Foundation Scotland is supporting individuals to unlock their potential
Growing numbers of Scottish communities are setting up dedicated Education and Training grants programmes across Scotland, thanks to community benefit funds provided by the renewable energy sector and onshore wind farms.
Foundation Scotland has been able to support the distribution of more than 900 of these grants, worth over £1 million, since the first Education and Training fund was established in 2015.
These funds have been specifically set up to support individuals with costs that are a barrier to accessing college or university or to cover expenses for training programmes and skills improvement that help them enhance their employment opportunities.
Foundation Scotland has to date distributed over £150 million of funding to more than 12,000 organisations making a difference the length and breadth of the country. From local food banks and counselling services, to youth groups and training funds, they have awarded over 44,000 grants to charities, social enterprises and community groups across Scotland since they were established in 1996.
However, support for individuals seeking to take that ‘next step’ to fulfil their employment potential is less well-known.
Despite most university places being free in Scotland, the cost of attending can be prohibitive for many young people. Erin Morrison from Eastfield in North Lanarkshire recently received funds to help with rising costs relating to studies. Erin is now studying for a BEng in Civil Engineering and is the first person from her family to go to university.
She successfully applied to the Harthill, Eastfield and Greenrigg Education & Training Fund for a total grant of £3,300, which will be split into three payments during her university course, helping to subsidise many of the costs relating to studying.
Erin says: “I attended a school in a deprived area and was greatly affected by the SQA grade awarding system from 2020.
“Due to the lack of school funding, there are also very limited opportunities for students like myself. But I am now studying Civil Engineering at the University of Strathclyde, and I am the first person in my family to go to university.
“However, there are so many additional costs. The fund has been a big help to me, it definitely takes the pressure off. You really don’t understand how expensive textbooks are for university, there’s quite a lot that you need. Many people don’t take that into consideration, so it has really helped me out.”
Rachel Searle from Foundation Scotland said: “When individuals are supported to unlock their potential through training programmes and education, not only do they benefit, but the local economy does too.
“The majority of those who have been awarded funds would otherwise not have been able to access support to further their career goals. This untapped talent lives in every community, and this type of fund is helping individuals and communities to flourish and grow.
“Foundation Scotland will continue to support and promote these localised education and training opportunities as a key way to ensure community benefit funds reach into the heart of communities.“
Team GB and Persimmon Homes have launched Get Set to Build a Community, a cross-curricular challenge to support the development of employability, teamwork and decision making skills in students aged 11–14 in the run up to the Paris 2024 Olympic Games.
Originally created as the official education programme for London 2012, Team GB and ParalympicsGB’s youth engagement programme Get Set now offers a broad programme of free, cross-curricular resources and activities for schools and community groups.
Get Set to Build a Community tasks students with planning, designing, building and marketing a community-focussed housing development with Team GB athletes at its heart. They will use knowledge of previous Olympic parks, and plans for future parks, as the basis for a development that upholds the Olympic Values of excellence, respect and friendship.
Selected schools participating in the challenge will receive a visit from a Team GB athlete in the build up to Paris 2024. Participating schools can also request a visit from a Persimmon Homes Ambassador to support the delivery of the programme and talk about the benefits of a career in the home building industry.
With a network of Ambassadors across the country, Persimmon is trying to encourage the next generation of construction workers by giving students the opportunity to learn about the range of career pathways available to them.
Tim Ellerton, Commercial Director at Team GB, said: “The support we receive from our partners is essential in enabling us to take the nation’s best athletes to an Olympic Games, and in turn inspiring households and communities across the UK with their stories.
“The Get Set program in particular supports young people to fulfil their potential, and this new challenge developed in partnership with Persimmon will give the next generation even more opportunities to engage with Team GB in the build up to Paris 2024.”
John Roocroft, Persimmon’s Regional Chairman in Scotland, said:“I am delighted to be launching the Get Set to Build a Community challenge with Team GB.
“At Persimmon we are always looking to see how we can encourage local youngsters to consider a rewarding career in construction, so using our relationship with Team GB in this way is a great initiative.
“I encourage all local schools to take up the challenge.”
A new Scottish Diploma of Achievement is being suggested as the centre piece of future qualifications.
The new model put forward by the Independent Review of Qualifications and Assessment led by Professor Louise Hayward, has been designed to recognise a wider spectrum of learners’ achievements, not just those traditionally measured by exams.
Schools, colleges, universities, employers, parents, and young people from across the country have all contributed to help shape the proposed model for the diploma during an extensive consultation process.
Education expert Professor Hayward, who was asked by the Scottish Government to look at the future of qualifications and assessment, has now published an interim report outlining a possible new approach to be considered further with stakeholders.
Further views will now be taken from schools and colleges to refine this model, before a final report is submitted in May for consideration by Ministers.
Professor Hayward said: “We want the recommendations that come from our work to improve outcomes for all learners.
“By taking a broader and more inclusive approach I believe our proposed model will help create a fairer, more prosperous future society in Scotland.”
