Universities underpin growth through the skills they teach and knowledge they share through research and innovation.
Chapter summary
The UK needs to address low productivity, local inequalities, and increase private investment across regions. Universities underpin growth. They are often one of the largest local employers and are powerful economic actors as one of the UK’s largest export sectors, as large-scale purchasers and attractors of inward investment.
This chapter considers how universities can play a greater role through responding to the current and future skills needs of local employers, and supporting local economic actors to adopt new knowledge and technology to drive innovation and growth.
Our recommendations
Universities should be critical partners in Local Growth Plans, and should ensure that they have a dedicated ‘local growth’ function to act as a single point of contact for key partners. Where Mayoral Combined Authorities do not exist, government should establish Local Growth Partnerships to support the development of Local Growth Plans.
The government shouldcreate stable and effective incentives for universities to work with each other and with business and the public sector to meet skills needs.
Skills England should look to capitalise on the central role that universities have intackling skills shortages at higher levels.
The government shouldmake a long-term commitment to the Higher Education Innovation Fund, and the consolidation and expansion of the Regional Innovation Fund, with counterpart funds of sufficient scale in the devolved administrations.
Universities should work with the NHS to strengthen their partnerships with Integrated Care Boards and help deliver the capacity expansion the NHS needs.
Universities are a key growth sector, enabling wider economic growth across other sectors, local communities and helping to drive exports. We need to supercharge and maximise the university contribution to growth.
Through stimulating greater partnership with business, embedding the potential of universities across government policy and investing in local partnerships and collaboration we can drive inclusive, sustainable growth.
