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Leaders from universities and councils will be working together on a pilot project designed to help areas drive growth, re-design public services and strengthen the relationship between communities and academic institutions.

Pilots for the Leading Places Project will be rolled out in Gloucestershire, Manchester, Newcastle and Gateshead, Brighton and Sussex, Bristol, and Coventry/Warwickshire this month.

The Local Government Association (LGA), which represents over 370 councils in England and Wales, Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE), which funds and regulates the higher education sector, and Universities UK (UUK), will work with the pilots and evaluate performance.

Pilots will involve university Vice-Chancellors and council Chief Executives and Leaders meeting to agree a local priority under the guidance of the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education. This could boost jobs as a result of university researchers identifying skill gaps and training being organised for new workers to fill them.

Negotiations between central and local government on Devolution Deals have increased the focus on proposals to drive economic growth, reform public services and bring together leaders from across the public, business and academic sectors.

Research by the Leadership Foundation for Higher Education has underlined the potential of universities to benefit their local areas and many councils are now seeking to engage with them more actively.

Universities already have a significant local economic impact and many have strong roots and long-standing partnerships. This programme is about taking those partnerships to the next level by aiming to bring about a local priority.

The HEFCE-funded project will run until the end of the year. The aim is to spread best practice across the country with the possibility of more pilots in additional waves.

Cllr Mark Hawthorne, Chairman of the LGA's People and Places Board and also leader of Gloucestershire County Council, said:

"Co-operation with universities will give councils access to greater expertise and research opportunities.

"This is about applying local knowledge to solve problems as well as putting universities at the heart of creating local growth opportunities, innovation and skills.

"The LGA is supporting councils through innovative research projects like this to ensure that they have expertise and knowledge to best serve their communities, grow their regional economies and improve people's lives."

Professor Madeleine Atkins, HEFCE's Chief Executive, said:

"Universities have a key role to play as place makers in their local communities. They bring a wide range of expertise and research capability to apply to the challenges facing local government and their partners.

"The Cities and Devolution Act opens up new forms of investment funding, and new opportunities to tackle the issues which affect people's lives. Strong collaborative leadership will be more important than ever in driving these agendas.

"HEFCE is delighted to partner with the LGA in supporting this programme, which will help to build and transfer best practice in collaborative leadership at the local level."

Universities UK Chief Executive Nicola Dandridge said:

"Universities have deep roots in their localities and work with local partners to boost economic growth, improve public services and engage with their communities. This is a great opportunity to build on these strong partnerships to be even more ambitious about what we can achieve together for the benefit of local people."

Notes to editors

HEFCE funding for the project is £48,000.

Detail of the significant economic impact universities already have: 

www.universitiesuk.ac.uk/highereducation/Pages/EconomicImpactHEIs.aspx#.VyMoOKb2bcs

The Leadership Foundation for Higher Education research quoted is titled: Leadership Foundation (2010) Researching and Scoping a Higher Education and Civic Leadership Development Programme: www.lfhe.ac.uk/GoddardOT03

Case study

The University of Gloucestershire brings over £150 million of value to Gloucestershire every year. It works with the two largest further education colleges, Gloucestershire College and South Gloucestershire and Stroud College (SGS), and partners 50 local schools to help young people gain access to higher education. It is investigating the viability of a university technical college for health care with the NHS Gloucestershire Hospitals Foundation Trust to address chronic skills shortages. In 2014, in partnership with GFirst Local Enterprise Partnership (LEP) and with government funding, the university established The Growth Hub, supporting the growth of businesses across Gloucestershire. It has seen almost 6,000 local business leaders, supported businesses more than 3,500 times and is working closely with 400 high-growth organisations to boost their growth and the local economy.