Levelling-up white paper: Interviews available

CEO of the Social Mobility Foundation is available for interview on the levelling-up white paper tomorrow.

 Advance comment:

 Sarah Atkinson, CEO of the Social Mobility Foundation and Department for Opportunities, said:

We have been consistent that education and skills must sit at the heart of the levelling-up agenda, and so we cautiously welcome the package confirmed in the white paper today.

 It is particularly encouraging to see the focus on improving outcomes in ‘cold spots’, which our Department for Opportunities called for following a research project with disadvantaged young people last year.

 The devil is in the detail. It is unclear as yet whether these measures will be supported by new money. If this is not the case, one only has to compare real-terms school funding in deprived areas today to 2009 levels to see the funding situation would be insufficient to level-up the country. We will be analysing the costings in due course.

Please get in touch by email or call 07841577627 to arrange further comment or interview.