September 2020 highlights
Week 40: 28 September - 2 October 2020
Reports:
This report includes an economic analysis of the value of people power and explores how public services can better value the contribution of citizens.
"In a follow up report to Make No Little Plans – Acting At Scale For A Fairer And Stronger Future – which found that the UK is the most unequal large country in the developed world – the UK2070 Commission has now found that the pandemic has exposed the UK’s economic dependency on London and the Wider South East. Only a balanced growth plan is likely to deliver greater prosperity without damaging environmental and social consequences.
The UK2070 Commission has prepared a post-COVID Action Plan setting out the priorities for action over the next ten years. Learning the lessons from the COVID-19 response, it proposes a major programme of investment in transport, skills and the advanced economy; coupled with a radical devolution of powers; and funding from Whitehall."
"This paper outlines six propositions from the Carnegie UK Trust for the medium term recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. As society embarks on the process of recovery, we believe there is a collective responsibility to use what we have learned not just to repair the immediate damage but to also consider our how to make our economic, social and democratic structures fit for the future. Building Back for the Better: A perspective from CUKT is our contribution to that debate."
"At the start of the COVID-19 emergency community hubs formed across the UK. Bringing a number of public services and volunteers together under one roof, hubs were a rapid response designed to reach people most acutely affected by the pandemic and containment measures. While people were staying apart, services for vulnerable people were coming together in a way not seen before. But do these hubs have a role in the future? This report contains four descriptive case studies of community hubs that began at the start of the emergency phase of COVID-19 (March 2020) and continued operating until at least August 2020. The case studies explore this learning as a contribution to planning future COVID-19 responses, the recovery and the ongoing need to support people to help each other."
"Adult education must not be regarded as a luxury for a few exceptional persons here and there... it is a permanent national necessity, an inseparable aspect of citizenship, and therefore should be both universal and lifelong."
"In our first report in this series, we mapped out the most and least affected sections of the economy. Back then, we tracked 28,499 ambitious UK businesses. At the time of writing, we track 30,025. That means that more than 1,500 companies have hit at least one of our eight tracking triggers during the pandemic — a true testament to the strength of our high-growth ecosystem. In this second edition, we’ve compared our initial findings with the current state of the economy, to see how the situation has progressed over the past six months."
Resolution Foundation analysis of the Winter Economy' Plan:
(Economic) Winter is Coming special by Torsten Bell
The Winter (Economy Plan) is coming: Chancellor ramps economic support back up, but avoidable design flaws will limit its success in stemming the Autumn rise in unemployment
On 17 March 2020 the Home Secretary commissioned the Migration Advisory Committee (MAC) to undertake a review of the composition of the Shortage Occupation List (SOL), with a focus on those occupations skilled to at least Regulated Qualifications Framework (RQF) level 3 (RQF3 broadly, A-levels) and equivalents in the Devolved Nations.
Blogs & articles:
Anti-racism isn't always comfortable, but true allyship demands action and accountability from universities in support of #BlackLivesMatter, argues Shaminder Takhar.
The Journal of the Local Economy Policy Unit: 'Assessing the role of universities in a place-based Industrial Strategy: Evidence from the UK'
Abstract: "The UK Government’s Industrial Strategy White Paper, published in November 2017, focuses on several key technologies of the future, in order to promote innovation and future economic performance. Universities play a key role in the delivery of the strategy, marking the culmination of nearly two decades of policy reviews that have continually promoted ‘third stream’ activities of commercial engagement with industry. Given the spatial focus of the strategy, this paper seeks to assess the regional distribution of competitive public research funding within the strategy’s priority sectors. The paper contributes to debates on the effectiveness and spatial implications of the Industrial Strategy through arguing that while the funding landscape for research in the priority sectors is spatially uneven across the UK, this could provide an opportunity for a place-based strategy to be implemented which builds on the strengths of each region."
Devolution of skills funding could revive apprenticeships and get local economies going again, says Caroline Cowburn.
'How Opportunity Areas can level up Bradford and rest of Britain' by Shirley Congdon in the Yorkshire Post
"Education remains the single most important factor affecting the prospects of young people in later life."
Webinars & podcast:
The focus of this webinar is on how civic universities can play a stronger role in local economic recovery, renewal and inclusive growth through working with local stakeholders, businesses, local government, the NHS and the community and voluntary sectors.
Smart Sustainable Cities, University of Stavanger: 'Smart cities and inequalities: Winner-takes-all?'
The tech revolution is associated with growing wealth, but also with growing inequalities: Inequalities within cities, where some workers command high wages, while others experience increasing uncertainty in the job market. And inequalities between cities, between those who succeed in attracting high-tech industries and those who are left behind. This session is a follow-up to the morning’s keynote speeches. Professor Jennifer Clark and Professor Andrés Rodríguez-Pose together with Professor Rune Dahl Fitjar will discuss how to approach smart cities in view of these dynamics, and how they will be affected by Covid-19.
