The trampoline and the swamp
This week Rob Parsons speaks to one of the leading voices in the region, if not the country, on the all-important issue of how we can ensure everyone has a chance to succeed in life regardless of their background.
The concept is also called social mobility, and in 2010 a body called the Social Mobility Commission was set up to hold the country and the Government of the day to account on whether things are actually improving in this respect.
Its chair Alun Francis has years of experience on the ground trying to make the lives of young people better in the North. Currently, the Principal and Chief Executive of Blackpool and The Fylde College, he previously had the top job at Oldham College.
It's the 15th anniversary of the Child Poverty Act this year, the legislation that brought the social mobility commission into being. So what better time to talk to Alun about why young people in the North are still being held back by where they're from, and importantly what we can do about it.
The Northern Agenda is a Reach production, presented by Rob Parsons and produced by Daniel J. McLaughlin.
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The Northern Agenda
The Northern Agenda is a weekly podcast covering politics and public affairs from across the North of England, voiced by journalists who are outside the Westminster bubble, reporting from the other side of the North/South divide.
From Blackpool to Barnsley and Bamburgh and everywhere in between, exploring subjects such as levelling up to buses, elections to the latest council scraps, The Northern Agenda brings you discussion and analysis of the North's big political stories, from people experiencing them on the ground.
Rob Parsons and Liam Thorp look at the political stories that really matter to the North - and from the North - that you won't hear about from the national media in London.
The Northern Agenda is a Laudable production for Reach. It is presented by Rob Parsons, and it is produced by Daniel J. McLaughlin.
You can subscribe to the daily Northern Agenda newsletter here: http://www.thenorthernagenda.co.uk/
- No. of episodes: 178
- Latest episode: 2025-06-12
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