November 2020 highlights

MIT REAP BUILD Programme details

Spending Review 2020

The Chancellor of the Exchequer delivered his Spending Review to Parliament on 25 November 2020. Here you can find the Spending Review and supporting documents, including:

• the main 120-page Spending Review book;

• a spreadsheet with policy decision costings;

• the details of settlements for Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland;

• National Infrastructure Strategy;

• Final Report of the 2020 Green Book Review.

Read what YU Executive Director, Dr Peter O'Brien said in response to the Spending Review and read the analysis by WonkHE on what the SR means for HE here.

Reports

OECD: Job Creation and Local Economic Development 2020: Rebuilding Better

The impact of COVID-19 on local jobs and workers dwarfs those of the 2008 global financial crisis. The 2020 edition of Job Creation and Local Economic Development considers the short-term impacts on local labour markets as well as the longer-term implications for local development.

Octopus Ventures: Entrepreneurial Impact Ranking 2020: Spinning out Success

"It gives us great pleasure to introduce Spinning out Success – a follow on from last year’s Research to Riches report. The report includes the Entrepreneurial Impact Ranking, revealing universities’ success at turning academic achievements into thriving companies. It also identifies best practice in supporting the generation and growth of investor-ready spinouts."

Creative Industries Policy & Evidence Centre: Small engines of growth: Understanding creative microclusters

"Think about a creative cluster: What comes to mind? Creative clusters are the buzzing centres of the creative industries, where creative individuals and companies mingle, share ideas, and shape the innovative content and services that have made the UK creative industries successful. These clusters have been identified by the government as engines of driving the success of the creative industries, and investments such as the Creative Industries Clusters Programme have aimed to help build these clusters. So, if you were asked to think of a creative cluster, one might naturally think of the Northern Quarter in Manchester, Soho or Hoxton in London, or North Laine in Brighton. But what really makes a cluster? "

Universities UK: Tackling racial harassment in higher education

The recommendations are the product of an advisory group convened by UUK in October 2019 and come just over a year after the Equality and Human Rights Commission uncovered widespread evidence of racial harassment on university campuses.

The advisory group, chaired by Professor David Richardson, Vice-Chancellor, University of East Anglia, was informed by experts in the field and carried out in-depth consultation with panels of exclusively Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic students and staff with lived experience of racial harassment.

UK Universities' Response to Black Lives Matter by Halpin and related blog in WonkHE by the report author Osaro Otobo in WonkHE: 'How to make progress on anti-Black racism on campus'

"We already know that racism in higher education is a real issue – there has been so much research, so many reports and so many activists speaking up about it over the years. Yet in June, it appeared that for the first time many universities were prepared to talk about their support of Black lives publicly. Our research (a combination of interviews, desk research and a public survey) set out to explore how UK universities have responded to BLM, and the ongoing work they are doing to support Black lives."

Briefings

Supporting decision making for resilient net-zero infrastructure by Katy Roelich, Greg Marsden, Policy Leeds

"Transforming infrastructure systems is essential to the UK’s sustainable development and net-zero commitments. Our research at the Priestley International Centre for Climate has shown that current decision making processes are unfit to deal with the multiple crises we face. New decision making approaches must be used that accommodate uncertainty, support collaborative decision making and incorporate the societal value of infrastructure."

Responding to COVID-19 in the Liverpool City Region COVID-19 and Digital Exclusion: Insights and Implications for the Liverpool City Region by Haseltine Institute for Public Policy, Practice and Place

"The COVID-19 pandemic has brought issues of digital exclusion and inequality to the fore – and spawned the term “digital poverty”. However, digital exclusion is not a new phenomenon. Exclusion from access to technology and information has been noted since the 1970s. The shift of both public and private services, systems and even everyday leisure activities online means that the combination of digital inequality with other aspects of social, economic, and cultural inequality can have significant impacts on citizens’ lives."

A study

Lloyds Bank 2020 Transformation with Tech - A study into adoption of technology and digital skills for small businesses in 2020

Since 2014, Lloyds Bank has produced the Digital Business Index, the largest measure of UK business digital capability. This year, working with Be the Business, Lloyds Bank analysed the behavioural data and online transactions of 200,000 businesses, and spoke with 2,000 to understand the impact of Covid-19 and their plans for the future. The report captures the business realities of 2020 and documents changes in tech adoption, digital confidence and capability seen in small businesses across the UK.

