In this GW4 opinion blog, Billy Davis, Public Affairs Lead at GW4 Alliance (Bath, Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter universities) and Western Gateway, reflects on attending the WonkHE 2024 Festival of Higher Education. This blog post was originally published on the Universities Policy Engagement Network (UPEN) website.
With the dust settling on the general election, and the Chancellor’s Budget setting out further detail on the Labour government’s intentions, delegates from across the UK gathered in Senate House London over two days for WonkHE’s 2024 Festival of Higher Education.
The festival opened with a plenary with WonkHE editor, Debbie McVitty, who spoke to the University of St Andrews’ Principal and Vice-Chancellor Sally Mapstone, King’s College London’s Vice-Chancellor and President Shitij Kapur, ESRC Executive Chair, Stian Westlake and Andy Westwood, Professor of government practice at University of Manchester. During their session, they explored how, with a new government in place, higher education can navigate its way through funding challenges and regulatory reform while also working in partnership with Labour to deliver its national missions.
Mapstone welcomed the “changed mood music” around engagement between the sector and the government. However, she also acknowledged that conversations would need to be “quid-pro-quo”, with higher education institutions needing to reform provision, along with government changing the way it engages with sector. She called on Department for Education Ministers to visit universities to better understand the sector, and to ensure “blue sky research” continues to be valued as much as “translational research”. At the same time, she argued that the higher education sector needs to more clearly articulate how it can support government on the delivery of its key missions.
Looking at the economic growth agenda, Kapur noted that, while the UK is “competitive” in the number of young people going to university, if the future of universities is dependent on economic growth, he argued that we also need to focus more on the young people that don’t currently attend university. He claimed the current narrative around economic growth was “twisted” and, while universities are, indeed, drivers of economic growth, South Korea, Singapore and China all show that growing economies are able to invest more in universities, which in turn leads to high quality institutions.
Westlake welcomed the Research and Development (R&D) settlement in the Budget, as well as innovation being one of the seven pillars for economic growth, as set out in the Industrial Strategy. With R&D featuring in all 5 missions, he says this should be “comfortable territory” for universities. Westlake said the challenge will be for how universities can now “plug in” to mission-led government, noting that it took several years for the Blair government to fully embed “evidence-led policy making” across government. He advised universities to work with metropolitan local authorities to ensure coherent local growth narratives, with universities’ roles clearly embedded in them.
Westwood welcomed the fact that higher education was now becoming a more high-profile issue for Labour, post-election, in contrast to a party that rarely spoke about it, previously, as the issues were seen as “too complex and expensive” for a Party trying to “move back from the Corbynite policy of free tuition”. He argued that HE needs to get better at demonstrating how it is “already delivering” on national government agendas but, likewise, government must also be more consistent in its ask from the sector across Whitehall departments.
Westlake and Vupur both agreed on the need for greater partnership working, but Vurpur argued that universities need to be aware of “partnership gaps” in their local areas. This, he said, will be easier with an Industrial Strategy, and something that GW4 reflected on in our submission to the National Industrial Strategy consultation.
A particular highlight of the day was an interactive workshop held by University of London’s Pro-Vice Chancellor of Partnerships and Governance, Alistair Jarvis, and WonkHE’s Associate Editor, James Coe, on developing new policy ideas for a new government.
Coe highlighted the particular importance for the higher education sector to engage in the policy process – noting that the financial collapse of a major university had appeared on Sue Gray’s so-called “shit list” as a potential policy headache for the incoming government. Jarvis then gave delegates a whistle-stop overview of the policymaking process in government. He also gave his view on the seven elements a policy idea needs in order to be successful:
- Simplicity: The impact can easily be understood by the public and media
- Clarity: The purpose/objectives of the policy are clear
- Impact: The policy leads to a clear benefit for society/the economy/the target group
- Politics: It is politically feasible and (ideally!) politically beneficial and popular
- Delivery: It is realistic and deliverable
- Credibility: The policy is built on robust evidence, drawing on research, data and practice
- Inspiring: Captures hearts and minds
Attendees were then challenged to come up with their own policy proposals – addressing (at least) one issue currently facing the higher education sector. After developing our policy proposals in groups, we then pitched our suggestions to the room, before voting on our favourites. There were some fascinating ideas in the room – from extending maintenance grants to include distance learning, offering work experience on all undergrad courses, merging higher education & further education provision, and the creation a pilot scheme to allow people from under-represented groups to “trial” university experiences. I was thrilled to say that our table had the winning policy idea – so do keep your eyes peeled for a WonkHE article setting out our policy proposal in greater detail in the near future!
