Medilink NOE News Summer 2020 Summer 2020 | Page 5

WESTMINSTER
LOOK NORTH...
COVID-19 AND BEYOND
We have rarely seen so much coverage of the important role that the Lifescience
community plays in the health and the protection of lives across the nation than
during the present Covid-19 pandemic, whether this be in the supply of PPE,
ventilators, antigen/antibody testing or vaccine development.
With the significant manufacturing capability in the North and our burgeoning
number of innovative companies driving health transformation, we have many
examples of where businesses have responded to the challenges of Covid-19 and
we have featured a number of few of these in this edition of the Medilink News.
We are pleased that the UK Government has
committed itself to a regional economy ‘levelling
up’ agenda and welcome the recently published
UK Research & Development Roadmap which
acknowledges the gap between public investment
in R&D in the North and South and the need for
place / asset based, regional investment. We also
welcome the recent announcement of a £600m
investment in the Northern rail network, with
inadequate transport systems being a major factor
in limiting GVA levels in the North.
However, one thing that became apparent in the
Covid-19 crisis was that our Industrial Strategy
needs to place major emphasis on investing in
manufacturing resilience - mapping the UK supply
networks, whether this be for vaccines, testing
or key medical devices, and ensuring that the
requisite investment is made in the UK Lifescience
industry (manufacturing and the supporting
ecosystem) to ensure that the UK is self-sufficient
if faced with future crises.
The theme of this Newlsetter, ‘Westminster
Look North – Covid-19 and beyond’, reflects the
views expressed by a wide cross section of our
membership base - the North has played a major
role in mitigating the worst effects of Covid-19 in
the UK, and through its ‘placed based’ assets and
innovative skills base, it seeks to play its part in the
Covid-19 recovery and in revitalising the economy
post Brexit.
UPSKILLING FOR
GROWTH: ADULT
EDUCATION BUDGETS
It has been recognised for some time that one of
the major reasons behind the poor productivity in
the North has been the lack of appropriate skills,
particularly NVQ4+. The reasons behind this are multifaceted
and can’t be distilled down into one particular
cause. There has been significant investment in skills
over the last 30 years on a national scale, but this
has come at the expense of a continuous and stable
skills strategy. Governments of different colours have
tweaked and changed different skills and education
programmes whether academic or vocational, leaving
education establishments and employers disorientated
and creating a labour pool that at times is not fit for
purpose.
The tendency has been to push the academic higher
education route, which has resulted in a lack of practical
skills across the economy. Sheffield City Region (SCR)
Mayoral Combined Authority is working closely with
the Department for Education (DfE) to prepare for the
devolution of the Adult Education Budget (AEB). This
local control of skills expenditure will help the SCR to
create local plans that could make a tangible difference
to the economic environment. This AEB devolution has
already been rolled out in London, Manchester, Liverpool
and the Tees Valley. If the Combined Authority meets the
DfE’s readiness conditions, the plan is for it to be ready
to administer the AEB from August 2021. This could
be a powerful catalyst for improvements in regional
productivity, but as with everything, much depends on
how successfully these new powers are used.
MONEY, MONEY,
MONEY - FUNDING IN
THE NORTH
The Northern Powerhouses Fund and the North East Fund
with combined funding from the UK Government (via the
British Business Bank), LEPS, European Development Funds
and European Structural Development Funds, were intended
to help correct the imbalance of investment between the
North of South and they have made progress against this goal,
in providing much needed investment for entrepreneurs
/innovative start-up companies and in attracting Fund
Managers and the associated ecosystem to the North. It is
essential that these Funds are maintained and expanded
upon, with early discussions required on where the ERDF
component of the funding will come from, post Brexit.
Of course investment funding takes many forms including
public finance and this is another area where we see an
imbalance of funds between the North and the South, and we
welcome the UK Government’s announcement in December
that it was looking to rewrite Treasury rules to permit greater
investment in the North of England - with the current public
spending system effectively penalising regions outside the
South East.
MIND THE GAP: PRODUCTIVITY
It has been widely reported that The
North’s GVA is lower than any other
region in England (excluding London),
which means there is huge untapped
potential for UK wide growth if the
North could ‘level up’ to at least the
same levels of productivity found
elsewhere in the country. There are two
key factors behind this: a skills deficit
and low levels of business density.
Low proportions of the Northern
population have higher levels of
qualifications, defined as NVQ4+. In
some areas, like Greater Manchester,
there is the twin problem of few people
having higher level qualifications
and a high number of people having
no qualifications at all. Higher skills
correlate with a more productive
workforce, so for the North to improve
productivity it needs to attract and retain
more skilled talent – both vocational and
academic. The second issue, low levels of
business density, is particularly prevalent
in the North East and Tees Valley. This
could be the consequence of a multitude
of factors, including fewer start-ups, a
reliance on a small number of employers,
a reliance on the public sector or general
lack of connectivity within a region – there
is no definitive single issue.
A pan-Northern approach is needed to
DEVOLVING NORTH
Devolution to the North has been less uniform than
wider national devolution within the UK, with regional
differences between Manchester’s deal, city-region
arrangements, metro-mayors and the proposals for
regional assemblies. These have been attempts to
address what is widely seen as a disparity between
political attention given to the North vs the South.
For some areas, like Manchester, the devolution of
powers has made a significant difference to the Life
Sciences sector. The Combined Authority has created
an International Centre for Healthy Ageing for example,
which will drive testing and commercialisation of health
innovations and make a tangible difference to the Health
Technology sector.
Lots of regions within the North are unique in
terms of their sectoral cluster - the Alderley Park
pharmaceutical cluster in Cheshire is such an example.
Where these exist, targeted support on a regional
and local level could make a real difference. Powersspecific
devolution is usually accompanied by a huge
degree of influence and convening powers that can
help garner investment and drive local initiatives. For
our sector, the devolving of decision making on health
is especially significant and helps to drive industry-
NHS collaborations that improve both the health and
wealth of the nation – especially in the extraordinary
circumstances, such as the Covid-19 pandemic.
unlock productivity gains across
the region; one that tackles skills
shortages and inter-regional
connectivity. There are excellent
and productive clusters within the
North, but the benefits these densely
populated high-skill clusters enjoy
need to be propagated more widely so
their ground-breaking solutions can
be recognised and applied at a larger
scale, in aspects such as public
health.
You can read how our members from
the North helped tackle Covid-19 on a
regional and national level across this
edition of Medilink News.
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