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Lessons for Further Education

Implications of The Local and Regional Economic Development Handbook for the Further Education Sector

GA

๎€ฅ

Date posted

May 11, 2026

In this article for FE News I reflect on some of the key messages and conclusions for the Further Education Sector from The Local and Regional Economic Development Handbook.

Rebuilding The Skills Ecosystem: Colleges That Collaborate Are Making The Biggest Gains.

Let’s stop reinventing the wheel in Local and Regional Economic Development in the UK

Let’s stop reinventing the wheel in Local and Regional Economic Development in the UK

๐—˜๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐˜† ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐˜„ ๐˜†๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ฒ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ฐ ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐˜†. ๐—œ ๐˜„๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฑ๐—ป'๐˜ ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—น๐—น ๐—ถ๐˜ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ถ๐—ป๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—น - ๐—บ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ธ๐—ฒ ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฝ๐—น๐—ฎ๐—ฐ๐—ถ๐—ป๐—ด ๐—ฟ๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—น๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐˜€๐—พ๐˜‚๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฒ๐˜€ The reinvention is not really the problem. The problem is that we set fire to everything we knew about wheels....

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The 1996 Test

The 1996 Test

๐—›๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐˜€ ๐—ฎ ๐˜๐—ฒ๐˜€๐˜ ๐—ณ๐—ผ๐—ฟ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—ฟ ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ฐ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—ด๐˜†. ๐—–๐—ผ๐˜‚๐—น๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐˜ ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ๐—ฒ๐—ป ๐—ฝ๐˜‚๐—ฏ๐—น๐—ถ๐˜€๐—ต๐—ฒ๐—ฑ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐Ÿญ๐Ÿต๐Ÿต๐Ÿฒ ๐˜„๐—ถ๐˜๐—ต ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ด๐—ผ๐˜€ ๐—ฐ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ด๐—ฒ๐—ฑ? Growth corridors. Gateway sites. A new business workspace building. Business support. A skills push. An innovation ecosystem. A place-marketing campaign. If...

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Institutions as gaffer tape: the story of policy failure in the UK

Institutions as gaffer tape: the story of policy failure in the UK

๐—œ๐—ป๐˜€๐˜๐—ถ๐˜๐˜‚๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ: ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜† ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐˜† ๐—ณ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—น๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—จ๐—ž ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜† ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐˜…๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ต ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฑ The Regional Development Agencies lasted thirteen years from statute to closure. The Local Enterprise Partnerships lasted thirteen. The average English...

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Do The Same Get The Same

Do The Same Get The Same

Britain has been running the same experiment on its regional economies for forty years, and the results are in. The institutional roll-call reads like a war memorial: development corporations, enterprise zones, urban programmes, TECs, Government Offices, RDAs, the...

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๐——๐—ผ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ฐ ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜?

๐——๐—ผ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ฐ ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜?

I mean the question literally, and I think everyone in this field should answer it. Not โ€œdo you want your place to prosperโ€ - everyone wants that, the way everyone wants good weather. I mean: does your institution intend to become genuinely excellent at the discipline...

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๐—ฆ๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ป: ๐—Ÿ๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—˜๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ฐ ๐——๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—›๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ ๐—–๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—”-๐—ญ

๐—ฆ๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ป: ๐—Ÿ๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—˜๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ฐ ๐——๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—›๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ ๐—–๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—”-๐—ญ

The Local and Regional Economic Development Handbook, launched on 27 April, contains a wealth of practical case studies and examples that span the globe.๐—ฆ๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ปโ€™๐˜€ approach to local and regional economic development (LRED) provides vital insights into balancing...

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๐—š๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜†: ๐—Ÿ๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—˜๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ฐ ๐——๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—›๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ ๐—–๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—”-๐—ญ

๐—š๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜†: ๐—Ÿ๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—˜๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ฐ ๐——๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—›๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ ๐—–๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—”-๐—ญ

The Local and Regional Economic Development Handbook, launched on 27 April, contains a wealth of practical case studies and examples that span the globe.๐—š๐—ฒ๐—ฟ๐—บ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜†โ€™๐˜€ approach to local and regional economic development (LRED) provides vital insights into balancing...

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Institutions as gaffer tape: the story of policy failure in the UK

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๐—œ๐—ป๐˜€๐˜๐—ถ๐˜๐˜‚๐˜๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐˜€ ๐—ฎ๐˜€ ๐—ด๐—ฎ๐—ณ๐—ณ๐—ฒ๐—ฟ ๐˜๐—ฎ๐—ฝ๐—ฒ: ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐˜๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐˜† ๐—ผ๐—ณ ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—น๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐˜† ๐—ณ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—น๐˜‚๐—ฟ๐—ฒ ๐—ถ๐—ป ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐—จ๐—ž ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐˜๐—ต๐—ฒ ๐˜๐—ฒ๐—บ๐—ฝ๐—ผ๐—ฟ๐—ฎ๐—ฟ๐˜† ๐—ณ๐—ถ๐˜…๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐˜„๐—ต๐—ถ๐—ฐ๐—ต ๐—ต๐—ฎ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ ๐—ณ๐—ฎ๐—ถ๐—น๐—ฒ๐—ฑ The...

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๐——๐—ผ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ฐ ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜?

๐——๐—ผ ๐˜†๐—ผ๐˜‚ ๐˜„๐—ฎ๐—ป๐˜ ๐˜๐—ผ ๐—ฏ๐—ฒ ๐—ด๐—ฟ๐—ฒ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฎ๐˜ ๐—ฒ๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ฐ ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜?

I mean the question literally, and I think everyone in this field should answer it. Not โ€œdo you want your place to...

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๐—ฆ๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ป: ๐—Ÿ๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—˜๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ฐ ๐——๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—›๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ ๐—–๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—”-๐—ญ

๐—ฆ๐˜„๐—ฒ๐—ฑ๐—ฒ๐—ป: ๐—Ÿ๐—ผ๐—ฐ๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ ๐—ฅ๐—ฒ๐—ด๐—ถ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ฎ๐—น ๐—˜๐—ฐ๐—ผ๐—ป๐—ผ๐—บ๐—ถ๐—ฐ ๐——๐—ฒ๐˜ƒ๐—ฒ๐—น๐—ผ๐—ฝ๐—บ๐—ฒ๐—ป๐˜ ๐—›๐—ฎ๐—ป๐—ฑ๐—ฏ๐—ผ๐—ผ๐—ธ ๐—–๐—ฎ๐˜€๐—ฒ ๐˜€๐˜๐˜‚๐—ฑ๐—ถ๐—ฒ๐˜€ ๐—”-๐—ญ

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