Foundation for Science and Technology episode with Professor Richard Jones on the R&D Roadmap and Levelling Up across the UK
Professor Richard Jones, Professor of Materials Physics and Innovation Policy, University of Manchester discusses the variation of R&D intensity across the UK and the link between R&D and economic performance.
Recommendations:
A collective initiative by the economic research community to answer questions from policy-makers and the public about the economics of the Covid-19 crisis and the recovery
The coronavirus crisis means we are facing huge changes and disruption in the labour market but what are these likely to be and who will be most affected by them?
A podcast about ideas. Former Labour Party leader Ed Miliband, and Sony Award-winning radio host Geoff Lloyd talk to smart thinkers from around the world.
Week 39: 21-25 September 2020
Reports:
The health service’s crucial role in the economic and social recovery is explored within this NHS Reset strand report. The report highlights the strength of the links between health and growth, outlines a five-point plan for every system to build on to maximise their local impact and influence and showcases innovative practice which is supporting lasting local change.
Industrial Strategy Council & UUK: 'Universities and Colleges and the Industrial Strategy: Exploring data on knowledge exchange, research and skills' including visualisations on Tableau
New report highlights how universities and colleges support the business environment via knowledge exchange and skills development, as well as funding distributions across the Grand Challenges. The Industrial Strategy Council asked Universities UK to undertake a data exploration project to better understand the contribution of further and higher education to the UK’s Industrial Strategy.
This new report considers what we can learn from looking at more granular data on knowledge exchange, research and innovation and skills development. Given the role of the Industrial Strategy Council it focuses specifically on how universities and colleges support the business environment as well as funding distributions across the Grand Challenges.
"This report is the culmination of two years of research and analysis by the Future-Ready Skills Commission. In that time the world has changed. Our primary scope was to design a blueprint for a devolved skills system, from post-16 education through to adult skills and career development, that better meets the needs of local economies, and is able to respond to future challenges and opportunities in the workplace."
"This is our tenth annual Low Pay Britain report. Naturally, the focus of the report this year is on the coronavirus crisis: its impact on the low paid, and what this means for minimum wage policy. The low paid have already suffered the worst of the economic effects of this crisis; they are more likely to have lost their job, or hours and pay, or to have been furloughed. They also suffered the greater health risks – they were less likely to be able to work from the safety of their homes. Unfortunately, the worst of the labour market fall-out from this crisis is still to come, with the economic effects of the pandemic ongoing and the Job Retention Scheme being wound down."
"The COVID-19 crisis is having immediate effects on councils’ budgets as a result of increases in spending on local services and reductions in income from sales, fees and charges (SFCs) and commercial activities. However, the crisis will cast a longer shadow on councils’ finances. First, reductions in council tax and business rates revenues collected this year will feed through to budgets over the next three years. Second, some COVID-19-related spending pressures and reductions in revenues are likely to persist, and indeed could grow in a few cases. This report considers how councils’ revenues and spending needs may evolve over the period to 2024–25, accounting for both the impact of COVID-19 and the pre-COVID funding outlook."
"Arla Foods UK has commissioned LSE Consulting’s Trade Policy Hub to deliver a study on the vulnerabilities of supply chains in the United Kingdom and the European Union after Brexit. This study provides a follow up to the report LSE Consulting delivered in July 2018 on the impact of Brexit on the dairy sector in the UK. This report takes a broader look at the food and beverage sector rather than dairy specifically and looks at a wider range of potential disruptions and mitigation measures."
This research report reviews the innovation benefits for cities and subnational governments of international collaboration. The UK is committed to ‘leveling up’ its innovation system between different cities and regions, as set out in the UK Government’s recently released R&D Roadmap. Building on The Missing £4 Billion and Innovation After Lockdown, this report explores how cities and subnational governments (SNGs) can improve their capabilities and capacity for innovation by expanding their networks internationally.
Creative Industries PEC: 'International creative students: their significance for UK universities, regions and the creative industries'
"Assessing the value of higher education has become a divisive issue, in particular, the use of graduate earnings as a measure of “value for money”. Creative arts-based subjects systematically end up towards the bottom of rankings based on this measure and in the Augar review, and questions have been raised about the level of funding for these degrees for UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs). However, earnings are a misleading dimension when used alone in assessing the value of education, and the implications of disrupting creative education may have broader and potentially serious ramifications for the creative industries, which is one of the UK’s highest growth sectors."
"Carbon emissions from Yorkshire and Humber have fallen by well over a third and are projected to halve by 2050, a new report from the Place-Based Climate Action Network (PCAN) reveals. A summary carbon roadmap report for Yorkshire and the Humber, published today (17 Sept 2020), shows that despite the reductions – brought about largely by national decarbonisation of electricity – the region still has much to do to stay within its share of the global carbon budget and reduce dangerous climate change."