The draft model for the Scottish Diploma of Achievement is made up of three key areas:
Subject studies – where learners progress knowledge in line with specific curricular areas and individual subjects
Learning in context – project-based learning which recognises the importance of equipping learners with skills for the future
Personal pathway – the opportunity for learners to evidence their contributions to society and career aspirations
Professor Hayward said: “The design of the diploma, which will be refined after further consultation, represents an opportunity to ensure all learners’ achievements are recognised.
“We need a qualification system that will support all learners as they transition into whatever they choose to do in the next stage of their lives, in college, employment, university or the voluntary sector.
“This approach would lead to a better balance between external assessment, including examinations, and other ways of gathering evidence across the senior phase.
“A better and more clearly defined integration of academic and vocational qualifications will be at the heart of the proposed diploma.
“There would be a broadening of the evidence collected during the senior phase to include skills and other competencies.
“Learners want to have opportunities to demonstrate more of what they can achieve.
Colleges, employers, and universities are also clear about the important role skills and competences play in future success.”
The model is designed to represent a future direction of travel and details of the model are intentionally left open for further consultation ahead of the final report.
Professor Hayward explains “The purpose at this stage in the Review is to seek views on whether this direction of travel aligns with the vision and principles we have developed and ultimately would provide a better evidence base for learners in Scotland to support their transition into the next phase of their lives.”
External exams will remain part of any new system.
Professor Hayward invited individuals from a range of backgrounds and experiences, including teachers and learners, to join the Independent Review Group (IRG) who helped shape the diploma model.
Oban High Executive Head Teacher and member of the IRG, Peter Bain said: “Scotland has a rich history of providing an outstanding breadth of curriculum, one that is generally recognised through the acquisition of many individual subject awards.
“However, Curriculum for Excellence has allowed us to reshape our understanding of what our learners really need, and what they can achieve in their journey through learning, life and work.
“A Scottish Diploma of Achievement would more fully encapsulate all of which we value: academic and vocational attainment; inter-disciplinary learning; and in acknowledging the wealth of wider achievements across our educational settings and wider communities.”
The Independent Review Group’s final report and recommendations will be submitted to the Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills Shirley-Anne Somerville, who will respond in due course.
Proposals for a replacement Liberton High School have taken a major step forward after the planning application for the new school was approved yesterday (Wednesday 1 March 2023).
The plans for the school, which will have capacity for 1,200 pupils, were approved by Councillors on the Development Management Sub-Committee.
Construction is due to begin in May this year with the new school planned to open in 2025.
The three-storey building will consist of a variety of inspirational and inclusive spaces for learning. Classrooms, studios, workshops and science labs will connect and work with shared collaborative areas and breakout spaces, providing learners with more personalisation and choice over their learning environment.
Sports facilities include a floodlit multi use games area, basketball court and athletics facilities. The current tennis and beach volleyball courts and mountain bike trail will be retained as will the sports block.
A new fitness suite and dance studio will be provided to complement the existing sports facilities. There will also be outdoor learning spaces and a grassed amphitheatre.
A key part of the new school will be the community campus features as it will include non-educational facilities such as a café, library and flexible workspaces.
The school will be constructed to Passivhaus standards designed to meet the city-wide aspirations for our schools to be as energy efficient as possible in response to the Climate Emergency and Edinburgh’s 2030 Net Zero target.
Councillor Joan Griffiths, Convener of the Education, Children and Families Committee at the City of Edinburgh Council, said: “The new school campuses we’re planning are innovatively and sustainably designed so they are inspirational places for learning for the next generation of young people creating a vibrant and thriving learning environment.
“The Liberton Community Campus is a really exciting project which provides an amazing opportunity to create, as part of an inclusive net zero-carbon city, a community lifelong learning and sports hub to replace the existing school.
“This means public services can be co-located with links to active travel networks, green infrastructure and public transport networks. This Community Hub vision for the building to be ‘more than a school’ aligns with our 20 Minute Neighbourhood Strategy – to localise and co-locate services, making them more accessible for communities and to improve the experiences and outcomes for everyone.
“This is all part of the Council’s plan to support the wellbeing of everyone and end poverty and isolation in Edinburgh.
Record number in work, training or further studies
A record high number of young people were in work, training or further study after leaving school last year.
The latest Attainment and Initial Leaver Destinations statistics show 95.7% of those finishing school in the last academic year (2021-22) were progressing their studies or careers within three months of the end of the school year, up from 95.5% the year before. The proportion who were unemployed fell to 3.9% – the lowest since 2009-10.
The gap between school leavers from the most and least deprived areas progressing after school narrowed to a record low of 4.4 percentage points. This gap has reduced by two-thirds compared to 2009-10.
Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “This highlights the achievements of Scotland’s learners – making the transition from school can be a daunting time, so it’s great to see a record number of young people progressing in their studies or careers after leaving school.
“These statistics also demonstrate the effectiveness of our approach to learning through Curriculum for Excellence, which is clearly helping to prepare young people for their futures during a crucial stage of their lives.
