Written evidence from the North West Universities
Association (NWUA)
SUMMARY
This paper highlights the role of universities
in economic development, driven largely by interactions with business
and the community, and calls for continuing engagement as Local
Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) emerge. It also raises a number
of key concerns which should be addressed to ensure a smooth transition
from current arrangements to LEPs and to minimise disruption to
the significant contribution of universities to economic development,
namely:
— Universities may have interests in multiple
LEP areas and therefore have to deal with a proliferation of local
partnerships and the additional management complexity associated
with this. — There is a risk that some LEPs will sit at
a level beneath real functional economic geographies hindering
their ability to affect change. Within the higher education sphere,
there is a range of appropriate intervention levels from local
(eg widening participation), through sub-regional (eg intermediate
skills) to regional (eg graduate retention, recruitment and internships).
— Universities in the North West would therefore
benefit from arrangements to encourage and facilitate collaboration
between LEPs.
— The proposed division of responsibility
for innovation (to central government) and enterprise (to LEPs)
has the potential to cause uncertainty for universities in which
these activities are intrinsically interlinked.
— It will be necessary to ensure maximum
interaction between LEPs, those national bodies with responsibility
for R&D and innovation, and those bodies funding skills provision,
such as the Skills Funding Agency and HEFCE.
INTRODUCTION
1.The North West Universities Association (NWUA)
is the representative body of 14 Higher Education Institutions
in the North West.[61]
2. NWUA welcomes the recognition of the
importance of universities to local economies and the expectation
that Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) will work closely with
universities as stated in the letter of 29 June from the Secretaries
of State at BIS and CLG to local authorities and businesses. Colleagues
in the universities of the North West will wish to be closely
involved in discussions regarding the formation of LEPs. Universities
play a significant role in economic development and regeneration
and it is important that this contribution continues to be maximised
within the new arrangements for supporting sub-national growth.
THE ROLE
OF UNIVERSITIES
IN THE
ECONOMY
3. North West universities make a significant
contribution to the economy as businesses in their own right,
both within the North West and nationally. In 2007-08 North West
universities:
— Had a total combined income of over £2
billion.[62]
— Contributed approximately £3.5 billion
in GVA to the NW economy.[63]
— Produced £445 million export earnings.[64]
— Employed over 36,000 staff,[65]
contributing directly and indirectly to the employment of over
70,000 FTE in the UK, with over 64,000 of these in the North West.[66]
4. North West universities have a successful
track record in delivering European Structural Fund projects,
both through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) to
aid businesses and the European Social Fund (ESF) to support individuals.
These funds have been carefully used to augment HE interactions
with business and, in particular, those interactions focused on
facilitating knowledge transfer and innovation, stimulating and
supporting enterprise and entrepreneurship and in developing the
skills of the workforce in the North West.
5. In the period 2007-0/8 ERDF and ESF funding
accounted for 49%[67]
of the funding provided to North West universities for regeneration
and development activity. The scale and impact of this activity
has been significant; for example in the 2000-06 structural fund
programmes, North West Universities were allocated over £138
million ERDF and ESF funding; with match-funding this represented
an HE sector investment of approximately £228 million. This
activity has produced significant and real economic benefits to
businesses in the North West, the North West economy and its population,
including:
— Assistance to over 13,600 SMEs.
— The introduction of more than 4,300 new
products and processes.
— Directly created more than 11,700 jobs
and safeguarded another 14,000.
— Increased sales/turnover in SMEs by over
£1.036 billion.
6. It will be important to ensure that the
emergent LEPs work well with universities to leverage impact to
the same extent.
WORKING IN
PARTNERSHIP
7. Universities in the North West have a
strong tradition of collaborative working between themselves and
with other partners. It is vital for the continuation and enhancement
of their economic impact that universities continue to engage
with appropriate partners in the areas of higher level skills,
research, innovation, enterprise, international linkages and knowledge
transfer. As this will take place within the context of LEPs it
is vital that LEPs have sufficient scale and economic coherence
to enable this to happen effectively. Universities therefore have
an important role to play in the formation and ongoing activities
of LEPs. They must be viewed as key strategic partners with the
ability to deliver both short term responsive and long term strategic
contributions. In the past these contributions have been maximised
by jointly mapping HEI capabilities against North West priorities.
As the LEP priorities emerge it will be important to conduct similar
mapping exercises to maximise the contribution of universities
across the North West to the work of LEPs.
8. In order for the transition to LEPs to occur
smoothly, and with as little disruption as possible to the significant
contribution of universities to economic development, a number
of considerations need to be made. It should be recognised that
many existing successful partnerships and relationships occur
at a scale that is below the national but beyond the local. As
a consequence, it is anticipated that universities will have interests
in multiple LEP areas, for example, due to campuses spanning likely
LEP areas, being geographically located in positions which border
or overlap LEPs or linkages with bodies (eg an FE College or R&D
facility) situated in another LEP. Universities may therefore
have to deal with a proliferation of local partnerships and the
additional management complexity associated with this. Some universities
have indicated that they would find it very challenging to engage
with multiple partnerships if these are small scale.
9. LEPs need to be able to reflect the natural
economic geography of the areas they serve and hence cover real
functional economic and travel to work areas. There is some danger
of over-fragmentation in parts of the North West which will produce
areas that are too small to achieve the stated objectives and
also too small to facilitate effective university engagement.
