doherty of the Trust, explores whether this is proving to be the case. "
Degree-Apprenticeships-Levelling-Up.pdfRegional Studies Association - Response to the Housing,Communities and Local Government Committee Inquiry on the progress of devolution in England
Devolution in England Submission2020_Response FINAL.pdfA team of international researchers, including CREDS researchers at the University of Leeds, screened nearly 7,000 studies from across the globe to develop a list of the most effective changes to household consumption to cut our carbon footprints.
UKRI Environmental Sustainability Strategy
The strategy sets out the organisation’s priorities to lead the way in environmental sustainability across the research and innovation sector, following the UK government’s commitment to end the country’s contribution to global warming by 2050.
UKRI invests in the cutting-edge research and innovation that is essential in understanding and tackling the environmental challenges that we face, including climate change and plastic waste pollution. This research is critical in supporting the UK achieve the goals set out in the government’s Industrial Strategy, Clean Growth Strategy, the 25-year Environment Plan and devolved policy to reach ‘net-zero’ carbon emissions within 30 years.
NERCSustainability Strategy 2pp.pdfAnalysis
Bank of England Economic Scenario & Key Financial Issues
By Juliette Healey & Paul Mount
Agency for Yorkshire & Humber
Bank of England economic scenario & financial risks, 14 May 2020.pdfWest Yorkshire Combined Authority: LCR COVID-19 Monitor
14 May issue
21 May issue
lcr-covid-19-monitor-14052020.pdflcr-covid-19-monitor-21052020.pdfBlogs & podcasts
In this REDI to Debate, Rebecca Riley looks at “Levelling up” and a review of the Green Book which was on the Government agenda before COVID-19. What are the constraints and risks for policymakers and how will the pandemic affect this approach?
"My contribution to the REDI debate publication on inclusive growth looked at the Green Book and the Treasury approach to Levelling Up. I have revisited this section in light of COVID-19."
City-REDI / WMREDI have collated information from a range of contributors as a response to the Department for Business Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) Select Committee inquiry on the impact of COVID-19 on businesses and workers. It covers a variety of topics from identifying the complex and far-reaching impacts of the crisis to economic modelling and policy insights from past and international experience. Below are the key points and insights of the evidence on enhancing local resilience."
There's an opportunity to build a new social contract, tackle inequality, foster innovation and adopt a long-term industrial strategy, write Sam Unsworth and Anna Valero.
"The Covid-19 crisis is already inflicting serious damage on both the UK and the global economy. This raises questions on the appropriate policies for a strong and sustainable recovery, contributing to global efforts to avoid a depression, and delivering on overarching governmental objectives, including reaching net-zero emissions and reducing inequalities across and within regions. On 14 May 2020, the Royal Economic Society hosted a webinar on policies for a strong and sustainable recovery, the second in a series of three. Here we discuss some of the issues raised by the speakers, drawing on our ongoing work."
By Dr Robyn Owen (Middlesex University London) & Theresia Harrer at the Centre for Enterprise and Economic Development Research (CEEDR) and Centre for Understanding Sustainable Prosperity (CUSP).
"The COVID-19 crisis threatens all of our lives. Understandably, it is currently the central focus of government policy globally. Yet history tells us that post-crisis economic reconstruction is most successful where investment is greatest in new emerging sectors. It is crucial, therefore, that investment in the UK is directed towards globally leading innovations for environmentally sustainable development, rather than simply to become more efficient at producing and selling more of the same."
Yorkshire Post - 'Our universities need protecting' by Beckie Hart
"The coronavirus pandemic has taken apart long-held notions of security, requiring a significant response from all parts of British society. Incredible individuals and organisations from a range of sectors have stepped up to help where they can, including many business heroes."
Research Professional News - 'Co-dependency issues' by Koen Lamberts and Tony Strike
"The government must solve the problems caused by research’s reliance on cross-subsidy from international students. Part of the package of measures announced this week by the government to help protect universities from the impacts of Covid-19 was the creation of a research sustainability task force. It has a vital mission."
Public Sector Voices is the new podcast from PSE, bringing you closer to the public sector leaders in the UK. Covering everything from the environment to the economy to transport, host Emily Rodgers will bring you the latest news, views and insight from the people responsible for shaping the country's future. Latest episodes include Chris Murray, Core Cities UK and Cllr Judith Blake, Leeds City Council.