“Closing the deprivation gap remains a top priority for us and these statistics show we are continuing to make progress, with the gap between school leavers from the most and least deprived areas in work, training or further study down to a record low.”
Sharon McIntyre, Head of CIAG Operations at Skills Development Scotland (SDS), said: “This is the highest positive destination rate since consistent records began in 2009-10 and it is very encouraging to see that the results continue to move in such a positive direction.
“The progress is testament to the hard work, determination and commitment of Scotland’s young people and of the SDS careers advisers working in partnership with teachers to support pupils throughout their time at school and beyond.”
Most teachers will see their salaries rise by 11.5% in April – IF a new pay offer is accepted
LOCAL Government umbrella body COSLA last night submitted an improved offer to unions to resolve the long-running teachers pay dispute.
The deal – the fifth offered to unions – would mean an overall increase of more than £5,000 over two years for the 70% of classroom teachers who are at the top of their main grade pay scale.
It would amount to a cumulative rise of almost 30% for most teachers since January 2018 and would bring the starting salary for a fully qualified teacher – already the highest in the UK – to £37,719 after probation.
The revised offer, agreed by the Scottish Government and COSLA, is:
2022-23
6% for all staff earning up to £80,000 from 1 April 2022
£4,800 for all those earning in excess of £80,000
2023-24
5.5% for all staff earning up to £80,000 from 1 April 2023
£4,400 for all those earning in excess of £80,000
Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville said: “Teachers make an invaluable contribution to the lives of our children and young people. This significant offer, if accepted by unions, would see teacher pay increase by almost 30% since January 2018.
“While union demands for an in-year 10% increase are unaffordable within the Scottish Government’s fixed budget, we have looked for compromise and we have arrived at a deal that is fair, affordable, and sustainable for everyone involved.
“The Scottish Government is supporting this new offer with additional funding of £156 million. This is on top of the £50 million that we have already provided to local authorities in support of an enhanced pay offer for teachers.
“The offer is being made at a time of extraordinary financial pressure on the Scottish Government budget. Difficult decisions will have to be made to free up the required resources. This reflects our commitment to reach a fair agreement and avoid further disruption to children and young people’s education.
“I have written to the unions asking that their members are given the opportunity to consider this new offer, which is the fifth to be tabled. While they do so, I have asked that they suspend any planned industrial action. This would minimise any further disruption to learning, particularly in the run up to the SQA exam diet.”
COSLA’s Resources Spokesperson Councillor Katie Hagmann said: “Given the funding assurances received from the Scottish Government, Leaders have agreed to submit a revised offer to the Trade Unions tonight.
“COSLA Leaders are clear that it is in all of our interests, not least those of children, young people and families, to conclude the teachers’ pay negotiations as quickly as we can to bring back stability and certainty in our schools.
“We are determined to provide a fair and affordable pay offer to all our employees, including teachers. In that regard, following today’s meeting Leaders agreed to mandate me to take a refreshed offer to the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT) and we hope that this is acceptable to them.”
Teachers’ union EIS responded late last might: “The EIS has now received formal notification of a revised pay offer from COSLA. This came well after details of the revised offer were shared with media outlets. This is disrespectful of the appropriate negotiating process through the SNCT.”
The EIS, who had been seeking a 10% rise, will look at the detail of the latest offer today before deciding whether to put the offer to members.
EIS to escalate strikes to include targeted action
YESTERDAY, 7 February, marked one whole year since Scottish teaching unions submitted their pay claim for 2022-23 via the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT).
A year on, that pay claim remains unsettled and teachers across the country are engaged in a programme of industrial action in pursuit of a fair pay settlement.
As a result, the EIS has announced an escalation of its action to include targeted strike action in schools within the constituencies of key decision makers within the Scottish Government and COSLA.
EIS Office Bearers and other senior EIS Representatives took part in photo calls outside the Scottish Government and COSLA HQ in Edinburgh yesterday, delivering Birthday cards to mark the 1st anniversary of the teachers’ pay claim being submitted.
Commenting, EIS General Secretary Andrea Bradley said, “It is deeply regrettable that the continuing inaction, obfuscation and spin from the Scottish Government and COSLA on teachers’ pay has led to an escalation of our programme of strike action.
“It has now been a year since our pay claim was submitted, and teachers should have had their pay rise in their pay packet last April. Instead, the Scottish Government and COSLA initially offered a pathetic 2% pay settlement – at a time when inflation was nearly four times that amount.
“Since then, the Scottish Government and COSLA have dithered, delayed and dragged their feet while the cost of living has continued to soar.”
Ms Bradley added, “The latest offer, for a well-below inflation 5%, has now been kicking around for six months and has been rejected by Scotland’s teachers twice. Our members have already taken part in three days of national strike action, and a further 16-days of rolling action across the country.
“The response from the Scottish Government and COSLA has been, essentially, nil – and this now has forced an escalation in our action. The offer of a 9% real-terms pay cut, which is what is on the table, will never be acceptable.”