A speech

Blackett Memorial Lecture: Superforecasters and Moon Shots: the idea of operational research (OR) in the 21st century

Chris Skidmore, MP for Kingswood and Former UK Science, Research and Innovation Minister, delivered this year's talk. He spoke about what OR really means in the 21st Century, including but not limited to how OR is used to shape public behaviour and predictions for what the future of OR looks like.

Skidmore restated the importance of operational research for the future and discussed how that importance can be truly realised. He reflected on his time as the UK’s Science, Research and Innovation Minister between 2018 and 2020, and spoke about current uncertainty and its impact on OR.

He also explored the target of the UK's future international identity as a ‘global science superpower’ and what needs to be done to achieve this - namely considerable investment in not only our research infrastructure, but in the skills needed to conduct research in the future.

Reports and research

HM Government: The Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution

The governments latest plan for 'Building back better, supporting green jobs, and accelerating our path to net zero'.

Institute for Government: 10 ways for Boris Johnson to reset his government

“Reset” is the word of the moment. The prime minister is planning a slate of announcements which, in their green commitment and pledge to “level up” the country, go a long way to retrieve the ambition of the manifesto that won him an 80-seat majority less than a year ago. With Brexit talks reaching a climax (even if its nature is still uncertain), a new president in the US and announcements on vaccines heralding the beginning of the end of the devastation caused by the coronavirus pandemic, Boris Johnson has the help of external events to consolidate that sense of change. This paper sets out how to make the period After Dominic more successful than the last 10 months."

NCUB: Research to Recovery: Delivering an R&D-driven Industrial Strategy

• You can download the webinar recording here;

• You can download the presentation slides here.

CBI: Reviving Regions

Targeted action to boost skills, develop physical and digital infrastructure and attract fresh investment will be vital if all parts of England are to build back better from the economic ravages of coronavirus, says a new report from the CBI. The CBI’s Reviving Regions paper, sponsored by Lloyds Banking Group, highlights long-standing regional inequalities across England which limit growth and opportunity and inhibit productivity.

It says the disparities in economic performance are large, both across England and within regions, and warns they are at risk of widening further if Government levelling-up ambitions falter in the wake of Covid-19. The paper calls for a long-term strategic vision which can guide the country through a vital post-Covid recovery and towards long-term prosperity by addressing key challenges in growing skills, enhancing connectivity and attracting investment.

Bennett Institute For Public Policy: Building Forward: Investing in a resilient recovery

"The insight that a sustainable and resilient economy and society require investment in the whole range of assets that constitute true wealth is shared by more and more policymakers and business leaders. This shift is welcome but it is being accelerated by the fact that society is facing some profound challenges.

One is, of course, the pandemic and its impact on economies and societies. Another aspect of social fracture in many countries is its geography, and the need to ‘level up’ those places where people have had too few opportunities to get on in life."

The College of the Future Commission: The English College of the Future - A nations-specific final report

Currently, the post-16 education and skills system in England is not set up to empower colleges to offer the full range of opportunities needed for people to reach their potential. And nor does the system enable colleges to best meet the needs of businesses facing enormous change and challenges, including recovery from the ongoing crisis as well as the urgent need to move to a green economy.

The Commission’s new report, The English College of the Future, sets out recommendations that, if implemented through the UK Government’s upcoming FE White paper, would develop a coherent and connected education and skills system, with employers playing a central role. This would ultimately ensure that everyone is able to access education and training when and how they need it.

Social Market Foundation: (Adult) education, education, education

Funding for adult education (excluding apprenticeships) has nearly halved since 2009/10. Participation rates have suffered similarly, seeing a 49% decline since 2004. As Britain faces up to the growing COVID unemployment crisis, remedying the decline in funding and provision of skills and training will be essential for helping workers back into good jobs.

This report in particular explores the role that adult education does and could play in improving the labour market outcomes of low-income households. It draws on desk research, quantitative analysis and in-depth interviews with both participants and non-participants in adult education from low-income households, and provides a series of policy considerations.

Global Food Security Project: Mapping the UK Food System

The expansive UK food system has been mapped and quantified in a new report that reveals both the value of the agri-food sector and the multiple challenges it faces. Mapping the UK Food System – A Report for the UKRI Transforming UK Food Systems Programme is the inaugural report published by the £47.5M programme ‘Transforming the UK Food System for Healthy People and a Healthy Environment’, led by the Global Food Security programme.