YU blogs & activities
'Federations of Universities: What could we learn from elsewhere?' Guest blog by Kevin Richardson, Local Academy
"Universities UK has called for the establishment of a ‘transformation fund’ to support universities over the next two to three years to reshape and consolidate through ‘federations’ and partnerships, or potentially merge with other higher education institutions, further education colleges or private providers’."
"The COVID-19 crisis presents an opportunity to accelerate efforts to tackle the climate emergency that should be capitalised on, representatives from Yorkshire’s universities agreed at the 5 May virtual roundtable convened by Yorkshire Universities and Arup. Several key themes emerged:"
Read about them in more detail here.
In February, which seems a like a lifetime ago now, and when it was still permissible to gather in large groups, YU invited academics from Newcastle University to Leeds in order to meet university counterparts in Yorkshire, as well as local authority and health officials, in order to present findings from a newly-published report on some of the lessons learned from the Urban Living Partnership (ULP) pilots. Find out more about why ULPs are important in these brief interviews by two of the report authors: Louise Kempton and David Marlow.
Week 20: 11-15 May 2020
News items
This will support the expansion of citizen science approaches into new disciplines, involving more members of the public in the creation of knowledge that will transform society.
Acknowledgement of contributions from 1,117 experts, including experts from: University of Huddersfield, Hull, Leeds, Leeds Beckett, Leeds Trinity, Sheffield, Sheffield Hallam, York. Their responses submitted to the COVID-19 outbreak expert survey (between 3 April and 30 April) form the basis of POST’s syntheses.
You can read the methodology of this work here.
You can find rapid response content from POST on COVID-19 here.
You can find more content on COVID-19 from the Commons and Lords Libraries here.
Reports and essays
CaSE - The Power of Place
Designed to feed into the Government's 'levelling up' and R&D investment agenda, CaSE's report 'The Power of Place' examines how to maximise the local economic impact of greater R&D intensity across the regions and nations of the UK.
Investing in regional R&D can play a significant role in reaching the Government’s target of increasing R&D investment to 2.4% of GDP by 2027, and 3% in the long-term. The challenge of encouraging regional economic growth is likely to be even more important as the UK emerges from the other side of the Covid-19 pandemic and looks to rebuild its economy.
ThePowerofPlace.pdfThe Higher Education Policy Institute is publishing a landmark report, Postgraduate Education in the UK (HEPI Analytical Report 1) by Dr Ginevra House, which has been produced with the kind support of the British Library.
Looking at how the UK postgraduate landscape has changed since the last similar report was published a decade ago, the new report uses previously unpublished data to reveal the state of UK postgraduate education in the years before the Covid-19 crisis struck. Compared to the past, a higher proportion of postgraduates are female, studying full-time and young.
The analysis also considers how postgraduate education was affected by the great recession of 2008, when many people sought to gain more education in the face of economic challenges. Those who already had postgraduate qualifications also fared better than others in the labour market.
Postgraduate-Education-in-the-UK.pdfAbstract
"We study the regionally heterogeneous effect of student spending in UK NUTS2 regions. Impact analyses of the £44bn students spend each year have so far been agnostic of the regional absorptive capacity to benefit from this expenditure. Building the first UK Multi-Regional Input-Output (MRIO) model and combining it with microdata, we find regional multipliers ranging from 1.11 to 1.37 for each £1 spent by a student. Similar variations are found in spillover effects and the importance of student spending to regional economies. The analysis shows a symbiotic relationship between student spending and regional industrial structures that produces varying impact outcomes."
05.2020_Incera_et_al_WP.pdfThis report provides evidence for the tangible benefits of skills developed in the arts, humanities and social sciences to the UK workforce, economy and society, not only now but in the future.
Qualified-for-the-Future-Quantifying-demand-for-arts-humanities-social-science-skills.pdfNESTA Essays
The first essay in the new series looks at lessons from the response so far. The second explores the different scenarios that could emerge, depending on whether recovery brings continuity or change.
The COVID-19 test: What have we learnt so far? Reflections on emerging trends
Four coronavirus futures: Where might we be headed and to what kind of new normality?
Also worth a read:
New operating models and COVID-19: A catalyst for change? with examples from City of York and Leeds City Councils on their response to covid-19
House of Commons Library Insights
Coronavirus: How might devolution in England be affected? by Mark Sanford
"2021 promises to be a significant year in the development of devolution in England. Is the coronavirus likely to setback those developments? Could Covid-19 provide the impetus to for a more systematic approach to devolution of power to metro-mayors within England? This Insight will explain why 2021 was expected to be such a key date in English devolution and it will examine the potential impact of the coronavirus on that process."