The escalation of action means that, in addition to 2 days of national strike action already called for 28th February and 1st March, and a 20 further days of rolling strikes across all local authority areas from 13th March until 21st April, there will be targeted action in the constituencies of the First Minister, Deputy First Minster, Cabinet Secretary for Education, and COSLA Resources Spokesperson, Councillor Katie Hagmann.
Scottish Greens Education Spokesperson Ross Greer’s East Dunbartonshire constituency area will also be targeted.
EIS members in four of these five areas will be called out on three consecutive days from Wednesday, 22nd February – Friday, 24th February inclusive.
All five areas will be targeted for a further three days of action from Tuesday, 7th March. Precise details of the schools involved in this action on the relevant dates will be published shortly.
Further periods of targeted action are likely, if no new pay offer is forthcoming.
Holyrood and Scotland’s councils on collision course
Measures to ensure that teacher and pupil support staff numbers as well as school hours are protected have been announced by Education Secretary Shirley-Anne Somerville.
The Scottish Government has committed to increasing teacher numbers by 3,500 during this Parliament.
Since 2017/18 local authorities have received funding to protect the pupil-teacher ratio, teacher numbers and to provide places for all probationers who need one.
Additional annual funding of £145.5 million is also being provided to maintain increased teacher numbers and support staff. In the year ahead (2023/24), if this is not delivered by a local authority, the Scottish Government will withhold or recoup funding allocated for these purposes.
Regulations will also be introduced under legislation passed by the Scottish Parliament in 2016 to enshrine a statutory minimum number of school hours.
Ms Somerville said: “The measures I have outlined today demonstrate our unyielding commitment to closing the attainment gap and making Scotland the best place in the world to grow up.
“We are committed to recruiting more teachers and support staff, and we have already provided significant additional funding to Local Authorities to help ensure this happens.
“The Scottish Government recognises the challenging budgetary decisions facing councils and that is why the Deputy First Minister has committed to delivering a new deal for local government. However, this Government has a clear commitment to improving education – and maintaining both teacher and support staff numbers and learning hours is crucial to that.
“I recognise the importance of strong partnership working between local government, central government and Education Scotland to achieve our ambitions.
“I will be writing to COSLA today, and each individual council in the coming days, to set out the details on protecting teacher and support staff numbers, and next steps on learning hours.”
COSLA HIGHLIGHTS MASSIVE CONTRADICTION IN RELATION TO EDUCATION AND COUNCIL FUNDING
COSLA yesterday (Tuesday) highlighted to the Scottish Government a massive contradiction in relation to Scottish Education and council funding.This followed an emergency meeting of Council Leaders on Friday and ahead of Ms Somerville’s Parliamentary statement.
At Friday’s meeting Council Leaders reacted with great disappointment to the Scottish Government’s cutting of Local Government’s funding on the one hand whilst at the same time legislating/intervening to prevent headlines showing the unpalatable consequences of those cuts.
Councils are unanimous that attainment is not just about teacher numbers, especially in areas where school rolls are declining, and depends also on a wide range of other council services and support staff.
Accordingly, councils must be left with the flexibility to manage their inadequate budgets to minimise the impact on attainment and the other services the public depend upon. To do more than this will require the Scottish Government to provide additional funding, not more restriction.
Council leaders were clear that Local Government wants to protect education. Councils want to continue to improve the attainment and achievement of children and young people, whilst also retaining the teachers and support staff that are required to do this. It’s the Budget which is putting these things at risk, not Local Government.
COSLA said that the reality is that Scottish Government Budgets over a decade have left us with a funding crisis in Local Government the likes of which have never been seen before.
Commenting yesterday in a joint statement, COSLA’s Presidential Team said: “The timing and approach of the Scottish Government’s latest move undermines the democratic mandate of Local Government and is a U-turn on previously agreed flexibilities for councils over their budgets.
“It is not the case that Local Government wants to cut any of our services; we have to work with the budgets we have and unless there is more funding, we are forced to make democratic decisions on priorities for the communities we serve.
“On the one hand our budgets have been cut in real terms, and on the other hand the Scottish Government is intervening with additional policies which means significant cuts will have to be made in other areas that support children, young people, families and our communities.
“We have been clear about the limited options facing Local Government because of the Scottish Government’s Budget for 2023/24, a view which is shared by the independent body Accounts Commission.
“We have also highlighted the impact of the initial proposed interventions on other Local Government services, including those which directly support the attainment, health and wellbeing of children and young people.
“These latest asks and the Government’s narrative demonstrates a Government who does not fully value and respect Local Government’s role. Asks of this nature are addressing a symptom, not the cause.”
A COSLA Spokesperson said: “Following an emergency meeting of Leaders today (Friday) Council Leaders have agreed that COSLA approach the Scottish Government seeking urgent further discussions around their expectations for education. There was agreement that Scottish Government expectations cannot be met unless additional necessary resources are provided.
“Council Leaders re-emphasised their great disappointment with the approach taken by Scottish Government on this matter which is neither in the spirit of partnership working nor recognises councils’ legitimate authority to make decisions on the services they deliver on behalf of their local communities.”
