Higher Education: Staffordshire

Debate between Jacob Collier and Adam Jogee

Wednesday 9th October 2024 Commons Chamber

[Adam Jogee (Newcastle-under-Lyme) (Lab)]

It is a real pleasure to lead my first Adjournment debate as the Member of Parliament for Newcastle-under-Lyme. I would like to wish my neighbour, my hon. Friend the Member for Stafford (Leigh Ingham) a very happy—if I may say—40th birthday, and I am pleased that she is spending it in the Chamber with us this evening. There is no better way to spend a birthday than talking about the wonderful county that we represent in this House.

Newcastle-under-Lyme is home to many excellent places of learning, and with higher education in mind, none more so than Keele University. I consider it a real privilege to be Keele’s Member of Parliament, and that is why I applied for this debate tonight. Higher education in Staffordshire is primarily delivered through two universities: Keele University in my constituency, and the University of Staffordshire based in Stoke-on-Trent. I will broadly focus my remarks on Keele, where I look forward to welcoming most of my Staffordshire colleagues tomorrow.

This has been an important year for almost everyone in this House, and for people across our United Kingdom. We have had a change of Government—I welcome the Under-Secretary of State for Education, my hon. Friend the Member for Lewisham East (Janet Daby), to her place—and we have begun the work of getting our country back on track. However, 2024 is also important because Keele University in Newcastle-under-Lyme marks the 75th anniversary of its foundation as the first new university of the 20th century.

Keele University was born from a pioneering vision of a different kind of university. It was established in 1949 by Lord Lindsay, the former vice-chancellor of Oxford University, in a country still recovering from the second world war. The university’s founding aim was to produce graduates who not only had the technical and specialist knowledge to move society forward, but who understood the social and political landscape that drove this need.

Fast-forward 75 years, and this original ethos remains at the core of the university’s mission. A global network of over 100,000 alumni in 120 countries is creating a positive impact across the world in a range of diverse careers, including serving in this House. I am personally pleased that one of my cousins is studying medicine at Keele. He has just started his second year, which means he was able to vote for me in July—at least he told me he did! Keele currently ranks in the golden quadrangle of the top 15 universities in England that excel in both teaching and research. All have a gold award in the teaching excellence framework and high research intensity in the most recent research excellence framework.

I am pleased that Keele, and therefore Staffordshire, is a sector leader in sustainability, tackling the world’s biggest problems through its research and educating tomorrow’s leaders to help shape a brighter future. Keele’s research expertise and passion for sustainability are renowned around the world, which is why the university was named global sustainability institution of the year in 2021.

Keele’s economic impact is created not only by directly employing about 2,000 people, but by spending with local suppliers and contractors, with neighbouring businesses and residents being the primary beneficiaries. Keele is one of the largest employers in Newcastle-under-Lyme, and it is a local employer, too. Thirty-nine per cent of its workforce live in the ancient borough of Newcastle-under-Lyme, with a further 31% living in Stoke-on-Trent. Keele has a real commitment to being a good neighbour, and it has provided more than 2,000 support interactions with local organisations since 2016.

[Jacob Collier (Burton and Uttoxeter) (Lab)]

I congratulate my hon. Friend on securing this debate. As he says, our area is blessed with many exemplary higher education institutions, many of which are connected by the A50/A500. Does he agree that upgrades to this road are essential to allow our constituents easier access to universities, and to enable greater collaboration across our local universities?

[Adam Jogee]

My hon. Friend and near neighbour has made an excellent submission ahead of the Budget, and I am sure the Minister will relay that point to Treasury colleagues. He makes an important point about connectivity, accessibility and the importance of a transport network that allows people both to benefit from our higher education institutions and to contribute to our local economies.

Keele’s legacy and commitment to the wider community is why it was named among the UK’s best universities at contributing to local growth and regeneration in the recent iteration of the knowledge exchange framework run by Research England. Keele, working with the Bar Council, has advanced the “Keele in Town” programme, which will see the transformation of an empty 19th-century building in the heart of Newcastle-under-Lyme town centre into a mixed-use facility for the community. It will be kitted out with modern working and meeting spaces, offering digital connectivity to the community and helping to drive productivity.