Question to the Department for Education:

To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether she has made a recent assessment of the potential role of universities in helping to grow (a) social enterprises, (b) community interest companies, (c) cooperatives and (d) mutuals in their local areas.

The department has not undertaken such an assessment. However, universities play a key role in supporting economic growth in their local area. For example, universities can work with Local Enterprise Partnerships to create an environment which encourages initiatives such as co-operatives and mutuals to start and grow.

More generally, the higher education (HE) sector is essential to the success of our economy and society. Analysis conducted by Frontier Economics of HE providers in England found that in 2018/19, English universities contributed over £52 billion to GDP, directly provided 360,000 jobs and supported a further 455,000 jobs across their localities and the wider economy.

High-quality HE and research across the country are key to delivering successful outcomes for students, providing the skills our businesses and services need, and injecting innovation into our economy.