“A mandate has been provided to open discussions to consider how the government’s priorities might be delivered, including considerations on the flexibilities and the overall quantum of funding in the Local Government settlement and establish a shared understanding of the best path forward, to achieve our shared objective of closing the attainment gap and maintaining other vital local services.”
“Leaders remain committed to improving attainment and closing the poverty related attainment gap and achieving the best outcomes possible for all young people. Local Government has made good progress in the last few years and have seen the biggest ever decrease in the gap.
Leaders acknowledge this is down to the partnership working between local and central government pulling together for a shared outcome, which always provides the best opportunity to achieve our ambitions in difficult circumstances.”
The Salaries Committee of the EIS has highlighted that the First Minister has it within her power to bring an end to the current dispute over teacher pay.
This follows a question at First Minister’s Questions in Parliament, where the First Minister said that she “very much hoped” that a resolution to the pay dispute could be reached “soon”.
Commenting following a meeting of the EIS Salaries Committee on Thursday afternoon, where the ongoing dispute over pay dominated the agenda, EIS Salaries Convener Des Morris said, “While the EIS Salaries Committee very much shares the First Minister’s ‘hope’ that a resolution to the pay dispute can be reached ‘soon’, we would also point out that the ability to settle the dispute is very much within the First Minister’s power.
“The only thing that will settle this dispute is an improved offer to Scotland’s teachers, one that is both fair and affordable to them, which will involve additional new money from the Scottish Government.
“This is what was done to settle disputes with other local government workers. It is the First Minister who has ultimate control over the purse strings so, if she wishes this dispute to be settled soon, the First Minister should authorise the Cabinet Secretary and her officials to release the comparatively modest additional funding needed to end this dispute.”
Mr Morris continued, “The truth is, that little or no progress has been made towards an agreement for several months. There are currently no further pay negotiations scheduled within the Scottish Negotiating Committee for Teachers (SNCT).
“Negotiating meetings through the SNCT have become profoundly frustrating affairs, as Scottish Government negotiators are coming into talks with their hands effectively tied and with no additional money to offer. We have been extremely clear that the current 5% offer on the table – which was itself simply a repackaging of a previously rejected 5% offer – will not be accepted by Scotland’s teachers.
“We have now rejected sub-inflationary 5% offers twice, and underlined this rejection through three days of strike action by most EIS members, so only a fresh offer which is good enough to put to our members for consideration can hope to halt strike action in our schools.”
Mr Morris added, “As ever, the EIS remains ready and willing to re-enter discussions with the Scottish Government and Scottish local authorities to discuss a new pay offer for teachers.
“We are not, however, willing to continue discussing the same offer that has now been rejected by teachers twice. The Scottish Government and COSLA must come up with an improved offer to allow pay discussions to progress towards an agreement that genuinely reflects both the soaring cost of living and the value of Scotland’s teachers.”
Thank you for that welcome, thank you all for joining us at Bloomberg.
From the way we communicate and collaborate, to the way we buy and sell goods and services, digital technology has transformed nearly every aspect of our economic lives.
How do I know that?
Because I too, just like Matt asked ChatGPT to craft the opening lines of this speech.
Who needs politicians when you have AI?
Like other countries, the UK has been dealing with economic headwinds caused by a decade of black swan events: a financial crisis, a pandemic and then an international energy crisis.
And my party understands better than others the importance of low taxes in creating incentives and fostering the animal spirits that spur economic growth.
But another Conservative insight is that risk taking by individuals and businesses can only happen when governments provide economic and financial stability.
So the best tax cut right now is a cut in inflation.
And the plan I set out in the Autumn Statement tackles that root cause of instability in the British economy.
The Prime Minister talked about halving inflation as one of his five key priorities and doing so is the only sustainable way to restore industrial harmony.
But today I want to talk about his second priority, to grow the economy. (In case you weren’t sure, I have them on the screen behind me.)
We want to be one of the most prosperous countries in Europe and today I’m going to outline the 4 pillars of our plan to get there.
Just as our plan to halve inflation requires patience and discipline, so too will our plan for prosperity and growth.
But it’s also going to need something else which is in rather short supply – Optimism, but we can get there.
Just this month columnists from both left and the right have talked about an “existential crisis,” “Britain teetering on the edge” and that “all we can hope for…is that things don’t get worse.”
I welcome the debate – but Chancellors, too, are allowed their say.
And I say simply this: declinism about Britain is just wrong.
It has always been wrong in the past – and it is wrong today.
Some of the gloom is based on statistics that do not reflect the whole picture.
Like every G7 country, our growth was slower in the years after the financial crisis than before it.
But since 2010, the UK has grown faster than France, Japan and Italy. Not at the bottom, but right in the middle of the pack.
Since the Brexit referendum, we have grown at about the same rate as Germany.
Yes we have not yet returned to pre-pandemic employment or output levels.,
But an economy that contracted 20% in a pandemic still has nearly the lowest unemployment for half a century.
And while our public sector continues to recover more slowly than we would like from the pandemic – strengthening the case for reform – our private sector has grown 7.5% in the last year.
