Event Details
Description
At the same time the climate emergency and the need to accelerate and scale-up transition to net zero by 2050 – or sooner – is paramount. No one knows what the impact of these crises will be on the North’s education, employment, skills, and future growth potential but we do know that there will be gaps in the North’s opportunities and potential prosperity.
Even before the pandemic, cost of living crisis and Brexit there were huge economic, social, and regional disparities and inequalities across the Northern Powerhouse. As the UK emerges from the pandemic and the Government moves to the ‘delivery’ phase of this Parliament, the true impact on education, employment and skills remains unfathomable.
The missed opportunities, gaps in education and the lack of attainment in skills and qualifications caused by the pandemic will only feed the prevailing inequalities in the North’s cities, regions, and towns.
The Government’s flagship Levelling Up White Paper promises to put “Skills, schools and families at the heart of government plans to improve public services and level up left behind areas”. The potential to see 200,000 more people taking-up high-quality skills training each year – including 80,000 in the most deprived areas – and to see 90% of students reaching KS2 standard by 2030 is to be welcomed. But what will this truly mean for the North in terms of bridging the gaps and levelling up?
Bridging the gaps within education, employment and skills will be crucial to the North’s long-term prosperity. The North’s towns, cities and communities are great drivers and generators of innovation and growth. The Future Skills Unit will need to deliver new data on where the gaps are if we are to put in place the talent pipeline needed to boost recovery and accelerate growth. NPEESS2022 will kickstart the debate and identify where the gaps are – but also look at what now needs to be done to drive innovation, investment, and delivery.
Now is the time for the North to come together to secure the region’s future prosperity and recovery. NPEESS2022 will be our 3rd major high-level summit designed to build consensus on what the North needs to improve life chances and deliver growth. NPEESS2022 will provide a unique forum to kick start the debate on the impact of the pandemic on all those in education, training and employment across the Northern Powerhouse and ask what needs to be done to bridge the gaps and boost recovery in the North.
By bringing together political and business leaders across the North, NPEESS2022 will send out a clarion call for delivery for the North’s towns, cities, and regions. NPEESS2022 will focus on the gaps left by the pandemic and Brexit and the need for investment in the skills and good jobs needed to increase prosperity and social mobility.
The outline agenda is still being finalised - we will be publicising confirmed speakers and circulating the programme details in due course and as they become available.
Alex Burghart, Minister for Skills
Andy Haldane, Chief Executive, RSA
Anne Longfield, Former Children’s Commissioner
Baroness Blake
Cllr Susan Hinchcliffe, Leader, Bradford Council
Emma Degg, CEO, North West Business Leadership Team
Henri Murison, Director, Northern Powerhouse Partnership
Joanna Moonan, Deputy Director of People Services, Institute for Apprenticeships
Lord Jim O’Neil, Vice-Chair, Northern Powerhouse Partnership
Minnie Moll, CEO, Design Council
Prof Irena Grugulis, Co-Chair, Re-Wage
Rachel Cooper, Strategy Director, Institute for Apprenticeships
Rt Hon. Andy Burnham, Mayor, Greater Manchester
Seyi Obakin, CEO, Centrepoint
Steve Rotheram, Mayor, Liverpool City Region
Sue Ferns, President, TUC
Tony Wilson, Institute of Employment Studies
Tracy Brabin, Mayor, West Yorkshire
