Skills for the North: Devolving technical education to cities

Article

The north of England needs a skilled workforce and a system for skills development that meets the changing needs of the regional economy.

Qualifications levels across the north of England are lower than for England as a whole. The Employer Skills Survey suggests that that trends in skills shortages and gaps in the north of England are distributed differently across occupations from national ones, and also that there are some striking contrasts between parts of the North. Devolving some powers and budgets for skills would help to align provision with regional economic and social priorities, and to create more agile and efficient systems. For this project, we worked with officers from a small group of northern Local Enterprise Partnerships.

Our recommendations are set in the context of the Skills 2030 framework for reform of the adult skills system in England (Dromey et al 2017).

Related items

  1. A photo of a field of solar panels with a line of trees and a sunset sky behind it

    The Europe agenda: Energy and climate

    A redefined relationship with Europe is the most direct path to the UK's climate and energy goals.
  2. Sad young woman sitting on the window

    The loneliest generation: What it is like to grow up in England today

    Connection should be the fabric that binds society together. But today’s young people have never felt more disconnected. 
  3. Man Writing Code on Desktop Computer With Multiple Monitors Set Up and a Laptop in Creative Office

    Bottleneck Britain: How digital competition could power UK growth and sovereignty

    Artificial intelligence could be the UK’s biggest economic opportunity in a generation, but only if its gains are spread across the economy rather than pooled within a handful of companies.