The study aims to act as a quantified foundation for further analyses of the UK food system. It draws together publicly available data sources, public documents and research articles, supplementing the data with interviews with stakeholders in UK food governance. The research identifies the key actors in the food system, highlighting their activities and motivations, and outlines the health, social and economic, and environmental outcomes of the food system.

Nexus: Business Barometer

"Recently, we conducted a survey to help us understand more about the future of business in Yorkshire and the challenges that startups in the region are currently facing. The findings have been compiled to create a brand new report – the Business Barometer."

ScaleUp Institute: Annual Review 2020

"It is incredible to hear stories of how some business have been able to successfully adapt and thrive in a year that has presented major economic challenges. There is absolutely no doubt that as we head into 2021 it will be our scaleups and their pioneering, creative and innovative spirit which will help us build back better from the impacts of COVID-19."

West Yorkshire COVID-19 Fortnightly Insights Report Research & Intelligence from 13th November 2020

Most economic data available here covers up to mid- to late-October, so presents a picture of activity prior to the second lockdown on November 5th.

Briefing paper: SUMS Consulting Change Starts Now: Making HEIs Racially Inclusive – November 2020

SUMS Consulting has published a briefing paper on making higher education institutions racially inclusive. The paper, based on a panel discussion with representatives from universities and student unions, covers best practices in support of students and staff; leadership on issues of equality, diversity and inclusion; creating an anti-racist university and other sector wide initiatives.

Statistics

National Statistics: Country and regional analysis: 2020

Statistical estimates for the allocation of identifiable expenditure between the UK countries and 9 English regions.

Blogs and a webinar

'How the Government should reset its relationship with universities' by HEPI

This blog was kindly contributed by Richard Brabner, Director of the UPP Foundation. This article is written in a personal capacity and is not the view of the UPP Foundation.

"Over the last few days, newspapers have been full of stories and insight into what the changes in No. 10 mean for the Government and its agenda moving forward. Some have suggested this gives the Prime Minister the opportunity to ‘reset’ his administration – moving away from a method of government which has been aggressive, divisive and controlling to one which is more consensual and civil."

How can the UK’s industrial strategy support the ‘levelling up’ agenda? on the Smart Thinking Forum

‘Levelling up’ has become one of the big agenda items for this government but how can it be helped by industrial strategy? Read the responses from:

• 'Use the Spending Review and R&D Place Strategy to increase support for business innovation in lagging regions' by Onward;

• 'Urban economies with their local labour markets are the building blocks of the national economy' by Centre for Cities;

• 'The industrial strategy must improve the jobs trapping people in poverty to truly level up' by JRF;

• 'Levelling up devolution will support the national industrial strategy' by Fabian Society;

• 'The focus should be on making it as easy as possible for businesses to operate and flourish' by Adam Smith Institute.

'Defining success: four tests of good innovation' by NESTA

"New solutions must play a key role if we are to build a fairer, healthier, more sustainable future. But how can we tell what good innovation looks like? As the Chief Executive of an innovation organisation, I probably shouldn't admit that I sometimes wince at the word ‘innovation’. It can suggest hype and bluster, and fetishising novel solutions that are no better than existing ones."

Webinar: Leeds Climate Commission - Climate Action Readiness Assessment to inform new directions for Leeds Commission

A Climate Action Readiness Assessment devised by PCAN researchers for Leeds Climate Commission has identified opportunities for unlocking climate action at the local level.

The methodology, which uses participatory stakeholder workshops to determine states of readiness, was presented at a webinar for the ESRC Festival of Social Science 2020 on Tuesday 10 November on behalf of PCAN (the Place-Based Climate Action Network).

Reports and research

'Brexit will work against 'levelling up' agenda' by UK in a Changing Europe;

A UK in a Changing Europe research team led by the University of Birmingham, and also involving the University of Sheffield, University of Groningen, Erasmus University and Dutch Environmental Assessment Agency, has this week published new research which extends our understanding of the likely consequences of Brexit for UK and EU regions.

The new research examines the competitiveness implications of Brexit for 61 industries and 256 European regions, including 37 in the UK. The analysis finds that Brexit will have serious adverse consequences for the competitiveness of UK industries in many regions.