Yes inflation has risen – but is still lower than in 14 EU countries, with interest rates rising more slowly than in the US or Canada.
And yes we have to improve our productivity. But output per hour worked is higher than pre-pandemic.
And last week a survey of business leaders by PWC said the UK was the third-most attractive country for CEOs expanding their businesses.
Economists and journalists know you can spend a long time arguing the toss on statistics,
But the strongest grounds for optimism comes not from debating this or that way of analysing data points but from our long term prospects: because when it comes to the innovation industries that will shape and define this century the UK is powerfully positioned to play a leading role.
Let’s just look at some of them.
In digital technology, as we heard from Michelle, we have become only the third economy in the world with a trillion-dollar sector.
We have created more unicorns than France and Germany combined with eight UK cities now home to two or more unicorns.
The London / Oxford / Cambridge triangle has the largest number of tech businesses in the world outside San Francisco and New York.
PWC say that UK GDP will be up to 10% higher in 2030 because of AI alone. Fintech attracted more funding last year than anywhere in the world outside the US.
Or life sciences, where we have the largest sector in Europe. And a brilliant advocate with our superb Science Minister George Freeman.
We produced one of the world’s first Covid vaccines, estimated to have saved more than 6 million lives worldwide.
We identified the treatment most widely used to save lives in hospitals, saving more than a million lives across the globe.
We are behind only the US and China in terms of high-quality life science papers published, and every one of the world’s top 25 biopharmaceutical firms has operations in the UK.
Another big growth area is our green and clean energy sector.
The UK is a world leader here, with the largest offshore wind farm in the world. Last year we were able to generate an incredible 40% of our electricity from renewables. But on one day, a rather windy December 30th, we actually got 60% of our electricity from renewables – mainly wind.
McKinsey estimate that the global market opportunity for UK green industries could be worth more than £1 trillion between now and 2030.
And we are proceeding with the new plant at Sizewell C, led by our excellent Business Secretary who also spoke very wisely and surprisingly classically earlier on.
I could also talk about our creative industries which employ over two million people and grew at twice the rate of the UK economy in the last decade.
They have made the UK the world’s largest exporter of unscripted TV formats and help give us a top three spot in the Portland Soft Power index.
Or our advanced manufacturing sector, key to exports, where we produce around half of the world’s large civil aircraft wings and its biggest aeroengines as well as around half of the world’s Formula One Grand Prix cars.
The golden thread running through the industries where the Britain does best is innovation.
Amongst the world’s largest economies, the Global Innovation Index ranks us fourth globally.
Those innovation industries now account for around a quarter of our output. They have been responsible for nearly all our productivity growth since 1997.
And they’re also the reason that all of you are here.
In the audience we have leaders from Meta, Microsoft, Amazon, Apple and Google, the world’s largest tech companies all with major operations in the UK.
We have Monzo and Revolut, shining examples from our world-beating fintech sector.
And we have founders and CEOs from some of our most exciting UK technology companies, like Proximie and Matillion.
You are all vital for Britain’s economic future, but Britain is vital for your future too.
So I want to ask all of you to help our country achieve something that is both ambitious and strategic.
I want you to ask you to help turn the UK into the world’s next Silicon Valley.
What do I mean by that?
If anyone is thinking of starting or investing in an innovation or technology-centred business, I want them to do it here [in the UK].
I want the world’s tech entrepreneurs, life science innovators, and green tech companies to come to the UK because it offers the best possible place to make their visions happen.
And if you do, we will put at your service not just British ingenuity – but British universities to fuel your innovation, Britain’s financial sector to fund it and a British government that will back you to the hilt.
Our universities are ranked second globally for their quality and include three of the world’s top ten.
In order to support the ground-breaking work they do in so many new fields the government has protected our £20 billion research budget, now at the highest level in history.
And as you look for funding to expand, we offer one of the world’s top two financial hubs and the world’s largest net exporter of financial services.
The capability of the City of London combined with the research strengths of our universities makes our aspiration to be a technology superpower not just ambitious but achievable – and today I am here to say the government is determined to make it happen.
But like any business embracing new opportunities, we should also be straight about our weaknesses.
Structural issues like poor productivity, skills gaps, low business investment and the over-concentration of wealth in the South-East have led to uneven and lower growth. Real incomes have not risen by as much as they could as a result.
Confidence in the future though, starts with honesty about the present.
We want to be one of the most prosperous countries in Europe, so today I set out our plan to address those issues.
That plan, our plan for growth, is necessitated, energised and made possible by Brexit.
The desire to move to a high wage, high skill economy is one shared on all sides of that debate.
And we need to make Brexit a catalyst for the bold choices that we’ll take advantage of the nimbleness and flexibilities that it makes possible.
This is a plan for growth and not a series of measures or announcements, which will have to wait for budgets and autumn statements in the years ahead.
But this plan is a framework against which individual policies will be assessed and taken forward.
I set out that plan, those priorities under four pillars. They build on the “People, Capital, Ideas” themes set out by the Prime Minister last year in his Mais Lecture and as such are the pillars essential for any modern, innovation-led economy.
