The former head of the British civil servant said that universities can play a central role in solving the serious regional inequality in Britain, possibly by establishing "MIT in the north" or "HE-FE system" in poor towns.
Lord Kerr slack, chairman of the UK's 2070 Regional Inequality Commission, told The Times Higher Education that "universities have always been the center, whether in problem analysis or as part of the solution".
The Committee was established by Lincoln Land Policy Institute, Manchester University, Sheffield University and UCL University. The Committee submitted two reports this year and will submit its final report in June 2020.
The Committee has an influential chairman, Lord ——Kerslake, who is an inter-parliamentary aristocrat and is making suggestions for the "government preparation" of the Labour Party. He is the recent chairman of the Civic University Committee and the president of sheffield hallam university.
The Committee published a report by Philip, a professor of urban and regional economics at the University of Sheffield. According to McCann's research report, among the 30 member countries of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), Britain ranks 28th in terms of regional inequality.
Lord Kerr slack said that in the second report, the Committee studied the decentralization policy that might "change the dial" and advocated that "the government consciously adopted the way after the reunification of West Germany and East Germany to achieve rebalancing".
He added that the Committee's proposal also included the creation of "Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the North", in which universities would play a "key role".
The European Commission published a paper on this concept, saying that "despite the strong universities", the British region outside the "Golden Triangle" of London-Oxford-Cambridge "has not yet established an innovation-driven economy with sufficient strength, consistency and key quality". The article calls on the North to consider the innovative economic model of Greater Boston based on MIT.
Lord Kerr-slack stressed that both the Conservative Party and the Labour Party promised to increase research expenditure substantially. He said that with the dispersion of funds in various regions, "efforts must be made to make (investment) develop towards a more decentralized model."
But he also said that in boosting the local economy, "besides graphene, grimsby must also be considered". He added, "We really believe that universities play an important role in solving the problem of so-called' backward' towns".
Lord Kerr-slack said that this may mean that universities "have a place" in small towns, possibly through cooperation with colleges of continuing education. He believes that universities must consider establishing a "higher education system".
Or, he suggested, this could include the future of South Yorkshire, such as Sheffield Haram, aimed at improving the school achievements of barnsley, doncaster, Rotherham and Sheffield.
Lord Kerr slack warned that Britain's "long-term low investment and low productivity ... are due to poor performance outside London and the southeast".
When asked if the final report would suggest the correct form of English regional government, Lord Kerr slack joked: "When we start to draw lines on the map, everyone will become very excited." However, he said that the Committee will discuss "the principles of designing regional governments."
Many wealthy areas in the southeast of Britain supported Britain's withdrawal from the EU in the EU referendum, while many non-industrialized towns in the north also voted to "regain control" from the political elites regarded as far away. Then, why didn't Britain's decentralization get more prominent performance in the political debate after the referendum?
"Everything was erased by Britain's withdrawal from the EU; This is a contradictory view. " Thinking time is squeezed out ... all three political parties find it difficult to find room for creative policy thinking on other issues. "