Data and analysis
DfE: Graduate labour market statistics - Headline facts and figures - 2019
In 2019, the median salary of working-age graduates was £34,000. This represents no change from 2018. Non-graduate salaries rose to £25,000, narrowing the gap between the two groups to £9,000.
The employment rate for working-age graduates in 2019 was 87.5%, slightly lower than the rate in 2018 (87.7%).
65.6% of working-age graduates were in high-skilled employment in 2019, compared with 78.9% of postgraduates and 23.9% of non-graduates. Although this represents a slight increase of 0.2 percentage points since 2018 for graduates, the rise was larger for both postgraduates (2.4 percentage points) and non-graduates (1.0 percentage point).
The purpose of this report is to highlight key changes in the apprenticeship landscape since 2016-17 at levels 6 and 7. It includes analysis of how many of these apprenticeships require completion of a degree (otherwise known as degree apprenticeships), the subject areas they cover and their geographic coverage.
Environmental statistics released today reveal a 3% fall in energy consumption and a 7% fall in carbon emissions by HE providers in 2018/19.
West Yorkshire Combined Authority: LCR COVID-19 Monitor
30 April 2020 issue
7 May 2020 issue
LCR COVID-19 monitor 07.05.2020.pdfLCR COVID-19 monitor 30.04.2020 FINAL.pdfBlogs
Manchester Policy Blogs: 'Levelling up regional resilience'
Dr Marianne Sensier and Dr Elvira Uyarra have conducted research comparing the economic resilience, community wellbeing, sustainability and governance of Greater Manchester and Preston in recovery from the 2008 financial crisis. The financial crisis provided a window of opportunity for some places to develop new arrangements to adapt and diversify regional economies. In this blog, they explore the lessons learnt from the financial crisis that could help in recovery from the COVID-19 crisis.
"As one of the UK’s leading higher education institutions, the University of York already has an established reputation for inspirational teaching and pioneering research. But we are also an organisation with a strong sense of social purpose. Our research tackles some of the world’s most enduring challenges and we care deeply about opening up the advantages of a university education to learners of all ages and backgrounds"
Research Professional News: 'Augar’s tuition fee U-turn made me splutter into my Pimm’s' by Nick Hillman
"One of the great unwritten rules of politics is that if you ask a member of the great and the good to review a policy area for you, you can reliably expect them to defend their conclusions for years to come."
The government's 2.4 per cent target is no longer a sufficient policy goal. Beth Thompson argues that we need a fresh vision of research and its role in society.
University of Hull: 'How the economy recovers from the impact of COVID-19 will have major implications on the UK’s ability to meet net-zero carbon targets' by Professor Dan Parsons
"Environmental experts have forecasted a huge surge in carbon emissions in the months following COVID-19, as governments and businesses look to bounce back from the pandemic quickly."
Birmingham Business School: 'Industry 4.0 and Regional Transformations' by Professor David Bailey and Professor Lisa De Propri
"Previous industrial revolutions were intricately associated with new technologies. Innovations in technology have often triggered a surge of production, the first example of this was steam power and railways, which then grew to the introduction of electricity and synthetic chemistry, and finally led to electronics, computers and aerospace."
NCUB: 'Improving competitiveness and productivity through KTPs' by Kathryn Burchell
"Improving competitiveness and productivity – a magic formula for success, but it’s not always easy to access the right skills, knowledge and technology to step up a business gear. If this sounds familiar to your organisation, it might be worth considering a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP)."
Webinars
Resolution Foundation: The corona class of 2020 - How to support young people leaving education amid the crisis
Centre for cities: Where next for devolution in England?
Where-next-for-devolution-in-England.pdfWeek 19: 4 - 8 May 2020
Published on 6 May : the YU ‘think-piece’ on the role of universities in supporting the rebuilding and recovery of local economies and communities as a result of the Covid-19 crisis.
Coronavirus Pandemic - Universities and the Economic Recovery of Place 20.05.06.pdfThe Government has announced a range of measures to protect students and the higher education sector from the impact of coronavirus.
Government_support_package_for_higher_education_providers_and_students.pdfBriefings
NHS Conferedation - NHS Reset: Reforming health and care post COVID-19
The coronavirus outbreak has changed the NHS and social care, ushering in rapid transformation at a time of immense pressure and personal and professional challenge.
Over the past few weeks, one message from leaders and clinicians across the UK has been clear: we must build on the progress made to chart a new course.
