On this week’s episode of Public Sector Voices, Emily is joined by Sir David Bell, whose career in local government spans almost four decades.
Sir David is the current Vice Chancellor and Chief Executive of the University of Sunderland and believes universities have a vital role to play in supporting the social and economic bounce back from coronavirus.
Exams, assessment and teaching have all had to innovate around travel restrictions, but could new practices be the thing that transforms higher education for good?
Sir David talks us through his new role in social housing, higher education as economic anchor institutes and the skills that are going to drive the green economy.
Above all, the resounding message of the podcast, was the immense importance of local authorities and organisations, who have been the glue keeping communities together through this pandemic.
“I think, as the pandemic has demonstrated, you need people who know their local areas extremely well they know how to make local services work how to join them up, how to coordinate them – you can’t do that sitting in Whitehall.
“I think it’s really important that we don’t penny pinch when it comes to supporting local authorities.”
