Why apprenticeship policy must prioritise quality

While recent apprenticeships policy has tended to focus on quantity, skills analyst Andy Norman argues that if we are to tackle the country’s skills shortages we need to prioritise quality

 

Apprenticeships form a pivotal part of any country’s attempts to ensure its population has the technical skills needed for the economy to grow and thrive. An effective apprenticeships system can reduce skills gaps, increase productivity and drive social mobility. While this area of skills policy is nothing new – the use of formal apprenticeships in the UK dates back to at least the 16th century – it is one that governments have continually struggled to get right.

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The British electorate moves beyond neoliberalism, nationalism and socialism

The British people have spoken loud and clear by returning a hung parliament. They have rejected a hard Brexit and a drift towards nationalism. But they have also rejected a return to the neoliberalism of the 1980s and the socialism of the 1970s.

The British people have spoken loud and clear by returning a hung parliament. They have rejected a hard Brexit and a drift towards nationalism. But they have also rejected a return to the neoliberalism of the 1980s and the socialism of the 1970s. Continue reading “The British electorate moves beyond neoliberalism, nationalism and socialism”

Landowners should not reap all the benefits from development

Writing for Inside Housing, centre director Thomas Aubrey argues that it should be dynamic city regions, not unproductive landowners, that capture the uplift in land value when housing is built.

 

Writing for Inside Housing, centre director Thomas Aubrey argues that it should be dynamic city regions, not unproductive landowners, that capture the uplift in land value when housing is built.

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Edinburgh could benefit from £8.6 bn in additional funds by capturing land value

A new report prepared by the Centre for Progressive Capitalism for Built Environment Forum estimates the returns from land value capture for the Edinburgh City Region over a 20-year period.

A new report prepared by the Centre for Progressive Capitalism for Built Environment Forum Scotland (BEFS), following an event on housing policy reform in Scotland earlier this year, estimates the returns from land value capture for the Edinburgh City Region over a 20-year period.

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Technical skills: How do the election manifestos compare?

Skills analyst Andy Norman discusses how the Conservative and Labour Manifestos compare on technical skills

In the aftermath of the 2017 election manifesto launches it was the politically partisan issues of social care, renationalisation and tax that dominated the headlines. Yet it was encouraging to see, despite its relative lack of media attention, both the Labour and Conservative manifestos recognise skills policy as central to the UK’s future prosperity.

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New land compensation rules will drive up infrastructure investment and raise the rate of housebuilding

Centre director Thomas Aubrey sets out the case for the new land compensation rules, showing that they will will drive up infrastructure investment and raise the rate of housebuilding

Land value capture is an idea that appears to have come of age in the United Kingdom. Last weekend, the Conservative Party announced it intended to address long-standing compensation rules as a key plank of its housing policy. These rules have acted as a major barrier to infrastructure investment, which is one of the reasons why housing supply has not been able to keep up with demand.

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How a lack of technical skills may be holding back the West Midlands economy

Recent analysis by the Centre suggests that the economy is being held back by a lack of key technical skills, with as many as 43% of vacancies for technical roles categorised as skills shortage vacancies.

 

Earlier this month, in the latest step along a path of regional devolution designed to drive local economic growth across the country, metro mayors were elected in six of the UK’s new combined authorities. In the West Midlands, Conservative Party candidate Andy Street narrowly beat Labour’s Siôn Simon to become the city region’s first elected mayor.

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Pre-pack Insolvency and Defined Benefit Pensions

Con Keating, head of research at Brighton Rock Group, discusses the use of pre-pack resolutions for distressed companies with pensions deficits, arguing that the problem is not one of ‘moral hazard’.

Pre-pack resolutions of distressed companies have received an extremely bad press in recent weeks; morally righteous rent-a-pension-quote politicians and regulatory authorities have queued to express their indignation at this “moral hazard”.

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Response to the Industrial Strategy Green Paper

The Centre responds to the government’s recent green paper, ‘Building our Industrial Strategy’

The government recently published its industrial strategy green paper, outlining its vision for ‘a stronger, fairer Britain that works for everyone’. The Centre for Progressive Capitalism welcomes the government’s ambition to improve living standards and economic growth displayed in the paper.

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