NHS Reset is a new NHS Confederation campaign to contribute to the public debate on what the health and care system should look like post-COVID19.
Briefing_NHS Reset_FNL_1.pdfResolution Foundation - Class of 2020: Education Education leavers in the current crisis
"The economic fallout from the coronavirus has taken the UK into uncharted territory, with fears that an additional 640,000 18-24-year-olds could find themselves unemployed this year alone. This briefing note focuses specifically on the prospects facing young people leaving full-time education today, highlighting the size and length of employment and pay scarring that they could experience. "
Class-of-2020.pdfCOP26 Universities Network - A Net-zero emissions economic recovery from COVID-19
International economic recovery from COVID-19 must be environmentally-conscious – for the sake of the economy, suggests new research published this week.
COP26 Universities Network Briefing - Economic Recovery from COVID-19 Final.pdfHouse of Commons Library Insight
Coronavirus: Support for local government by Mark Sanford
The Government has made several sources of financial support available to local authorities in the wake of the coronavirus outbreak.
The Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, Robert Jenrick said the Government would give councils “the resources they need to do the job,” in order to protect vulnerable people and local economies.
Financial support to date includes general support to local authorities to assist them with providing services, and funding to compensate for loss of income due to lockdown restrictions. What Government support has there been so far?
Data and analysis
Catch up on the latest data and analysis related to the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic and its impact on our economy and society. On here you'll find:
Blogs & podcast
YU: 'When a local economy collapses, we can’t just rely on the grit of communities' by James Ransom
"I’m a little late in reading Janesville: An American Story, Amy Goldstein’s tale of an industrial Wisconsin town in the depths of the Great Recession. The book received wide praise when published in 2017, telling the story of a community trying to pick itself up in the years following the closure of a major General Motors assembly plant. But the story has particular resonance now, as we stand on the cusp of another wave of economic upheaval. Here are three reflections."
The Sheffield Institute for Policy Studies: 'Youth Unemployment and Covid-19: Avoiding the creation of a pandemic generation' by Peter Wells and Ian Wilson
"There are nearly seven million 16-24 years olds in the UK; around 1 in 10 of the national population. The scale of government responses across much of the world to the Covid-19 pandemic have been unprecedented in peacetime. Extensive business and employee support schemes (such as furloughing) have prevented an economic downturn turning into a huge crisis of mass unemployment and rapidly increasing poverty."
"The COVID 19 pandemic has changed the way we conduct our lives. It is difficult to see a quick or easy path out of the lockdown scenario, unless a vaccination, medical interventions or 'herd immunity' are developed. It is likely that in the short to medium term we will instead follow a slow and tentative path to a 'new normal', in which proximity to others is avoided or discouraged."
ONS: 'Meeting the challenge of measuring the economy through the COVID-19 Pandemic' by Jonathan Athow
"The developing coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has led to new challenges for us, such as how to collect information with many shops closed, businesses ceasing to trade and no interviewers to knock on doors. The situation continues to evolve, and even now, the economy is operating very differently to how it did just a matter of weeks ago. The ONS has published three new articles looking at the effects of COVID-19 on National Accounts, Prices and the Labour market. Jonathan Athow explains how we are addressing some of the known – and the new – challenges, including highlighting how we will be collecting and publishing some of our key indicators in the weeks and months ahead."
"We are happy to announce that the Midlands Engine is today publishing key outputs from the Midlands Engine Economic Observatory (MEEO). The MEEO is a partnership led by City-REDI, which includes Nottingham Trent University, the Black Country Consortium, SQW, and Cambridge Econometrics. It aims to provide essential research capacity and grow contemporary insights into the functioning of the economy in the Midlands Engine."
Cambridge econometrics: 'Modelling the local economic impacts of the coronavirus' by Ben Gardiner
"The COVID-19 pandemic is a health crisis, which is quickly turning into a major economic shock. It affects all sectors of the economy, to varying degrees. Here Ben Gardiner and Chris Thoung looks at three aspects of the economic impact of COVID-19 from a local point of view: economic exposure, impact, recovery and resilience."
"The widening gap between higher education and industry cannot be solved unless we rapidly scale the breadth and depth of employer-university collaboration. We believe that startups are the key to making this happen, and estimate that the market size for startups enabling employer-university collaboration will grow by a CAGR of 13.0% from £18.2bn in 2020 to £61.6bn in 2030."
