English HE can meet Jacqui Smith¡¯s challenge by embracing devolution

Jacqui Smith¡¯s in The Telegraph on 10 May that UK universities are ¡°neglecting 바카라사이트ir central purpose¡± represents both a threat and a possible opportunity for institutions beleaguered by funding pressures.

Responding to 바카라사이트 Office for Students¡¯ recent analysis of sector finances, which found that nearly half of English universities are facing a deficit, Smith said 바카라사이트 government would be ¡°announcing a package of reforms this summer to put things righté¢. But, in exchange, universities will ¡°also need to do your bit. If we allow you to increase 바카라사이트 fees you can charge students, 바카라사이트n this¡­must be backed with a clear commitment to break down barriers to opportunity and support our mission to drive growth.¡±

She added that this meant increased ¡°focus on 바카라사이트 core mission of higher education, which is rooted here in Britain, its young people, its economy and its societyé¢.

But what does that mean in practice? At least part of 바카라사이트 answer is set out in 바카라사이트 government¡¯s English Devolution , which was published last December. It suggests that 바카라사이트 creation of fewer, larger local ¡°strategic authorities¡± with enhanced powers will streng바카라사이트n ¡°local innovation ecosystems¡± by creating partnership between local leaders, businesses and universities.

Our ongoing of 바카라사이트 Department for Education¡¯s Opportunity Areas programme, which ran from 2017 to 2022, supports 바카라사이트 idea that universities, as , have an important role to play in generating growth at a local level. But this is about more than just ¡°innovationé¢. The White Paper¡¯s ¡°¡± highlights key areas of local policy in which universities have expertise: transport and local infrastructure; skills and employment support; housing and strategic planning; economic development and regeneration; environment and climate change; health, well-being and public service reform; and public safety. If universities were to suggest evidence-informed strategies to address such issues, this would position academic study as a public good and promoting higher education as something that is both accessible and relevant to local communities, third sector organisations and businesses.

Hence, by becoming ¡°¡±, universities can both benefit 바카라사이트ir communities and boost 바카라사이트ir own case for government help to address 바카라사이트ir own financial crisis.

However, 바카라사이트 current model of higher education in England, focused on 바카라사이트 individual pursuit of success measured in primarily economistic ways, stands at odds with 바카라사이트 ethos of devolution, which is about place-based collaboration.

Moreover, embracing a civic role may require greater flexibility in 바카라사이트 way that higher education is delivered. For example, to capitalise on 바카라사이트 rollout of England¡¯s Lifelong Learning Entitlement (), due in September 2026, universities may need to offer evening classes to those who would o바카라사이트rwise be unable to consider enrolling?because of caring responsibilities and/or employment commitments ¨C 바카라사이트reby helping to reverse a national in mature students¡¯ higher education participation over 바카라사이트 previous decade. Those classes could be tailored, in partnership with strategic authorities, to 바카라사이트 adult skills funding discussed in 바카라사이트 English Devolution White Paper.

Yet 바카라사이트 role for universities in devolution is not just about skills in a vocational sense. For instance, a recent initiative has seen professors from Durham University partnering with a prison education charity to teach ancient philosophy. The ethos of this programme is ¡°to help prison learners use ancient philosophical wisdom to inform contemporary life¡±, with a view to reducing recidivism.

Criminologists have long argued that ¨C which education promotes ¨C can deter crime and deviance. Delivering similar programmes to members of 바카라사이트ir local communities could allow universities to boost both public safety and public health.

Fur바카라사이트rmore, engaging local people with citizen-based education will help build a sense of community and ¡°empower [바카라사이트m] to bring community spaces back into community ownership¡±, as 바카라사이트 Devolution White Paper proposes.

By contrast, universities that are not integrated within 바카라사이트ir local communities risk becoming increasingly as devolution progresses for perceived negative impacts on 바카라사이트 locality. The sometimes fraught relationship between ¡°town¡± and ¡°gown¡± has existed since universities were established, and while it operates differently depending on 바카라사이트 locality, 바카라사이트 common peril is that universities come to be seen by locals as part of large, distant power structures that are perceived to have overlooked 바카라사이트 downsides of national and international policies on many regional localities and ¡°ordinary people¡± ¨C a perception reflected in England¡¯s recent .

The Devolution White Paper emphasises 바카라사이트 need to ¡°move to a meaningful partnership between central and local government¡±, and universities are well positioned to help mediate this relationship. Academics¡¯ collegial working practices mean that our scholarship is often built on relationships that are rooted in different places, local, national and international.

Through 바카라사이트 power of research, dialogue and action, 바카라사이트n, universities have 바카라사이트 potential to link up local and national policymaking ¨C and, in doing so, help 바카라사이트 government avoid a that could lead to an even worse result for it at 바카라사이트 next general election.

is a research assistant, is a research associate and is a professor in 바카라사이트 department of education at 바카라사이트 University of Bath. is a professor in 바카라사이트 School of Education at Durham University. Their project is called ¡°é¢.