Blogs & article:
Written by: Philip McCann, Professor of Urban and Regional Economics, Sheffield University Management School
The economic fallout from Covid-19 is likely to significantly increase regional inequalities - By Alex Chapman, Lukasz Krebel at the New Economics Foundation
'Around the table' NHE's Matt Roberts spoke with Michael Wood, Head of Health Economic Parternships, NHS Confederation
Webinars:
"By triggering one of the worst economic downturns in modern history, the coronavirus pandemic has exposed acute vulnerabilities to our collective bottom line. Can we change how we do business and power our societies before it is too late?"
Podcast recommendation:
Reasons to be Cheerful with Ed Miliband and Geoff Lloyd: A podcast about ideas. Former Labour Party leader Ed Miliband, and Sony Award-winning radio host Geoff Lloyd talk to smart thinkers from around the world.
Week 38: 14-18 September 2020
Reports
This policy briefing explores what we can learn from existing research and innovation clusters when choosing how to invest in R&D. It outlines what clusters are and what factors need to be in place to allow a cluster to emerge by looking at eight examples of research and innovation clusters located in the UK and internationally. It includes case studies prepared by YU Associate, James Ransom.
Read the related blog by Professor Richard Jones: 'Can research clusters help level up the country?'
This report, part of the NHS Reset campaign, follows a November 2019 roundtable held by the NHS Confederation and the Independent Commission on the College of the Future. It focused on the relationship between colleges and the NHS through the lens of integrated care systems.
Institute for Fiscal Studies:
This report provides estimates of the earnings returns to completing postgraduate degrees, for British and Northern Irish students studying in Britain. We use the Longitudinal Education Outcomes (LEO) data set to account for differences in individuals’ background and prior university attainment to estimate the impact of postgraduate qualifications on earnings at age 35, relative to having an undergraduate degree and not proceeding to further study.
A socially mobile country provides equal opportunities for everyone, across big cities and small towns, and regardless of whether your parents are rich or poor. This report makes use of newly linked administrative data on all state-educated pupils born between 1986 and 1988 to follow a group of sons from where they grew up, looking at their family circumstances and their educational achievement, through to the labour market.
While previous work has documented the national picture of social mobility in England, for the first time we are able to show how the earnings outcomes of children from different backgrounds vary across lower-tier local authorities. We also explore why there are differences in opportunities across place, considering the role of education and the labour market.
Knowledge Exchange Concordat documents:
Since 2017, The Open University Business Barometer has provided detailed insights into the UK skills landscape, looking at the impacts across regions, nations and sectors. This year’s report, which is released in a completely new business context, is based on a survey of 1,000 business leaders representing organisations of all sizes.
The report found that even though the pool of job candidates has grown significantly in size, employers are still struggling to find the right people, with management and leadership, and digital skills most difficult to find.
"Government is committed to issuing a White Paper in the next few weeks on the future of Local Government and Devolution in England likely to be titled the Recovery and Devolution White Paper which will fundamentally reorganising the way Local Government in England is delivered. This paper is part of a series which summarise this emerging situation. Here we focus on the background to Local Government in England and what reorganisation and devolution will likely mean. Further papers will build on this background critiquing the process and proposing practical steps for places to follow learning from good practice."
"Forecasts by economists of the economic damage from climate change have been notably sanguine, compared to warnings by scientists about damage to the biosphere. This is because economists made their own predictions of damages, using three spurious methods: assuming that about 90% of GDP will be unaffected by climate change, because it happens indoors; using the relationship between temperature and GDP today as a proxy for the impact of global warming over time; and using surveys that diluted extreme warnings from scientists with optimistic expectations from economists. Nordhaus has misrepresented the scientific literature to justify the using a smooth function to describe the damage to GDP from climate change. Correcting for these errors makes it feasible that the economic damages from climate change are at least an order of magnitude worse than forecast by economists, and may be so great as to threaten the survival of human civilization."
This GBO-5 is a final report card on progress against the 20 global biodiversity targets agreed in 2010 with a 2020 deadline, and offers lessons learned and best practices for getting on track. Towards a landmark new global post-2020 biodiversity framework: GBO-5 synthesizes scientific basis for urgent action.
"These ten essays aim to give innovators, policymakers and investors a deeper understanding of decentralised digital organisations, demystifying the topic and offering a glimpse into how, over the next decade, decentralised technologies could radically change the way we live and work."
"A financially sustainable college sector is vital to delivering the education and training that the country needs. Government expects colleges to play an increasingly prominent role in the coming years – to help meet the need for a more skilled domestic workforce following the UK’s exit from the European Union, and to support the government’s plans to develop national infrastructure, increase the number of public servants, and ‘level up’ skills and prosperity across the country. Colleges will also be important in developing the skills of people who retrain or change roles as a result of the economic impact of the COVID-19 pandemic."