Podcast - Urban Loop: Episode 18: Dr. Jennifer Clark – Author, Uneven Innovation
Dr. Jennifer Clark is the Author of Uneven Innovation and a Professor at the Knowlton School of Architecture at The Ohio State University. As an expert in urban and regional economic development planning, she has taught at Cornell University and the Georgia Institute of Technology in addition to providing expert testimony before the US Congress and consulting on several committees for the Canadian, UK, and US governments.
Centre for Brexit Studies Blog: 'Industry 4.0 and Regional Transformations' by By Professor David Bailey
"Previous industrial revolutions were intricately associated with new technologies. Innovations related to steam power, cotton, steel, and railways helped to give us the first industrial revolution of mass production and mechanisation. The second was triggered by the introduction of electricity, heavy and mechanical engineering and synthetic chemistry, while the third came with innovations in electronics and computers, petrochemicals and aerospace."
Inside Higher Ed: 'Geography Matters' by Ellen Wexler
"Most public college students enroll within 50 miles of home, so location is more influential than policy makers think, a new study finds. If only tuition were lower, and high school students were armed with better data. That’s the idea that has guided the policy discussion about college access and affordability: to make better enrollment decisions, the story goes, students need money and information."
Keynote Session: Universities and the Geography of Innovation Geography of Innovation Conference 2020 Thursday 30th January 2020, Stavanger, Norway
Article: Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space - Performing the city-region - Imagineering, devolution and the search for legitimacy by Charlotte Hoole, Stephen Hincks
This paper provides new conceptual and empirical insights into the role city-regions play as part of a geopolitical strategy deployed by the nation state to enact its own interests, in conversation with local considerations. Emphasis falls on the performative roles of economic models and spatial-economic imaginaries in consolidating and legitimising region-building efforts and the strategies and tactics employed by advocates to gain credibility and traction for their chosen imaginaries. We focus on the Sheffield City Region and Doncaster within it (South Yorkshire, England) drawing on 56 in-depth interviews with local policymakers, civic institutions and private sector stakeholders conducted between 2015 and 2018.
0308518x20921207.pdfWeek 18: 27 April - 1 May 2020
The government has launched an online learning platform designed to help people boost their skills for free. The platform gives people access to free digital and numeracy courses to help build up their skills, progress in work and boost their job prospects across a range of skills levels.
News items:
Leaders from organisations and businesses across West Yorkshire are coming together to form an Economic Recovery Board to plan the region’s economic fightback from the Covid-19 pandemic.
The work of the Economic Recovery Board’s membership includes Rob Webster of the Integrated Health Care Partnership, Professor Shirley Congdon vice chancellor of the University of Bradford, police and crime commissioner Mark Burns-Williamson OBE alongside representatives from the West and North Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, Mid Yorkshire Chamber of Commerce, Federation of Small Business, IoD, Bank of England, CBI and Helen Barnard the acting director of the Joseph Roundtree Foundation.
Local Enterprise Partnership Network Board writes to Education Secretary and BEIS Secretary in support of UUK financial stability measures
The Local Enterprise Partnership Network Board has written to Gavin Williamson and Alok Sharma (copied to the Chancellor Rishi Sunak and others) expressing its support for Universities UK’s financial stability measures. The correspondence emphasises that universities will be critical partners in local economies and vital for the success of the UK’s future economic recovery. It also expresses confidence that a stable higher education sector will help regions address these challenges and commends both ministers to consider the proposals that have been submitted.
MillionPlus publishes additional financial proposals - following UUK proposal
MillionPlus has built on UUK’s proposed financial package which was previously submitted to government, highlighting the support universities need to continue to provide and help grow the numbers of public sector key workers in occupations such as nursing, medicine, social work and teaching.
The proposal comprises a three-pronged approach to mitigating against future shortages of key workers. The press release , which includes a quote from the UUK President, and full recommendations are available on the MillionPlus website.
There was also a letter from UUK this week to to Robert Halfon, Chair of the Education Select Committee with an update on the impact of Covid-19 on higher education related to this.
Reports:
OECD Coronavirus (COVID-19): From pandemic to recovery: Local employment and economic development
This note provides evidence on the importance of local action to help address the short-term and long-term consequences of the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak. It estimates that the share of jobs potentially at risk during confinement ranges from 15% to 35% across regions within 30 OECD and 4 non-OECD European countries. It explains why the local role is essential for the recovery,and explores the potential game changing nature of this outbreak for local development going forward.
