The debate last week in Parliament on the #LoveOurColleges campaign petition stimulated some, including me, to write about our optimism for how colleges might fare in the spending review due this year. Others, including Julia Belgutay and Andrew Otty, were less optimistic, rightly pointing out that MPs talking to each other about their support is simply not enough. I remain firmly on the optimistic side, but only just because of how Brexit is dominating debate, political focus and Whitehall efforts.
The conversation about optimism and pessimism got me thinking this week about another spectrum that overshadows the work that the Association of Colleges does in Whitehall and Parliament: that featuring new and innovative ideas on the one side and the tried and tested on the other. Now, it might be because I have been around in this sector for too long, but I do seem to be seeing more and more so-called new ideas coming around for the second or even third time. There’s nothing wrong with that, of course. If an idea has a chance of working then it is worth considering, but I wonder how many new ideas there actually are.
I also increasingly believe that the test of a good policy proposal should be less on whether it is new, innovative and creative and more whether it has been shown to work or is working now in a similar context and conditions. I understand the attraction of innovation, in the same way that I can appreciate why people want the latest new car. The problem is, I drive a 10-year-old Volvo and cannot see the point in changing it. It works, it is perfectly functional for my needs and will probably chug on forever until someone intervenes and bans it because of its emissions.
Four Nations College Alliance
This is an important issue, because politicians and policy wonks often want the new, and seem less interested in the tried and tested. It’s the same for geography - ideas and policies from other countries are applauded, unless, that is, they come from one of the four nations of the country we live in.
The new Four Nations College Alliance was, therefore, fighting against the tide when it launched its first publication last week. Not only was it unapologetically parading policy and practice from within, but it was also recommending things that are already working in at least one of the four nations. So not exotic and not innovative; just local and pragmatic.
Will it be listened to? Well, once again I will invoke the optimism card, because we have been working with government officials from all four nations in the work of the alliance, and their input has been invaluable in helping to develop our thinking. That might make it more likely that the recommendations will be seriously considered in all four nations; a good starting point for adoption.
Transforming the labour market
The publication Developing a Four Nations College Blueprint for a Post-Brexit Economy is our response to three urgent and far-reaching challenges faced by governments, employers and citizens across the UK. It examines low and stagnant productivity; employers struggling to recruit as skilled migration slows; demographic changes as more skilled people are retiring; and citizens needing opportunities to learn in a fast-changing labour market that is being transformed by technology.
Colleges across all four nations are delivering on this agenda already, with 2.7 million people benefiting, but they can do far more with the right policies and investment. The publication sets out a range of recommendations, building on what we know already works and which can be scaled up with the right investments.
So, don’t read the blueprint for new ideas, for anything particularly clever and innovative. Read it if, like me, you are attracted to things that function well, which deliver on their intentions and then help us to persuade more politicians and influencers to get behind colleges in this spending review year.
David Hughes is chief executive of the Association of Colleges
