UK skills behind continental counterparts

A new report from Centre for Cities has suggested that UK’s cities are lagging behind their European counterparts in terms of skills, productivity and innovation.

The report, ‘Competing with the Continent’, discovered that most UK cities fall below the European urban average for skills, productivity and innovation. 57 out of 63 cities perform below the European average in terms of productivity, with 39 of them among the 25 per cent least productive cities in the continent.

In fact, only Cambridge and Oxford are in the European top 20 for innovation.

The think tank’s findings also revealed that 48 UK cities have a lower proportion of high-skilled residents than the European average, with UK cities home to the third highest concentration of low-skilled residents in the continent, behind only cities in Spain and Poland.

UK cities contribute 60 per cent of the UK’s national economic output, which puts them far ahead of cities in Germany (36 per cent) and Italy (32 per cent).

The Centre for Cities also stated that, as the biggest economy in Europe, London accounts for a quarter of the UK’s economic output, which is more than Paris’ contribution to the French economy (20 per cent), and bigger than Berlin’s role in the German economy (four per cent).

Alexandra Jones, chief executive of Centre for Cities, has urged the government to use the Autumn Statement as an opportunity to invest more in cities, with a ‘focus on boosting the key drivers of growth in cities, such as skills, transport and housing’.

She said: “No other economy in Europe is so dependent on the performance of its cities, yet too many of the UK’s urban areas are failing to realise their potential.

“For the country to thrive in the years to come, it’s vital that the government works with cities to address the skills and productivity gaps holding most places back.”