MMU: Future Economies - The Covidist Manifesto, Assessing the UK stat's emergency enlargement
Craig Berry, Nick O’Donovan, Daniel Bailey, Adam Barber, David Beel, Katy Jones, Sean McDaniel and Rebecca Weicht
covidist-manifesto-FINAL-PDF.pdfGroup of Eight Australia: Covid-19 Roadmap to Recovery - A Report for Nation
Australia 458781789-Group-of-Eight-s-Roadmap-to-Recovery-report.pdfWhat is PAS 440:2020 about?
Society has never been hungrier for innovation nor less tolerant of innovation which fails. To help companies innovate responsibly, PAS 440:2020 provides overarching guidance on how to structure innovative thinking and processes responsibly, irrespective of domain.
PAS440_pdf.pdfData & Analysis
This study analyses the intellectual property (IP) filing habits of UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) and covers all three registered IP rights (patents, trade marks, and registered designs). The research provides a basis for further analysis into the IP activity and behaviours of UK HEIs.
The Excel file provides the underlying data to accompany the analysis contained in the main report.
IP-filing-habits-of-UK-Higher-Education-Institutions-Report.pdfBlogs:
Reform Scotland: 'If our universities area bailed out, the price is reform' – Daniel Johnson MSP
"The responses by governments to the Covid-19 crisis in recent and coming weeks will fill history books and be analysed and interpreted for years to come. There are no real parallels or precedents. The credit crunch and great depression provide lessons but only incompletely. This is primarily a health crisis but one that looks likely to precipitate an economic one across all sectors."
YU: 'Over to online learning' by Professor Roger Lewis, YU Associate
"One of the most surprising outcomes of the past few difficult months has been the seeming ease with which universities have changed their teaching from largely face-to-face to entirely online. This has been announced on websites promptly and factually – as if the transition is unproblematic."
RUNIN: 'The Pandemic and the Regional Role of the University' by Rune Dahl Fitjar
"As our Innovative Training Network on the Role of Universities in Innovation and Regional Development nears its end, the corona pandemic is profoundly affecting universities, regions, and indeed much of the rest of the world. Across many countries, universities have closed their campuses, moving to digital teaching and home offices. This has also been the case here in Norway, where the government announced the closure of all universities on 12 March – a closure that remains in effect at the time of writing this blog."
WonkHE: 'Universities’ role in economic recovery' by James Coe
"It is difficult to appreciate the impact of huge social upheaval while you are living through it. As the daily tragedy of the Covid-19 pandemic absorbs our national attention an economic catastrophe lurks around the corner."
Bennett Institute for Public Policy 'How might English metro-mayors adapt to the post-coronavirus world?' by Mark Sanford
"2021 promises to be a significant year in the development of devolution in England. Eight out of ten devolved mayoralties will face elections. [1] The finances of combined authorities will once again come under scrutiny: the local government Fair Funding Review, long in gestation, is expected to take effect. The Local Growth Fund will come to an end; and the UK Shared Prosperity Fund is likely to open. Mayors’ investment funds will face their first five-yearly gateway review. The future of industrial strategies and Local Enterprise Partnerships, and the shape of the current Government’s “levelling up” policy (foreshadowed to some extent in the 2020 Budget) may have become clearer. "
KCL: 'What will cities look like once the lockdown lifts?' by Mark Kleinman
"The 21st century was widely advertised as the epoch of the city. By the end of its first decade, half the world’s population was living in cities, projected to rise to two-thirds by 2050. The world’s urban centre of gravity was moving, or rather returning, East, with the growth of mega-cities in China, Japan and elsewhere. As Professor Michael Batty of UCL pointed out in 2015, were this trend to continue indefinitely, it would mean the entire population of the world being urbanised by 2140."
Podcast & talk:
Centre for Cities: City Talks - Coronavirus and the future of work
In just a few short months Covid-19 has completely altered the way we interact with our cities. As people become more used to working from home, many employers are now more willing to consider allowing working practices where the traditional office plays a less central role.
But is this shift feasible in the long-term?
To discuss this, Andrew Carter is joined by Dr Neil Lee, Associate Professor of Economic Geography at the London School of Economics.
THE in conversation: What does Covid-19 mean for global HE?
Three former UK universities ministers, Lord David Willetts, Jo Johnson and Chris Skidmore, discuss the impact of the pandemic on universities around the world. Chaired by Times Higher Education's Sara Custer, the former ministers address potential bankruptcies, the future of international student mobility and how research funding should be allocated in a post-coronavirus world.