GENERAL: PM’s Conference address. The Prime Minister tackled some of the many perceived challenges facing both the Party and the country in his Party Conference speech while also highlighting choices for the future, including significantly new ambitions for young people and support for the FE and skills sector.
Chancellor’s Conference address. The Chancellor adopted an upbeat tone in her address to the Party Conference, promising ‘a stronger economy’ and ‘a country of opportunity,’ pointing to what had been achieved so far from the living wage to free school meals and highlighting future ambitions including on school libraries, youth employment, industrial strategy, entrepreneurs and investment while staying schtum on any future tax rises.
Education Secretary’s address. The Education Secretary made delivering social justice the theme of her address to the Party Conference, listing the work of the dept in this area over the past year from rolling out breakfast clubs to recruiting new teachers and ending with a promise to bring in targeted maintenance grants for some students.
Employment Rights. The Work Foundation called on the government to reject amendments from the House of Lords to its Employability Rights Bill as it published an assessment of the Bill, highlighting the importance of two key proposals including day one unfair dismissal rights and the scrapping of ‘exploitative’ zero-hour contracts.
Business confidence. The Institute of Directors (IoD) reported that business confidence had ‘plumbed new depths’ as it published its September Economic Confidence Index showing businesses particularly concerned about labour costs, supply chain inflation and energy costs.
Labour market. The recruitment company Adzuna pointed to a slowing labour market with healthcare workers and teachers two of the hardest hit categories, along with graduates generally, as it published its latest monthly market outlook.
Covid and young people. The Covid 19 Public Inquiry which began its Module in May looking into the impact of the pandemic on children and young people, started a 4-week evidence session hearing from key witnesses. SCHOOLS: Primary school libraries. The Chancellor highlighted the importance of school libraries in her Conference speech, promising to use funding from Dormant Assets to ensure every primary school in England had a library by the end of this parliament.
Cyber security. Ofqual reported that the number of schools experiencing a cyber security incident over the past year had fallen by 5% to 29% although the time taken to recover had worsened, as it published a new report as part of Cybersecurity Awareness Month.
SEND research. The NFER announced the launch of a new Nuffield funded research project into the distribution of SEND pupils across mainstream schools in England with an interim report likely this autumn and final report due next May.
Data smorgasbord. Data company School Dash ran through a number of its latest data-based insights covering features such as (falling) school occupancy rates, regional variations on pupil exclusions, the rising numbers of pupils with EHCs and the continued high numbers of days lost to staff sickness. FE/SKILLS: Skills ambitions. The PM called in his Conference speech for a new set of progression ambitions for young people, embracing academic, technical or apprenticeship provision by age 25 through an enhanced FE system, with further details promised in the Budget and forthcoming Post-16 White Paper.
Youth Guarantee. The Chancellor committed to ending youth unemployment as she laid out plans in her Conference speech for guaranteed paid work or training for young people who have been on benefits for 18 months, with details to follow in the forthcoming Budget.
Funding summary. The AoC reported on the various funding announcements made at the latest Labour Party Conference with a useful summary of what it all means. HE:
Maintenance grants. The Education Secretary announced plans to introduce, by the end of this parliament, ‘targeted, means-tested maintenance grants for HE students’ in England on priority courses, with the money to come from the international student fee levy.
Staff survey. Wonkhe reported on the results of its recent survey of HE staff where many continue to operate within the context of financial constraints, finding a mixed picture with many positive about working in and valuing HE but also concerned about a lack of career progression and institutional support.
Horizon Europe 2028-2034. The House of Commons Library Service published a briefing paper on what is known so far about the next round of the important European (Horizon) Research and Innovation Programme for which the UK is looking to be an associate member and which is due to start in 2028 with four likely ‘pillars,’ including Excellent Science, Competitiveness and Society, Innovation and European Research Area.
Consultation response. Universities UK said it broadly agreed with the proposals put forward by the OfS in its consultation on new regulatory requirements for franchised provision as it published its formal response, although it pointed to concerns about the regulator being able to impose further directions without an investigation.
Civic universities. Professor Chris Day, Vice-Chancellor of Newcastle University, outlined the importance of civic universities in a briefing for Universities UK, pointing to their role in supporting communities and the local economy and in helping make devolution an effective reality.
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