For ease of memory the 4 pillars all happen to start with the letter ‘E’ . The Four ‘E’s of economic growth and prosperity. And they are Enterprise, Education, Employment and Everywhere.
So let’s start with the first ‘E’ which is enterprise. If we are to be Europe’s most prosperous economy, we need to have quite simply, its most dynamic and productive companies.
There is a wide range of literature citing the importance of entrepreneurship on business dynamism, whereby more productive firms enter and grow and less productive firms shrink.
But I don’t just believe the theory, I have put it into practice.
I set up and ran my own business for 14 years. It was one of the best decisions I ever made – and I actually owe it to Margaret Thatcher and Nigel Lawson.
Because by the time I got to university and was thinking about my career options, they had changed attitudes towards entrepreneurship. Had they not, I would have probably ended up in the City or the Civil Service.
Instead I took a different route to end up at the Treasury – less the Fast Stream, more the Long Way Round.
Like thousands of others setting up on their own, I learned to take calculated risks, live with uncertainty and work through failures (of which there were many).
Every big business was a start-up once – and we will not build the world’s next Silicon Valley unless we nurture battalions of dynamic new challenger businesses.
Today, we are already ranked by the World Bank as the best place to do business amongst large European nations and second only to America in the G7.
And the result of that pro-business climate is that since 2010 we have created more than a million new businesses in this country.
But the question I want to ask is how are we going to generate the next million?
Firstly, we need lower taxes. In Britain, even after recent tax rises, we have one of the lowest levels of business tax as a proportion of GDP amongst major countries.
But we should be explicit: high taxes directly affect the incentives which determine decisions by entrepreneurs, investors or larger companies about whether to pursue their ambitions in Britain.
With volatile markets and high inflation, sound money must come first.
But our ambition should be to have nothing less than the most competitive tax regime of any major country.
That means restraint on spending – and in case anyone is in any doubt about who will actually deliver that restraint to make a lower tax economy possible, I gently point out that in the three weeks since Labour promised no big government chequebook they have made £45 billion of unfunded spending commitments.
But it isn’t just about lower taxes. We also need a more positive attitude to risk taking.
Let’s start with one of the most public risks taken this year. Richard Branson, his team and the UK Space Agency deserve massive credit for getting LauncherOne off the ground in Cornwall.
The mission may not have succeeded this time, but what we learn from it will make future success more likely.
We should heed the words of Thomas Edison who said: “I have not failed 10,000 times – I’ve successfully found 10,000 ways that will not work.”
Edison was American – and our attitude to risk in this country can still be too cautious compared to our US friends.
But we are capable of smart risking in this country: at the start of the pandemic we bought over 350 million doses of vaccine without knowing if they would actually work – and ended up with one of the fastest and most effective vaccine programmes in the world.
We also need, if we are going to deliver those competitive enterprises, smarter regulation.
Brexit is an opportunity not just to change regulations but also to work with our experienced, effective and independent regulators to create an economic environment which is more innovation friendly and more growth focused.
Our Chief Scientific Adviser, Sir Patrick Vallance, is currently reviewing how the UK can better regulate emerging technologies in high growth sectors and the government is identifying where to reform the laws we inherited from the EU.
In the digital space Patrick is working with the brilliant , Matt Clifford – who we heard from earlier- and our amazing Culture Secretary Michelle Donelan, both of whom gave excellent speeches.
Before we conclude those findings, we want to hear from you. That why we’ve invited you this morning – and we will repeat the process for green industries, life sciences, creative industries and advanced manufacturing.
Finally when it comes to the ‘E’ of Enterprise there is a critical need for easier access to capital, particularly scale ups.
I am supporting important changes to the pensions regulatory charge cap and I have used the regulatory flexibility provided by Brexit to change the Solvency II regulations which will begin to be implemented in the coming months.
Alongside other measures announced in the Edinburgh reforms, this could unlock over one hundred billion pounds of additional investment into the UK’s most productive growth industries.
But there is much more to be done and I want to harness the ideas and the expertise in this room to turn the ‘E’ of enterprise into an enterprise culture built on low taxes, reward for risk, access to capital and smarter regulation.
The next ‘E’ is Education.
This is an area where we have made dramatic progress in recent years thanks to the work of successive Conservative education ministers.
The UK has risen nearly 10 places in the global school league tables for maths and reading since 2015 alone.
Our teachers and lecturers are some of the best in the world.
And as the Prime Minister has said, having a good education system is the best economic, moral, and social policy any country can have.
That is why the Autumn Statement we gave schools an extra £2.3 billion of funding and why the Prime Minister recently prioritised the teaching of maths until 18.
But there is much to improve. We don’t do nearly as well for the 50% of school leavers who do not go to university as we do for those who do.
We have around 9 million adults with low basic literacy or numeracy skills, over 100,000 people leaving school every year unable to reach the required standard in English and maths.
That matters.
We are becoming an adaptive economy in which people are likely to have to train for not one but several jobs in their working lives.
