Don’t waste this opportunity to ‘level up’ Britain – The Yorkshire Post says

Though Chancellor Rishi Sunak’s emphasis is on protecting jobs, and with reason, he risks presiding over an entire generation of lost potential if the question of skills is sidelined.

This is not new – it is why Justine Greening launched the pioneering Opportunity Areas programme when Education Secretary in 2016 to drive up school standards – but now has even greater urgency in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic.

And it’s not just Ms Greening who is pressing for renewed action after returning to the University of York in her capacity as head of the Social Mobility Pledge; entrepreneurs across Yorkshire, like Debbie Francis of Arcadis, have been making similar calls ahead of next week’s Great Northern Conference.

However the concern is the Department for Education’s reluctance to expand the Opportunity Areas programme, which has already had a transformative effect in Doncaster, Bradford and Yorkshire coastal towns, and the slow pace at which the London Government is devolving skills policy to regional bodies.

This mindset needs to change, and fast, as both those in education – and those who have had the misfortune to lose their jobs – reappraise their skills and the steps that they need to take to boost their future prospects once this pandemic has passed. They want to do the right thing, but will struggle to do so unless the Government upskills its approach to an issue which will define the success of the ‘levelling up’ agenda for years to come.

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Thank you

James Mitchinson