Higher Education Policy Landscape – Summer 2023

This briefing provides an overview of key Higher Education (HE) policy developments up to July 2023, highlighting national updates that will impact HE in Yorkshire, as well as examples of key developments within the region. This briefing was originally shared to provide context and updates about the HE landscape to external partners that YU is working with across local government and has been adapted for our website.

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Our universities: generating growth and opportunity – a regional perspective

The UK higher education sector is one of our country’s greatest assets. It is as diverseas it is prestigious and, in each region of the UK, universities and HEIs of all sizes andspecialisms are working hard to provide their local economies with the skills andinnovations to promote growth and productivity. The recent Universities UK report …

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The Role of Behavioural Science in Promoting Productivity and Innovation in Regional and Local Government

This report investigates the role of behavioural science and nudging in promoting productivity and fostering innovative practices within the context of the UK’s ‘Levelling Up’ local and regional economic development agenda. A literature review is conducted to this end. This report finds positive evidence for using behavioural science in promoting productivity, mixed evidence in fostering innovation, and positive evidence in promoting adoption of innovative practices and technologies. However, in all instances, the efficacy of these interventions seems enhanced by, or contingent upon, the use of non-behavioural policy tools, such as financial incentives. Furthermore, in some contexts, behavioural interventions appear sub-optimal compared to financial incentives in fostering productivity and innovation. Therefore, the central recommendation of this report is that behavioural science appears to offer some benefits for policymakers and businesses in conjunction with traditional approaches.

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The future impact of the members of Yorkshire Universities: an assessment

In this analysis we present a forecast of the impact of YU member institutions over the next five years. The research uses historic data to predict the future impact of the twelve members of Yorkshire Universities: the universities of Bradford, Huddersfield, Hull, Leeds, Leeds Beckett, Leeds Trinity, Leeds Arts, Sheffield, Sheffield Hallam, York, and York …

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Plan to Improve Graduate Employment and Employability in Yorkshire – YU Launches New Report

A new report ‘Supporting Graduate Employment and Employability in Yorkshire’ published today (17 May) by Yorkshire Universities (YU) reveals how universities, students, employers and regional institutions can together help more graduates in Yorkshire enter the world of work or start up in business. In 2020/21, 212,000 students, from over 120 countries, were studying at Yorkshire’s …

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Insight into ‘working class voices’ in economic policy – Report 2

This report uses 350,000 responses of two longitudinal British household surveys and systematically analyses detailed sets of ten demographic characteristics of participants to analyse the relevance of working-class voices to the public policy. The report focuses on two key areas, i.e., the perception of working-class about the public policymaking systems; and inclusion of their voices to the public
policy.

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“Working-class voices” in economic policy – Report 1

The purpose of this report is to look at working-class involvement in local government and regional decision making. It covers whether there is engagement, at what level, and in what depth. It further offers a brief outline of what it means to be defined as working class, given that there are distinctions that set the UK apart from other countries (LSE study, 2021). The report will also look at how policy is determined and how consultation and participation by various actors feed into that process. A short survey of those involved in policymaking feeds into this report as does previous research undertaken for Wakefield District Council around poverty (Jose 2019). A rich vein of local community engagement around existing projects, such as the implementation of local community food shops. Recently the term “community engagement” has come to the fore in local government circles and is driven by a framework of ideas, ideologies, strategies and methods.

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A fair, just and long-lasting recovery for all: Forecasting and nowcasting in West Yorkshire

An increasing concern of national and regional policymaking in response to the COVID-19 pandemic is provision of timely data on real-time economic performance and underlying activities throughout different parts of the nation and regions to give a complete signal about a fair, just, and long-lasting recovery plan for all. This briefing note outlines the economic recovery plan of the West Yorkshire region as a direct response to a request by West Yorkshire Combined Authority. The economic recovery plan has naturally evolved from a necessary immediate response to the COVID-19 pandemic to a broader re-imaging of developing a sustainable, fair and inclusive economy. This evolution brings with it a necessity to reconceptualise the aims and approaches of economic forecasting in West Yorkshire and the measurement of success.

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New YU Report: Universities and ‘Place Promotion’ in West Yorkshire

Report written by James Ransom, YU Associate This discussion paper provides an overview of some of the key issues shaping the contribution of universities and higher education institutions (HEIs) to the promotion of place, and to attracting inward investment and increased trade into Yorkshire and the Humber, and in particular West Yorkshire. It should be …

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