Not having basic skills in reading and maths makes that difficult, sometimes impossible.
And equally important is what happens beyond school.
We have made progress with T-levels, boot camps and apprenticeships and Sir Michael Barber is advising the government on further improvements to the implementation of our reform agenda and we want to ensure our young people have the skills they would get in Switzerland or Singapore.
If we want to reduce dependence on migration and become a high skill economy, the ‘E’ of education will be essential – and that means ensuring opportunity is as open to those who do not go to university as to those who do.
So, Silicon Valley enterprises; Finnish and Singaporean education and skills; let me now turn to the third ‘E’ which is Employment.
If companies cannot employ the staff they need, they cannot grow.
High employment levels have long been a strength of our economic model.
Since 2010, the UK has seen a record employment rate, the lowest unemployment rate in nearly fifty years and labour market participation at an all-time high.
Partly thanks to the coalition reforms of a decade ago we are at 76% ,employment levels higher than Canada, the US, France or Italy.
But the pandemic has exposed weaknesses in our model. Total employment is nearly 300,000 people lower than pre-pandemic with around one fifth of working-age adults economically inactive.
Excluding students that amounts to 6.6 million people – an enormous and shocking waste of talent and potential.
Of that 6.6 million people, around 1.4 million people want to work. But a further five million do not.
It is time for a fundamental programme of reforms to support people with long-term conditions or mental illness to overcome the barriers and prejudices that prevent them working.
We will never harness the full potential of our country unless we unlock it for each and every one of our citizens.
Nor will we fix our productivity puzzle unless everyone who can participate does.
So to those who retired early after the pandemic or haven’t found the right role after furlough, I say: ‘Britain needs you’ and we will look at the conditions necessary to make work worth your while.
That is why employment is such a vital third ‘E.’
Enterprise, Education and Employment – three key components for long term prosperity.
I conclude with my final ‘E’ – Everywhere. That means ensuring the benefits of economic development are felt not just in London and the South-East but across the whole of the UK.
It is socially divisive if young people feel the only way to make a decent living is to head south. But it is also economically damaging.
If our second cities were the productive powerhouses we see in the other major countries, our GDP would be nearly 5% higher – making us second only to the United States and Germany for GDP per head.
That is why levelling up matters. And why last week it was so exciting to see the progress being made.
Since February 2020, when the levelling up agenda really got underway ,70% of new employed jobs have been created outside of London and the South-East.
Thanks to our powerhouse regions we remain one of the top 10 manufacturers globally, and the same is starting to happen with new industries: whether fintech in Bristol, gaming in Dundee or clean energy in Teesside.
Every region has seen pay grow faster than London since 2010, which shows that our approach to regional growth is working.
But there is much more to do, and whilst government grants can play a galvanising role they are not the whole answer.
We also need the connectivity that comes from better infrastructure.
That is why in the Autumn Statement we protected key projects like HS2, East West Rail and core Northern Powerhouse Rail.
Digital connectivity matters as well. Under Michelle’s leadership, full-fibre broadband now available to more than 40% of all homes in the UK.
Last year four million more premises got access, with the biggest increases in Scotland and Northern Ireland.
But the ‘E’ of Everywhere has to be about local wealth creation as much as about local infrastructure.
So this year we will announce investment zones, mini-Canary Wharfs, supporting each one of our growth industries, and each one focused in high potential but underperforming areas, in line with our mission to level up.
They will be focused on our research strengths and executed in partnership with local government, with advantageous fiscal treatment to attract new investment.
We will shortly start a process to identify exactly where they will go.
But spreading opportunity everywhere needs local decision making alongside local infrastructure and local enterprise.
So we must also give civic entrepreneurs the ability to find and fund their own solutions without having to bang down a Whitehall door.
Shortly over 50% of the population of England will be covered by a devolution deal and two thirds covered by a unitary authority and that’s a very important part of that.
But we need to move more decisively towards fiscal devolution so that fantastic local leaders like Ben Houchen and Andy Street have the tools they need to deliver for their communities.
Four ‘E’s – Enterprise, Education, Employment and Everywhere – four ‘E’s to unlock our national potential to be one of Europe’s most exciting, most innovative and most prosperous economies.
Bill Gates is supposed to have said people overestimate what they can do in one year and underestimate what they can do in ten.
When it comes to the British economy, we are certainly not going to fall into that trap.
We will remember the essential foundation on which long term prosperity depends, namely the sounds money that comes from bringing down inflation. But right now, starts our longer-term journey into growth and prosperity.
World-beating enterprises to make Britain the world’s next Silicon Valley.
An education system where world-class skills sit alongside world-class degrees.
Employment opportunities that tap into the potential of every single person so businesses can build the motivated teams they need.
And as talent is spread everywhere, so we will make sure opportunities are as well.
Yes there are many structural challenges to address. And working our four pillars we will do just that. Never forgetting though the combination of bold ingenuity and quiet confidence that defines our national character.
Ladies and gentlemen, being a technology entrepreneur changed my life.
Being a technology superpower can change our country’s destiny.