The OECD has invited Nobel laureates and many of the world’s leading thinkers from government, the private sector and academia to debate innovative approaches to the major questions facing humanity. This series summarises their analyses and proposals on the interlinked challenges facing our societies, environment and economies: from the climate emergency to inequality, the digital economy, or the financial system. The OECD’s New Approaches to Economic Challenges (NAEC) initiative was launched in 2012 to investigate the roots and lessons of the financial crisis, and renew and strengthen analytical and policy approaches with fresh thinking, engaged research and dialogue.
This is the first in a series of benchmark reports on the impact of Covid-19 crisis on the status of Innovate UK award holders. The analysis focuses on the impact of the crisis over the last three months and firms’ plans for the next three-month period. Both firm level and project-level effects are considered. Data was derived from extensive survey work with IUK award holders and, where survey respondents agreed, more detailed interview follow-up.
This report seeks to understand what impact AI is having on the UK’s research sector and what implications it has for its future, with a particular focus on academic research.
Policy papers & policy briefings
Higher education underwent fundamental changes to how it was financed in England 2012. There have been ongoing smaller changes since then and prospects for much larger changes following the Review of Post-18 Education and Funding. How has this affected the balance between the broad sources of funding -the taxpayer and graduate and how has the total funding from all sources for universities changed?
Since the start of the coronavirus pandemic there have been concerns about the financial impact on universities. Much of this has focussed on the potential loss of international students, but there could also be losses in income from lower home student numbers, a drop in research work and less revenue from accommodation, catering and conferencing. What are the size of these impacts and what has the Government done to support the sector?
Blogs
Jim Dickinson reviews newly published modelling on universities and Covid-19 and wonders about the assumptions.
"Graduating into an economic downturn can have negative consequences for young people in terms of pay and career progression throughout their lives. In response to the Covid-19 recession, many from wealthier backgrounds may opt to stay in education longer, further exacerbating inequality."
Blog Professor Jane Turner OBE DL, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Enterprise and Business Engagement at Teesside University.
Week 37: 7-11 September 2020
Reports
The UK2070 Commission has set out a 10-Point Plan to tackle the regional inequalities that have blighted the UK for too long. The COVID-19 crisis has highlighted the need for the Government to ‘think big’ if economic performance and social conditions are to be levelled-up across the UK. The UK2070 Commission is therefore preparing a report to the Government proposing a clear plan for levelling-up, with coherent priorities. It has received a great deal of support for this initiative, including a range of think-pieces, which it has therefore prosed to issue as the UK2070 Papers.
Institute for Government: Net zero How government can meet its climate change target
In June 2019, the UK government committed to reach net zero greenhouse gas emissions by 2050. But more than a year on, the UK remains off track to meet even its previous, less ambitious target. This report examines the current government’s approach to tackling, and preparing for, climate change – as well as the approaches of previous governments and other countries. It assesses what is working and what isn’t, and makes recommendations on how government can get on track to meet its target before it hosts the crucial COP26 climate summit in November 2021.
The Climate Commission has released a document communicating some of its findings to date. The document features updates on its engagement and findings from its 5 priorities alongside considerations from government policy and COVID-19.
House of Common Library
This Insight looks at the impact the pandemic continues to have on the economy, and discusses some signs of a possible recovery.
This note provides a summary of apprenticeships and skills policy and developments in England. It covers policy developments from 2015 onwards, including the introduction of the apprenticeship levy and other funding changes in May 2017.
Blog
City-REDI: 'Regions in a Time of Pandemic'
Professor Raquel Ortega Argiles, writing for WM REDI looks at how the pandemic and lockdowns have disproportionately affected more deprived areas, both in terms of health and finance, as well as other factors including the environment and working conditions.
This blog is based on the last editorial of Regional Studies “Regions in a time of pandemic” (Bailey et al., 2020) which considers some relevant regional dimensions of the Covid-19 pandemic and some potential avenues for research in the topic.
The focus of this webinar was on the impact of Covid-19 on Civic Engagement from the perspective of three sectors, each represented by our fantastic guest speakers:
Arts and Culture – Jane Tarr, Arts Council England
Local Government – Sarah Pickup, Local Government Association
Civil Society – Richard Harries, Power to Change The impact of Covid-19 on Civic Engagement
Hearing: Science and Technology Committee (Wednesday 9 September 2020) Subject: University research funding and transcript
Witness(es): Professor Julia Buckingham CBE, President and Chair, Universities UK; Professor Dame Nancy Rothwell, Chair, Russell Group; Professor Sir Anton Muscatelli, Principal and Vice-Chancellor, University of Glasgow.