Read the article in full: The Implications of Brexit for UK and EU Regional Competitiveness

NHSA: Covid-19 and the Northern Powerhouse COVID-19 Tackling inequalities for UK health and productivity

This report is a spotlight on the disproportionate effect of COVID-19 and the underlying inequality that helps to fuel this high impact on the more vulnerable in society. The writing has been on the wall for many years now, but it will be for the decades ahead that we must work together to influence. In September 2019, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) revealed that life expectancy in the UK had stopped improving for the first time since records began.

Culture Forum North: Supporting creative graduate transition in a period of crisis

"On 9 June 2020, representatives from sixteen cultural and higher education institutions across the North participated in a Culture Forum North digital discussion. Graduate Transition was the first step in bringing our members together to explore the potential for greater regional collaboration to provide creative graduate support.

Provocations and conversations revealed an ambition to do things differently and better in response to challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic – a collective commitment to develop structures and networks that enable a talent pipeline fit for the future. The report provides snapshots of the provocations, summarises the discussion around four key strands, and identifies eight priority requirements."

CLES: Owning the economy - Community Wealth Building 2020

Owning the Economy is CLES’s annual summary publication of community wealth building policy change and practice. It presents in detail the progressive activity taking place – particularly as it relates to addressing the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic – and outlines the conditions that are required for community wealth building to flourish.

Access HE: University entry & the class of 2021: Who is set to miss out

‘University Entry and the Class of 2021’ report warns that a covid-related fall in attainment could lead to thousands of students in London missing out on a university place in 2021, the majority of whom would be students from disadvantaged backgrounds.

New research undertaken by AccessHE, the London network for social mobility through higher education, has analysed A-Level attainment profiles for students in the capital and nationally over recent years to project the impact of learning loss on next year’s A-Level students. The report ‘University entry & the class of 2021: Who is set to miss out’ finds that, with a one grade decline in achievement.

HEPI: Mind the (Graduate Gender Pay) Gap

The Higher Education Policy Institute has published a new report looking at the gender pay gap between graduates. The report, Mind the (Graduate Gender Pay) Gap by Bethan Cornell, Rachel Hewitt and Bahram Bekhradnia, looks at how the graduate gender pay gap changes over time and uses new and existing data and literature to try and understand its persistence.

Labour's Green Economic Recovery report

"Britain faces an unemployment crisis and a climate emergency. Labour is challenging the Government to deliver a Green Economic Recovery from the pandemic which will:

• Recover Jobs with urgent investment to support up to 400,000 clean, green jobs across the country

• Retrain Workers with an emergency training programme to give people skills they need for the future greener economy

• Rebuild Business with a National Investment Bank that supports the drive to a net-zero economy."

Blogs, a webinar and a conference

'Collaboration is key: insight into civic partnerships in Leeds' guest blog by Leed Social Sciences Institute

"As Leeds responds to the pandemic, prepares for Brexit and works with colleagues across West Yorkshire to maximise the benefits of devolution, collaboration and knowledge exchange between researchers and local policy-makers and practitioners is vital. A new report from Leeds Social Sciences Institute (LSSI) has provided a detailed review of research-policy collaboration in the city for the first time. It affords an analysis of the extent of such partnerships and factors that encourage or inhibit successful collaborative projects. While the report focuses on bi-lateral relationships between researchers at the University of Leeds and Council officers, we believe it offers insights into collaboration that are of interest in development of research collaboration partnerships regionally."

YU: Graduate labour market analysis and post-pandemic skills (Part 2 of 2)

Part two of this blog is now ready, find out more: "At national policy level: YU has been recognised as an external stakeholder in the COP26 University Network, which is a growing group of UK-based universities working together to raise ambition for tangible outcomes from the UN COP26 Climate Change Conference, to be held in Glasgow, Scotland in November 2021. The Network’s mission is to ensure that the UK academic sector plays a full role in delivering a successful COP26, encouraging all actors to deliver a low-carbon, resilient world."

WonkHE: 'Covid-19: universities can’t fix everything and that should be OK'

"University communities have been thrust into perpetual crisis mode - but staff burnout is counterproductive, says Simone Buitendijk. We can’t go on like this. By striving to create an unachievable perfect replica of the past in a volatile, unstable present, we risk doing a disservice to the longer term future of our students and our wider academic communities."