In consideration of the spatial scales of the functions necessary
for successful economic development, NWUA considers there to be
a range of appropriate interventions from local scale (eg widening
participation), sub-regional (eg intermediate skills) and regional
(eg higher level skills).
10. Universities may need to maintain a
dialogue with relevant partners at a level intermediate between
the LEPs and national government in a number of areas. Clearly,
the precise range of activities will depend on the details of
the arrangements for supporting sub-national growth to be outlined
in the forthcoming bill, but there will be aspects of innovation,
science and higher level skills that relate to functional economic
areas beyond the likely LEP footprints in the North West, but
below the national. Many colleagues in the larger companies based
in the North West, including those with significant international
research capacity, share this view.
11. Whilst universities can and will arrange
to discuss matters amongst themselves and with partners on these
topics, it is important that LEPs are also included in this dialogue.
Discussions are currently underway in the North West regarding
the need for cost-effective collaborative arrangements to support
value-added collaboration between LEPs. Such arrangements could
be a significant feature in enhancing universities' ability to
sustain and develop their contribution to economic development
and regeneration.
12. It should also be noted that the proposed
differing approach to innovation, which is to be dealt with on
a national basis, and enterprise, to be within the remit of LEPs,
will create uncertainty for universities, for whom these two aspects
are complementary. Furthermore, the boundary between innovation
and enterprise is difficult to define precisely, increasing the
potential for confusion of roles.
LINKING WITH
SKILLS
13. The relationship between skills, knowledge
transfer, employability and enterprise is crucial and it will
be necessary to ensure maximum interaction between LEPs, with
responsibility for enterprise, those national bodies with responsibility
for research and development and innovation, and those bodies
funding skills provision, such as the Skills Funding Agency and
HEFCE.
14. One particular finding of work conducted
by SQW[68]
into the economic impact of universities, is the contribution
that graduates make to the North West; retention and development
of quality graduate jobs are vital to ensure the North West is
able to secure success in the economic upturn. The appropriate
geographical footprint for graduate retention considerations is
likely to extend beyond the proposed LEPs in the North West. In
some cases local universities will not supply the complete range
of skilled graduates that local businesses need. Collaboration
across a number of LEPs would ensure that the needs of all businesses
could be supported by graduate retention initiatives within this
wider area.
15. Business organisations in the North
West have also expressed strong support for a comprehensive approach
to graduate retention and graduate/student placement mechanisms.
16. The up-skilling and re-skilling of its
workforce is an important factor in enabling the North West to
compete in the global knowledge economy. Particularly within the
context of higher level skills, in some localities it is unlikely
that local universities will be able to respond to the complete
range of employer and employee demand from full-time provision
to "bite sized chunks" from foundation degrees to postgraduate
qualifications and from conventional delivery to innovative methods
of learning. It is difficult to address the multiplicity of skills
needs locally without duplication and indeed the required specialisms
may not be available locally. Similarly, it will be important
to ensure that universities with particular specialisms are able
to engage with LEPs beyond their own localities where these skills
are needed. There is concern that addressing needs nationally
could lead to distinct sub-national variation to be overlooked.
In the North West the Higher Level Skills Partnership (http://www.nwua.ac.uk/HLSP/default.aspx),
supported by HEFCE and a wide range of regional partners, has
shown that employer demand for higher level skills can be met
by universities working together across a sufficiently large geographical
area to ensure a comprehensive offer in relation to subject and
mode of delivery.
17. The Regional Growth Fund could be used
to support programmes to develop high level skills to raise competitiveness,
particularly to close the gap between the NW and the rest of the
UK with regard to the percentage of the workforce with level 4
skills. Such programmes could build on the relationships already
established between employers, sector skills councils, universities,
colleges and business organisations to utilise the expertise across
all fifteen North West Higher Education Institutions and the strong
HE in Further Education base.
CONCLUDING REMARKS
18. Universities in the North West will
continue to work with partners and collaborate where there is
added value. Arrangements to support collaboration between LEPs
would add further value and enhance the contribution of universities
to economic development.
12 August 2010
Available at http://www.nwua.ac.uk/docs/pdf/Making_an_Economic_Impact.pdf
61 University of Bolton, University of Central Lancashire,
University of Chester, University of Cumbria, Edge Hill University,
Lancaster University, The University of Liverpool, Liverpool Hope
University, Liverpool John Moores University, The University of
Manchester, Manchester Metropolitan University, The Open University
in the NorthWest, University of Salford, Royal Northern College
of Music. Back
62
Hefce Regional Profiles 2007-08. Back
63
SQW, Economic Impact and Potential of HEIs in the NW, April 2009. Back
64
UUK, Making an Economic Impact: Higher Education and the English
Regions, 2010. Available at http://www.nwua.ac.uk/docs/pdf/Making_an_Economic_Impact.pdf Back
65
HESA (Source to be inserted by NWUA). Back
66
UUK, Making an Economic Impact: Higher Education and the English
Regions, 2010 Back
67
Source: HE-BCI Survey 2007-08. Back
68
The Economic Impact and Potential of higher education institutions
in the North West, SQW, April 2009. Available at http://www.nwua.ac.uk/docs/pdf/NWDA_HEI_economic_impact_potential_Final_Report.pdf Back
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