Universities need to be at the centre of long-term partnerships in our cities and regions, helping to build thriving communities with creative, innovative businesses at their heart. This means moving beyond projects and prioritising deep links between sectors, and supporting staff and students to work with local government, further education, the NHS, business and communities.

This was the central message of NCEE’s Chief Executive Ceri Nursaw at today’s Westminster Higher Education Forum policy conference on the role of universities in their local economies. Many universities are already admirably performing these roles, but there is still further to go. NCEE will soon launch a campaign on entrepreneurial universities and place, providing evidence of the vital roles of university enterprise activity in their localities and what we need to do to strengthen this.

The scale of the challenge is staggering. In polling by King’s College London, 61 percent of voters saw inequality between places as the most serious facing Britain. This week the Financial Times described how local government cuts threaten the levelling up agenda. Yet this agenda is not new. Academics have shown how economic inequalities in the UK have deep roots that can be traced back to before the inter-war years. There have been a range of initiatives aimed at improving local growth and reducing regional disparities in the UK, adding up to £18 billion of domestic funding between 2011 and 2020. However, the National Audit Office concludes that the impact of this funding has been hampered by poor monitoring and evaluation, and unclear objectives.

Our work for Universities UK on the role of higher education in economic and social recovery shows us a path forwards. Yet this contribution from universities cannot be taken for granted. Enterprise, innovation and engagement activity need support. Training skilled people requires investment. Ensuring the benefits of both of these are felt equally around the UK will depend on robust policy and funding decisions. Our aim over the next 12 months is to help steer these decisions.