The Work Foundation at the Conservative Party Conference

Is the UK attracting the global talent we need to boost growth?

International talent plays a central role within key sectors of the UK economy, including financial services, education and hospitality. However, there are concerns that new policies aimed at reducing net migration are undermining the UK’s ability to attract the skills it needs, particularly at a time of low economic growth.

How far the UK is still ‘open for business’?. Do the current immigration rules represent an effective balance between effective controls and the need to attract world-class talent into the UK’s higher education and business sectors? How far can we afford to reduce valuable economic migration towards an overall reduction in net migration to the UK? And how could the government strengthen its public message on the likely contribution of global mobility to UK economic growth into the future? These questions were some of those which were addressed at the event which was held in partnership with the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Migration and the Migrants' Rights Network.

Read the blog here

How can we tackle the youth unemployment crisis?

The UK faces an immediate youth unemployment crisis. One million young people are unemployed, a quarter for more than a year. Urgent action is needed to stop these young people turning into a new ‘lost generation’. But this is only half the problem. Youth unemployment was rising well before the recession pushed numbers to headline-grabbing levels, and unless addressed the long-term problem will persist even once the economy starts to grow again.
This fringe event brought together leading figures to discuss what should be done to tackle the short-term crisis and long-term problem of youth unemployment. 
In partnership with Private Equity Foundation.

Speakers :

• Dr Neil Lee, The Work Foundation 
• Sir Robin Wales,  Mayor of Newham
• Adam Marshall,  Director of Policy and External Affairs at the British Chambers of Commerce.
• Kevin Munday, ThinkForward Programme Development Manager at Private Equity Foundation

Read the event summary here 

It’s innovation, stupid: Is the strategy for growth working?
19.30 – 21.00 The ICC, Exec 1, Birmingham

With almost a year since the launch of the government’s innovation and research strategy, this fringe asks if we are going far enough and fast enough to creating a 21st-century framework for recovery, growth and prosperity. Is the government’s approach enough to support a wave of new companies? The UK has some of the world’s leading science institutions and universities with licences and company spin-offs from academic work improving. But ideas, credit and resources are not flowing with the speed, scale and energy required to achieve a long-term UK recovery Do we need the government to be smarter, more enterprising and agile than traditional state intervention models?.
The Big Innovation Centre has been examining how ‘industry push policies’ could be replaced by a new ‘ecosystem’. This would address systemic failure and create wider and more lasting benefits both for the economy and, more broadly, for society.
Revealing more about the rich and diverse benefits of the ecosystem approach, the fringe will invite participants to consider these solutions and to debate the most important and urgent questions.

Speakers include:

• Will Hutton ( chair) Big Innovation Centre
• Birgitte Andersen, Director Big Innovation Centre
• Chris Yiu, Policy Exchange
• Tim Barnes Director, Enterprise Operations at University College London

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