As the new government settle in to their posts and prepare for a fiscal event on Friday (23 September), University Alliance have released A Vision for Growth.
In it, the Alliance outline a vision for national and regional growth, fuelled by technical and professional universities.
The document emphasises three areas of focus: delivering the skills the UK needs, driving regional growth through innovation, and turbo-boosting the UK’s global ambitions.
The briefing highlights six actions government can take to deliver growth and prosperity across the UK:
- Accept and deliver University Alliance’s blueprint for lifelong learning
- Streamline the regulation of degree apprenticeships
- Bring universities to the table for NHS workforce planning
- Integrate R&D into regional economic development
- Put innovation at the heart of research collaboration
- Prevent regulatory barriers to international higher education exports
University Alliance CEO Vanessa Wilson said:
“We are facing one of the most challenging winters for a generation. We join colleagues across the Higher Education sector calling for additional financial support for students especially those from the most disadvantaged backgrounds. Despite these impending dark times we remain optimistic about the role our universities can play in driving the growth and delivering prosperity across the UK. Technical and professional universities are already acting as catalysts for growth across the UK, and we believe they can do much, much more. This is a vision for how government can work with us to do that.
The arrival of new ministers across government is an important opportunity for a new cross-government approach to harnessing the power of universities as engines for growth across communities, regions and the nations. We look forward to working with the new ministerial teams to deliver for the UK.”
