A true powerhouse
Devolving skills budget will ensure benefits from new infrastructure
EARLIER this year, we saw the release of the Greater Manchester Combined Authority’s HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail Growth Strategy.
The report emphasises the importance of these two crucial infrastructure projects not only to Greater Manchester, but to the north of England as a whole.
The rewards for getting it right first time are clear. In Greater Manchester alone, HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail (NPR) will create 40,000 new jobs, deliver 13,000 new homes in the area around Piccadilly station, and provide 820,000 square metres of new commercial development.
As home to thousands of skilled engineering, construction and architecture professionals, Greater Manchester is well-placed to support these ambitious projects, and local residents will benefit significantly. The city region is host to more than 10,000 construction firms, 4,000 architecture and engineering companies, and 70,000 workers in related sectors such as accountancy and management consultancy.
However, if we are to deliver NPR by the mid-2020s, and bring HS2 to Greater Manchester by 2033, there is an urgent need to speed up the process of devolving powers and budgets around skills, so that we can train many more residents across northern England for the jobs of the future.
According to a report from Engineering UK (https://www.engineeringuk.com/media /1576/7444_ enguk 18_ synopsis_ stand alone_ aw.pdf), there is already an annual shortfall of almost 60,000 engineering graduates and technicians to fill core UK engineering roles . By 2024, over 200,000 people with engineering skills at Level 3 or above (the equivalent of A-levels) will be needed every year to meet a growing demand for technical skills.
As the engineering sector moves towards further automation, there will be increasing demand for graduates and apprentices with skills in areas such as big data, robotics, 3D printing, analytics and project management. However, companies across the industry are concerned about the number of suitably qualified candidates - 61% of businesses in the Engineering UK survey are not confident there will be enough people with sufficient skills to fill high-skilled vacancies.
In recent years, Greater Manchester has successfully focused on developing its own skills strategy. With extensive powers devolved to the Mayor and Combined Authority through recent City Deals, the city region is beginning to align the training and education provided locally with the skills employers are looking for.
Education providers are working more closely with Manchester businesses to focus on developing higher-level skills through apprenticeships as well as degrees - the Greater Manchester Apprenticeship Hub is an example to the rest of the UK of what can be achieved by a strong relationship between local businesses and the public sector.
And the development of Vocational Centres of Excellence will go further in providing improved access to technical training, to enhance skills in the engineering and construction industries.
However, across the North as a whole, we need to do much more to ensure the UK is able to deliver major infrastructure projects such as HS2 and NPR, and to close the productivity gap with London and the South East.
The Manchester model of partnership working shows how strong city region leadership delivers results. While similar steps towards greater autonomy over further education are being taken in Liverpool City Region, large parts of the rest of northern England are lagging behind in the evolution of their local governance arrangements. It is important that Leeds, Sheffield and Newcastle, as well as smaller cities such as Preston and Hull, are devolved real power over skills and training over the coming years.
We also need to ensure that the North’s world-leading universities are utilised to support the jobs of the future. A recent report by the Northern Powerhouse Partnership, the think tank chaired by former Chancellor George Osborne, suggested an increase in the number of degree apprenticeships - citing the new Salford University course in Control and Automation, supported by Siemens, as one potential model.
Equally as important is improving skills provision for adults already in work. The UK economy is increasingly resembling an ‘hourglass’, with a growing number of jobs in highly skilled technical sectors and in low-paid roles in areas such as retail, but a shrinking middle of public sector and semi-skilled roles. It is therefore crucial that we give people currently working in declining sectors the opportunity to retrain for the jobs of the future.
Currently, there are often too many barriers for those looking to upskill, such as financial constraints and difficulty in finding information about the options available. Mayors and combined authorities need to be given the powers to encourage workers in low productivity sectors to retrain and improve their prospects over the next decade and beyond.
The Northern Powerhouse is rightly heralded as a transformational project for Northern England. Bringing our cities closer together by improving transport connectivity will help to address the region’s long-standing economic underperformance, and contribute to a rebalancing of the UK economy away from an over-reliance on London and the South East.
However, this dream can only become a reality if we have the skills to deliver projects such as HS2 and Northern Powerhouse Rail.
There is no doubting the ambition of city leaders such as Andy Burnham to ensure residents are equipped to take advantage of the opportunities that will arise, and the support of the business community is assured. It’s now up to government to keep to its word, by addressing current delays and devolving Greater Manchester’s skills sooner rather than later, as well as giving all northern cities the powers they need to deliver skills for the future.
“It is crucial that we give people currently working in declining sectors the opportunity to retrain for the jobs of the future.”