The Combined Authority should make developers co-ordinate their employment and skills strategies

Posted byCambridge Town OwlPosted inUncategorized

And if they don’t have the powers to do this, they should ask ministers and supportive MPs to table the necessary amendments to the Devolution Bill that’s due to be introduced into Parliament later this year

The great thing about being a civil servant, my then permanent secretary told me, is that if you find yourself faced with an otherwise insurmountable problem, you have the option of recommending a change in the law to those above you, knowing that if you can convince them – and your minister, it could result in a new piece of legislation being tabled in Parliament.

I got lucky in my civil service days working in a policy area that had a couple of pages of clauses included in a looming bill about to be tabled in Parliament in the late 2000s. Thus I got to experience what it was like working in a team supporting ministers taking legislation through Parliament – and seeing how politicians, think tanks, campaigners, and wealthy interests and their lobbyists responded. Once you’ve been through that process, you begin to work out which pieces of legislation are substantial, and which ones are speculative. Hence my disappointment with the Climate and Nature Bill, which tries to use the law to compel the Government to do something that really should be done by policy alone.

Developers contributing towards expanding the skilled labour workforce in the local construction industry

It’s worth having a browse of what Bristol has done below

Above – Bristol City Council’s Planning Guidance for Developers’ Employment & Skills Plans

You can compare the above with:

With several large developments happening in the North East Cambridge area, this is an opportunity for the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority to stamp their mark on employment skills in a sector where we have a chronic shortage. Some of the developers have already published their draft documents.

Above – see the Greater Cambridge Shared Planning Service here, go to the simple search options and type in 24/04575/FUL

I’ve written about the above application here, but the Employment and Skills. Strategy really needs people who are knowledgeable and passionate about adult education and lifelong learning to have a look at that strategy, and ask whether it goes far enough or whether the Cambridge Science Park or one of the other developers (such as Brookgate or the Crown Estate, or Hartree) could be offering up some land to host a permanent lifelong learning centre that can train up more adults – especially those willing and able to switch careers. Could the strategy involve maintenance grants or more well-remunerated mature apprenticeships to enable adults to switch out of office-based or retail-based environments (especially those industries that are declining), and into the various ‘green jobs’ that we hear lots about?

I’ve also written about the Crown Estate’s opening proposals here – although their first phase of consultation has finished, I still think it’s worth emailing your views via their address at the foot of this page here.

In the case of Brookgate’s Minister-approved development at North Cambridge Station (See https://applications.greatercambridgeplanning.org/online-applications/ Ref 22/02771/OUT) the firm commissioned the Social Value Portal firm to research and write their strategy that covered employment and skills. It was published in 2022.

Above – Social Value Portal’ Social Value Statement for Brookgate (15 June 2022) p3

It’s worth browsing through the above document (from the planning portal, Ref 22/02771/OUT and see the documents from 15 June 2022, about two-thirds of the way down of the 500+ documents!)

It may be too late for the above-development, but it might be possible for the Crown Estate, Hartree, and the Cambridge Science Park to get together with the Combined Authority to see if they can come up with a solution that will provide for a new permanent learning facility for adults/mature learners that is far better than anything our city currently has. Because we know that there has been an underspend in adult education. And this failure to invest in skills by firms remains a barrier to growth and improvement as the Bennett Institute said last week. How are developers in the north of the city going to respond? And at what point do politicians need to start wielding metaphorical sticks to force the issue?

Something to ask Combined Authority mayoral candidates?

If you are interested in the longer term future of Cambridge, and on what happens at the local democracy meetings where decisions are made, feel free to:

A reminder of the CPCA’s Shared Ambition consultation – which must include lifelong learning – surely?