31 January 2017

Secretariat 7 February 2017

“The Government’s Industrial Strategy”

  • Professor Quintin McKellar, Vice-Chancellor, University of Hertfordshire
  • Steven Wilson, Head of Innovation, Greater Cambridge Greater Peterborough Enterprise Partnership

Professor McKellar began his presentation to the group by outlining the Chancellor’s commitments in the Autumn Statement, noting the announcement of an additional £2bn of Government money that would be put towards research and development funding and would be referred to in the Industrial Strategy Green Paper and arguing that this was an excellent opportunity for the higher education sector.

He then went on to refer to the Prime Minister’s speech introducing the Green Paper and her comments that universities were poor at commercialising research and long term investment was inadequate. He argued that it was clear that the UK lagged behind Germany and France in productivity, but that the UK was also third, according to the OECD, in the number of start-up companies created. He also argued that while the £2bn is a welcome increase the percentage of GDP invested in science and research is still lower than in other nations, with the UK at 1.7%, the average being 2% and South Korea well ahead investing 4%.

Professor McKellar raised two concerns for discussion. The idea that there are not enough STEM graduates becoming teachers, which he argued was tricky to overcome as once trained graduates can find more money in careers in software or analytics. He also flagged the Green Paper’s point on low contact time in further education comparatively to other nations. He noted that this had long been an issue for discussion in higher education but that smaller amounts of contact time does not necessarily equate to poor teaching. 

Moving onto regional and local growth Professor McKellar pointed out that the university sector is unusual in that it supports education and infrastructure unambiguously across the country. So when the Government is looking to invest within sectors that can provide economic growth across the country, whether perhaps as part of the Northern Powerhouse or the Midlands Engine, the higher education sector is incredibly well placed.