Webinar: N8 - 'How the North can lead the way in using nature-based interventions at scale, to accelerate the green recovery'

"As part of the N8 Research Partnership’s ambitious Net Zero North agenda, we invited academics from the N8 universities, National Parks representatives and environmental finance experts to explore how nature-based solutions can contribute to a green recovery."

Conference: watch the Climate Commission for UK Higher and Further Education One Year On conference here:

Association of Colleges, EAUC, GuildHE and Universities UK have partnered to establish a Climate Commission for UK Higher and Further Education Students and Leaders. Learn about their progress so far.

Reports and a briefing

UPP Foundation:

• Covid-19 Jobs report

• Levelling Up Towns Report

• Map of Universities in England and Jobs at Risk in Nearby Towns and Cities

The UPP Foundation has released two reports on the role of universities in the ‘levelling up’ agenda, and on addressing the forthcoming employment crisis

• The Government’s flagship commitment to a “lifetime skills guarantee” won’t cover 75%-80% of non-graduate workers at risk

• New UPP Foundation analysis of towns and cities across the UK suggests that a total of 5m jobs are at risk from the areas most affected by Covid; 3m of which are non-graduate jobs and 2.4-2.5m of which are not covered by retraining commitments

• Polling for the report shows that many non-graduates want higher level training, rather than just a new Level 3 qualification – and are not motivated to retrain in areas of shortage skill in the economy

LSSI: 'Unlocking the Potential of Civic Collaboration: A review of research-policy engagement between the University of Leeds and Leeds City Council'

The power of research at the University of Leeds in supporting the important work of Leeds City Council has been highlighted, thanks to a new report. Academics at the Leeds Social Sciences Institute undertook a review of research collaborations between the University and Council, to understand how the two institutions might work more closely than ever.

Policy Exchange: 'Technical Breakthrough - Delivering Britain’s higher level skills' by Professor Edward Peck, Rich Pickford and Will Rossiter Introduction by David Goodhart

"There have been many false dawns in the story of vocational-technical training in the UK in the past few years. But it is possible that we now stand on the threshold of a real dawn. Despite the wrenching distraction of the pandemic, the likelihood of a brief return to mass unemployment and the short-term reduction in apprenticeship places, one of the biggest failings of British public policy— the state of post-school education and training for those not going into higher education—is now receiving more of the attention it deserves."

National Infrastructure Council - 'Growth across regions'

This discussion paper sets out the Commission's strategic stance on the relationship between economic infrastructure and local economic growth. It covers two main areas:

• the Commission’s interpretation of its objective to ‘support sustainable economic growth across all regions of the UK’ and the evidence supporting this

• the Commission’s framework for considering how infrastructure can help to improve economic outcomes in different areas.

Aldersgate Group: 'Upskilling the UK workforce for the 21st century'

In its latest briefing, Upskilling the UK workforce for the 21st century, the Aldersgate Group calls for urgent action to plug the deficit in skills that currently undermines the growth of low carbon supply chains across the UK economy. The Group calls in particular for a new low carbon skills strategy that embeds sustainability across the national curriculum and teacher training standards, supports higher and further education institutions to better meet the needs of local employers and updates apprenticeship standards and mid-career reskilling qualifications to equip the workforce with the skills needed in a net zero emissions economy.

Blogs and a guest lecture

'The College of the Future points the way forward for HE-FE collaboration'

Following the publication of the AOC's College of the Future report, Dave Pheonix shows how his university works across the skills landscape and calls on government to set the direction for deeper collaboration across tertiary education: "Government funding and regulatory decisions have, over decades, created an education system of silos. We desperately need to replace these silos with structures that enable everyone to access high-quality education that works for them when they need it."

'Universities need to make the case for devolved research funding'

If universities do not prepare the arguments for devolving research funding to the regions no-one will make it for them, argues James Coe: "Imagine that you’re faced with the happy problem of allocating £22 billion of public funding for research every year by 2024-2025. "

'Levelling up means letting regions take the lead'

Universities can be at the core of a place-centred approach to levelling up, argue Dionne Lee and Nick Gray: "Levelling up’ has become synonymous with the Johnson government. A hazy concept applied interchangeably across policy areas to speak to voters in new Conservative constituencies, the phrase has taken on new significance in the wake of Covid-19. "

Guest lecture by Kevin Richardson, Research England: UKSPF: Regional Policies for Wealth Redistribution

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