With the publication of the English Devolution White Paper, the Government has gone full steam ahead with devolution of adult skills delivery across the country. While the proposals in the paper cover a whole spectrum of important issues – planning, housing, local government, transport - it’s striking that skills and employment support is high up the list. Striking, but not surprising, given the pioneering work already done by Mayoral Combined Authorities such as Greater Manchester and the West Midlands. In different ways over the past few years MCAs have demonstrated in practice how much impact an integrated approach to lifelong education and training can have on the ground.
The Lifelong Education Institute wholeheartedly supports the move towards greater devolution, which we have been calling for since our inception. It’s been a consistent theme of LEI’s work since our very first report, “The Pathway to Lifelong Education” in 2021; was front and centre of our report for Doncaster Borough Council in 2022, “Learning Ecosystems”; and will be centre stage once more in our forthcoming report with Newcastle University on Regional Education Partnerships in the North-east. Most of our members are actively involved in local and regional skills initiatives and it’s pleasing to see the work of Anglia Ruskin University in creating a new university centre in Peterborough highlighted in the White Paper as an example of good practice.
The reasons for our enthusiasm are practical, not ideological; economic, rather than political.
To overcome the UK’s highly unequal distribution of skills and qualifications, policy needs to be place-specific and explicitly work on localised skills gaps and shortages. Otherwise, jobs and prosperity will constantly be sucked towards already successful places and regions.
Most adult learners, particularly those in full time jobs, need to study close to home or in the workplace, so access to opportunities needs to be local. Travel to work areas need also to be travel to learn areas for this type of student ‘(the “commuting student”).
The kinds of partnership between schools, colleges, universities and employers that are needed to provide integrated pathways to higher-level skills are best developed by neighbouring institutions that can more easily plan and deliver opportunities collaboratively.
The study of business ecosystems, from Silicon Valley to The City of London, shows that when companies cluster together they attract a pool of talented employees, and benefit from formal and informal interaction which stimulates innovation. While online communities are increasingly influential, physical proximity still seems to bring the optimal benefits.
The White Paper supports all these arguments and, in our view, represents a credible plan to stimulate economic growth and productivity across England through greater devolution, including – crucially – through the devolution of not only adult skills budgets, but also other funding streams such as Skills Bootcamps and Free Courses for Jobs.
We will be looking in more detail at the proposals early next year, as there are questions and concerns over the details. How will devolved authorities develop the in-house expertise to deliver effectively? How will we avoid an unintentional “post code lottery” where adults in different localities have unequal access to opportunities? How will we tackle industries or areas which don’t fit neatly into the geographies of the new Strategic Authorities? Where will Skills England fit in? And does the devolution of powers go far enough?
While we may be devo devotees, we will be clear-eyed and analytical in evaluating, in consultation with our members, the government’s bold and ambitious plans.
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