Day 2 continued with more interesting panel discussions. In particular, Director of the UPP Foundation, Richard Brabner, was joined by Michael Wood, Head of Health Economic Partnerships at NHS Confederation, Higher Futures’ Director, Chris Husbands, Director of Midlands Innovation, Helen Turner, and Fiona Walsh McDonnell, Partnerships and Development Director at Student Hubs. They discussed a series of essays published as part of the Kerslake Collection, which explored the role universities can play in placemaking. This session was of particular interest to me, as a representative from a regional University Alliance – the only one which cuts across the border of England and Wales – which supports our partner universities to develop our knowledge economy and showcase local R&D assets.
Husbands noted that greater civil engagement was one of the Education Secretary’s five planned reforms for universities. While he says universities may be tempted to say “we already do this”, Husbands urge them to be “deeper and more deliberative” in their work. He urged them to “get out of their comfort zones” on improving their civic engagement – in particular, universities need to find ways to engage with people “not already engaging to the university”.
Turner argued that focusing on innovation would be a “sweet spot” for civic engagement, aligning civic engagement goals with institutional goals to bring investment into local economies, given the example of universities taking part in large regeneration projects, taking up spaces on local science parks and providing greater financial support for university spin-outs. Turner’s words were particularly timely, with al GW4’s partner universities also being part of SetSquared which, in partnership with investment firm Quantx, recently announced a new £300m spin-out focused investment vehicle with to catalyse the creation and growth of science and technology companies across our geography.
However, Turner noted that there were also challenges, with local authorities having limited capacity to drive inward investment after a decade of austerity and potential MHCLG funding cuts to local Growth Hubs and Pan-Regional Partnerships creating face a “funding cliff edge” in March 2025. Turner argued that, as well as identifying new opportunities, universities need to be better at “looking at what is already here” in our area and help support and nurture established innovative businesses in the region.
Looking at Student Hubs, Walsh McDonnell argued these have a proven track record for encouraging students to take on environmental or social challenges in their community, giving them skills and encouraging active citizenship. While these brought fresh perspectives and new ideas to engage with underrepresented groups, Walsh McDonnell argued we have “not been doing this is in a meaningful way” across the country, and called for a real living wage (RLW) rate for students taking part in these activities as a way of removing barriers.
Reflecting on his experience of engagement in the NHS, Wood observed this feeling that universities and local government are “three steps ahead” of the health service when it comes to community engagement. Looking at the NHS Workforce Strategy, Wood called it a “historic national document”, but civic impact was underwhelming as there was no funding, nor was there any demonstrable benefits for local labour markets or local assets. He called on higher education institutes to help local NHS trusts to identify local workforce challenges, and to better demonstrate how preventative healthcare can help support local economic growth.
The closing plenary focused the challenges and opportunities that may face the HE sector in the delivery of Labour’s mission to remove barriers to opportunity, with WonkHE’s Debbie McVitty seeking insights from John Blake Director for Fair Access and Participation at the Office for Students, UCAS Chief Executive Jo Saxton, Jonathan Simons Partner and Head of the Education Practice at Public First, and NUS President Amira Campbell.
All panellists agreed that university education was a valuable thing, with Campbell arguing that it was about “more than education”. but also offered opportunities for self-development, whether that was exploring new hobbies through Societies, learning social skills, or getting employment experience through part-time work. Saxton noted that, while the “graduate premium” exists for future employment, it is “slowly decreasing” year-on-year. Blake said, particularly post-Covid, universities need to be better at “showing where the money goes” as students’ experiences become more hybrid and tuition fees continue to rise. Simmons also noted that other Whitehall Departments should improve their engagement with universities as they will have key roles in many priorities, “whether that’s net zero, safer streets or reducing violence against women and girls”.
Indeed – whether it is the government missions for removing barriers to opportunity, driving economic growth, or the research and innovation aspects of green energy, safer streets or an NHS fit for the future, higher education institutions will have a role to play in delivering on all of this Labour Government’s key missions. The WonkHE festival of Higher Education clearly showed that there is a willingness within the sector to work collaboratively with government to achieve its missions.
Bringing together the research power and innovation of the universities of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter, and with expertise across a range of priority areas including Sustainable Net Zero, Health and Wellbeing, Cyber and Digital Transformation and Creative Communities, the GW4 Alliance stands ready to do our part.
The WonkHE festival of Higher Education clearly showed that there is a willingness within the sector to work collaboratively with government to achieve its missions.
Bringing together the research power and innovation of the universities of Bath, Bristol, Cardiff and Exeter, and with expertise across a range of priority areas including Sustainable Net Zero, Health and Wellbeing, Cyber and Digital Transformation and Creative Communities, the GW4 Alliance stands ready to do our part.
