English regional devolution could enhance opportunities for HE

Just as Sir Keir Starmer’s Labour government relegated Boris Johnson’s levelling-up “gimmick” to political history, the 2024 King’s Speech promised an English Devolution Bill that will grant extra powers to regional authorities and metropolitan mayors in areas including skills, planning and infrastructure.

This could open up several new avenues for universities to enhance their influence within their regions, collaborating closely with devolved authorities, aligning their teaching and research with local needs and demonstrating their service to surrounding communities. With enhanced convening powers, mayors can be expected to invest more time bringing together education providers, businesses and public sector services in their regions to encourage the development of courses that meet local demand for knowledge and skills.

The new government need not reinvent the wheel, however. Much of the groundwork for greater regional skills alignment has already been laid by Johnson’s Local Skills Improvement Plans (LSIPs), which set out a series of actionable priorities that employers, education providers and other local stakeholders can get behind to drive change. If taken forward – and extended to all English regions, including London – LSIPs could both enhance the employability of graduates within local areas and cement the role of higher education institutions as engines of regional economic growth.

While the devolution of powers is often accompanied by the decentralisation of key funding pots, this is unlikely in the current fiscal climate. Universities may, therefore, be asked by local mayoral authorities to support growth initiatives by leveraging their extensive alumni networks and fundraising capacities to seek donations toward them.

The shortage of spare cash also makes it vital that higher education institutions are not seen by local policymakers simply as deliverers of skills, but as enablers of solutions to regional challenges more broadly. Moreover, proactively contributing to other mayoral missions – from tackling local NHS workforce challenges to supporting the “just transition” to Net Zero – could enhance universities’ access to national structural funds not usually earmarked for educational institutions. And the greater speed and flexibility in policy implementation that a devolution framework should allow for could be particularly beneficial for universities given that they are already deeply rooted in their local places and can be agile and responsive to their needs.

The civic university agenda could therefore become a lot more important under the new Parliament. And while universities already play a crucial part in addressing inequality through widening participation initiatives and research and development (R&D) activities targeted at local socio-economic issues, devolution provides a platform for wider recognition of this work and a means of channelling it towards inclusive growth and development.

The innovation and entrepreneurship that comes out of universities will also be key to economic development strategies. Regional government leaders will be keen to see collaborations between universities and industries leading to the establishment of new research centres and incubators. This local lens on innovation can help attract top talent to towns and cities across the country, and foster thriving start-up cultures.

Increased devolution is also important for international education. England’s universities are already a magnet for students from across the globe, but the increased autonomy of metropolitan mayors to promote their region’s higher education institutions not just nationally but internationally could further enhance their appeal, especially when supported by tailored strategies, such as the International Education Strategy for London.

Given the clear links between international education and local economic growth, universities should make the case for inclusion in overseas delegations and promotional activities at the mayoral level as a way to drive people, trade and inward investment. The Study London campaign is one example of a ready-made initiative that the Greater London Authority and Mayor of London could promote.

There is no doubt a risk that universities see greater devolution primarily as an extra layer of engagement and bureaucracy they will have to negotiate. But if, instead, they embrace the change it affords, they can strengthen not just their own local standing but also contribute significantly to the overall development and prosperity of their regions.

Diana Beech is chief executive officer of London Higher.