Industry groups have welcomed the launch of government’s Levelling Up white paper which includes key commitments on improving technical skills and boosting investment in research and innovation across the UK. The document sets out a series of ‘missions’ to help spread economic growth and prosperity more evenly around the country.
By 2030, it pledges to significantly increase the number of people undergoing high-quality skills training and says employment and productivity will rise in every area of the UK over this timescale. In England, this means 200,000 more people completing training annually, including 80,000 in the lowest skilled areas.
Nine new Institutes of Technology with strong employer links will be established in England, the paper says, helping to boost higher technical skills in STEM subjects. Local Skills Improvement Plans, together with supporting funding, will also be rolled out to give employers and other stakeholders a statutory role in planning training requirements in their area.
In addition, a new Unit for Future Skills is being set up to produce information on local skills demand and availability and the future talent needs of business, while the government also says 55 Education Investment Areas will be designated for intensive investment and support in English local authorities where school outcomes are currently weakest.
“We welcome the long term vision of the Levelling Up white paper and its recognition of the importance of education and skills in ensuring opportunity is spread more equally across the country,” commented Engineering UK in a statement.
“As the paper rightly recognises, ‘human capital’ is vital to the long term success of this country. Ensuring that all young people regardless of where they live, and their background, have the opportunity to succeed must always be central to that ambition,” the group added.
“Together with the wider engineering sector, we have long argued for government to have a better central understanding of the skills gaps in this country, enabling more targeted policies to fill those gaps. The engineering sector has for a long time struggled with skills shortages and this provides a real opportunity to address those challenges.”
The Levelling Up paper says competitive advantage in science and technology is being put at the heart of a new economic model for the UK and commits that by 2030, domestic public investment in research and development outside the greater south east will increase by at least 40%. Through this additional funding, government will seek to leverage at least twice as much private sector investment over the long term to stimulate innovation and productivity growth, it adds.
In addition, the government plans to target £100m of investment in three new Innovation Accelerators, centred on Greater Manchester, the West Midlands and Glasgow City Region. These new clusters are described in the paper as ‘Fourth Industrial Revolution Foundries’.
Royal Academy of Engineering president, Professor Sir Jim McDonald, commented: “Engineering is essential if we are to pivot the UK towards a more sustainable and inclusive economy and level up areas of regional economic disparity.
“Reinvigorating economic prosperity across different regions of the country depends on both on engineered infrastructure, and the crucial engineering skills and innovation that make this, and many other technologies that benefit society, possible,” he said.
“We welcome the strong and clear priority attached to R&D and innovation and we will work with others to encourage the maximum leverage of private sector investment to stimulate innovation and a more inclusive economy,” he added.
Make UK chief executive Stephen Phipson said: “Manufacturers will enthusiastically embrace this strategy which is a vital building block in spreading growth to all parts of the UK. The sector has a significant presence in exactly the areas which need levelling up and is playing a vital role in delivering high value skills.
“While there is substantially more to be done, this focus on skills and innovation, together with an emphasis on infrastructure and place, is the right starting point and one that industry will back.”
The 12 Levelling Up missions will be underpinned by a suite of public metrics to track progress and monitor the evolution of spatial disparities, says the government. It plans to legislate such that it has a statutory duty to publish an annual report updating the public on the progress of these missions.
In addition a new Levelling Up Advisory Council will be established to provide further support and constructive analysis.