Industrial Strategy Council Skills and Places Secondment

Dr Abigail Taylor undertook a secondment to the Industrial Strategy Council with the aim of supporting the Council through delivering analytical projects and contributing to cross Whitehall and external body engagement. 

Supported by Professor Anne Green, Dr Abigail Taylor is contributing to three projects examining skills investment in the UK and how the UK system compares to international skills systems, the process of developing Local Industrial Strategies and international evidence on effective place-based interventions.

Project details

Skills Insight Project - This project is composed of three papers which are available for download below:

  • The first, published by the Industrial Strategy Council, presents evidence on some of the skills challenges facing the UK and how they might be addressed. It calls for a clear overarching vision for UK skills and a long-term commitment to delivering it in partnership.
  • The second explores both employer and employee perceptions relating to skills and the value of training, drawing on survey evidence, to understand the specific skills and skills investment challenges employers face as the nature of work changes. Based on qualitative interviews conducted with employers, it then investigates how the current skills system both supports and hampers employer decisions to invest in training.
  • The third paper presents five country case studies - Canada, France, Japan, the Netherlands and Sweden - to identify key features and challenges of different international skills systems. The report has been designed to identify successful aspects of the different systems and provide policy learning relevant to the United Kingdom.

Places – This project involved conducting case studies to provide a rich understanding of the process behind the development of Local Industrial Strategies. Key themes include purpose, process, collaboration and evaluation. The report identifies areas of good practice and challenges, emphasising their wider relevance to future economic growth policies. 

Places – This project examines international evidence on effective place-based interventions and explores what can be learnt from selected other countries in how they design and implement place-based policies. 

Project Collaborators

Reports

What does it take to “level up” places? Evidence from Evidence from international experience
January 2021, Dr Abigail Taylor, Skye Sampson and Anna Romaniuk

Understanding the Policy-Making Processes Behind Local Growth Strategies in England
July 2020, Anna Romaniuk, Catherine Osborne, Emily Rainsford and Abigail Taylor

Rising to the UK’s Skills Challenges
June 2020, Dr Abigail Taylor, Professor Anne Green and Hayley Lyons

Rising to the UK's Skill Challenges Conclusion Summary
June 2020, Professor Anne Green and Dr Abigail Taylor

Skills System International Case Studies
April 2020, Dr Abigail Taylor

Workplace Perspectives on Skills
April 2020, Professor Anne Green and Dr Abigail Taylor

Research team

Project support

Sarah Jeffery, Centre Manager, City-REDI


Industrial Strategy Council - Skills and Places Secondment

A project led by Dr Abigail Taylor, Research Fellow, City-REDI / WMREDI. 

Funder/client: Economic and Social Research Council - Impact Accelerator Scheme
Timescale: May 2019 - Sept 2020


Media

On 26th January, City-REDI / WMREDI and the Industrial Strategy Council held an event to launch their latest report "What does it take to “level up” places?". 

The report was co-authored by the Industrial Strategy Council (ISC) and City-REDI researcher, Abigail Taylor and examines international evidence on what it takes to “level up” places.

Below is series of highlight clips from the event. Watch the full event.  

What does it take to "level up" places? from Industrial Strategy Council on Vimeo.

What does it take to "level up" places? - Dame Kate Barker, January 2021
What does it take to "level up" places? - Gavin Wallis, January 2021
What does it take to "level up" places? - Professor Meelis Kitsing, January 2021
What does it take to "level up" places? - Dr Thomas Perrin, January 2021
What does it take to "level up" places? - Professor Philip McCann, January 2021
On Friday 17th July, The Industrial Strategy Council and City-REDI (University of Birmingham) co-hosted a webinar to discuss key findings from the research report co-hosted a webinar to discuss key findings from the research report, the future of local economic policy, and the importance of places for the post-COVID-19 economic recovery. Below you can find the full video of the event and a series of highlight clips:
Full Webinar: The future of local economic policy, and the importance of places for the post-COVID-19 economic recovery.
Highlight clip featuring Andy Haldane, Chair of the Industrial Strategy Council.
Highlight clip featuring Mark Bretton, Chair of the LEP Network
Highlight clip featuring Rebecca Riley, Administrative Director, City-REDI / WM REDI