Plea to devolve more education powers to help North recover and rebuild from coronavirus

Northern Powerhouse Partnership vice chair Lord Jim O’Neill told a conference yesterday that the bid to level up areas outside of London had been changed by the coronavirus pandemic, and as it moved away from issues such as transport, the right education provided in the right place had become even more vital.

Speaking at the Northern Powerhouse Education, Employment and Skills Summit organised by consultancy DevoConnect he said: “Some of the areas where the UK has struggled through this crisis are ones that are absolutely even more important than they were before and certainly relative to some others, and they would be in my opinion, education and skills, technology and communications, and housing, perhaps in particular, social.

“In my view, the importance of more intense focus on solving those dilemmas, as it relates to the Northern Powerhouse are even bigger than they were before this crisis.”

He said issues like transport - while still key - had taken a backseat behind more urgent priorities in the changing world.

And he took a particular swipe at the Department for Education (DfE), who he said had been a “laggard” in responding to the Northern Powerhouse agenda, and added: “It's very important that the Prime Minister instructs the Department of Education that they have to treat this more seriously, if there is a genuine levelling up policy.”

His view was echoed by Leeds City Council leader Coun Judith Blake who said: “I would say now that the Department for Education is probably the most centralised department in Government.

“They need to wake up to all the evidence that we've gathered that where we devolve and work through our growth deals down local areas, our performances outstripped the national programs so significantly, it really can't be ignored any longer.”

Lord O’Neill said the resurgence of opportunity areas, which “should be more focused and more ambitious”, would help areas recover from the economic hit from the pandemic.

And he said powers handed to metro mayors “should not just be seen as some sort of one off set of measures, but a permanent set of policies that get bigger and more ambitious as we go forward, and I would include education skills, housing, and technology within those.”

He added: “It's pretty important that everybody realises that if the leveling up agenda was important before, the COVID-19 pandemic has made it even more important.”

The DfE said it was committed to levelling up and welcomed the work of metro mayors and combined authorities to meet local skills needs, including the use of adult education budgets.

Adult education budgets have been handed to some devolved areas, and similar control is due to be given to West Yorkshire and Sheffield City Region from next year.

Coun Blake said adult education would be key, where people may need to retrain or be reskilled after losing their jobs.

She said: “We need to get back to the programs around lifelong learning otherwise, we're not going to come through this.”

Dame Carolyn Fairbairn, director general of the CBI, added: “I do think that - and we at the CBI believe that - we are at a moment of absolute maximum jeopardy for the economy at the moment, as the furlough scheme comes to an end and as unemployment begins to rise.

“And this feels like an extraordinarily important moment for the North to grab the opportunities of building back better but also to get ahead of that unemployment curve that could be so scarring for the region.”

She added: “If I can end with one plea to every politician who is listening, this is a time for economics and jobs and employment and skills training to be put ahead of politics.”

Communities Minister Simon Clarke said: “The debate on skills, education, and employment has clearly never been so important.”

And he added: “I believe now is the moment to pursue a clear, unashamedly ambitious strategy for growth.”

He said: “As we deliver the recovery from Covid-19, it’s imperative that we continue empowering local communities by devolving money, resources, and control away from Westminster.”