This article is dated 3rd March 2021 and is headed: "A programme of radical change is needed to help fix inequality across the UK's regions in this year's Budget" and includes these recommendations:
The first change is to give the metro mayors the clear responsibility for spatial planning and transport policies in their cities, bringing their powers in line with those already held by the Mayor of London. This would be a significant change, but granting mayors these powers would improve the management of our cities and create a more favourable business environment.
The second change would be to give mayors the power to align the courses run by FE colleges within their boundaries with the needs of industry. Currently, FE funding rules mean that, to survive financially, many colleges must spend a great deal of time competing to attract students to courses that are cheap to run. By giving mayors the authority to co-ordinate the courses put on by FE, and by incentivising collaboration between colleges rather than competition, this could be stopped, and the courses delivered could be brought in line with the needs of industry.
For the full article in pdf please click here:
Photo from 2013 as posted on Wikipedia
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