Tagged / policy

Bespoke Engaging with Parliament training in May/June

Impact, parliament, policy, Training

Carys Davis from The Other Place will be delivering two sessions of online training for academics interested in engaging with Parliament.

The Engaging with Parliament for Impact session is on 23rd June 10:00-4:30pm. It is an introductory session for academics whose research is likely to have policy impact, or for those who would like to influence policy. It will cover multiple ‘Common Routes to Influence’, including Government consultations, Select Committees, All Party Parliamentary Groups, think tanks etc. and the best ways to approach them. You will have an opportunity for stakeholder mapping and to plan your approach. There are only 12 places available, so please don’t book unless you can attend the whole day. You can book your place here.

The Creating a Policy Plan session is split into two parts: 10th May 10:00-4:30 and 30th May 1:00-4:30 and is an opportunity to create a bespoke plan for engaging Parliament with your research. By the end of the two sessions you will have written a Policy Brief, or other document, together with a detailed plan for getting your research into Parliament. To book onto this session please email impact@bournemouth.ac.uk. There are only 6 spaces available, so please do not book unless you can attend BOTH sessions on 10th May and 30th May. 

Carys Davis trained as a journalist, holds an MA (Distinction) in Human Rights and is a Member and Accredited Practitioner of the Chartered Institute of Public Relations.
She has worked for a UK political party as a Researcher and Policy Adviser, in the Republic of Maldives as political consultant to the leader of the Maldivian Democratic Party, for two charities running their public affairs functions and as the Manager of the Financial Conduct Authority’s Public Affairs Team. Her training is highly detailed, relevant and engaging and is highly recommended for anyone with an interest in having policy impact.

Professor Dimitrios Buhalis is organising THE MEDITERRANEAN TOURISM KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE AND POLICY FORUM 2023 in Malta

BU research

Professor Dimitrios Buhalis is organising

THE MEDITERRANEAN TOURISM KNOWLEDGE EXCHANGE AND POLICY FORUM 2023
MED LIFE: TOURISM HOSPITALITY AND WELLBEING TOWARDS 2030
In collaboration with the Tourism Review

MALTA Tuesday 21-Wednesday 22 November 2023 Hilton Hotel St Julian’s Malta

followed by the 7th Mediterranean Tourism Forum on the 23rd November.

CALL FOR PAPERS https://easychair.org/cfp/MEDLife2023

 

MED LIFE: TOURISM HOSPITALITY AND WELLBEING TOWARDS 2030

Emergency services experts (UK)

policy, Uncategorized

Emergency services experts are being sought to share their expertise and research or act as a Committee specialist adviser.

A Parliamentary Committee is preparing for a piece of work on the challenges emergency services in the UK face, and whether greater collaboration within and between emergency response services could present solutions and provide services that are better for the user. The Committee’s secretariat is looking for researchers with expertise in this area, including people working on individual services, and anyone studying different models of how emergency and/or blue-light responders collaborate.

Researchers can feed into the work by:

* submitting written evidence,

* giving oral evidence, or

* working as a specialist adviser for the Committee.

For the specialist adviser role, the team are looking specifically for people with expertise covering multiple emergency services. The specialist adviser role would be completed alongside your BU duties one day per week and is paid (not voluntary).

Complete this short Microsoft form with your details to express interest in supplying your research evidence to inform the Committee’s work or to work as the specialist adviser.

The form will ask for your personal details and for you to:

  •      Outline your expertise (max. 100 words)
  •      Provide a link to your BU profile
  •      If possible, to provide a link to a video or recording of you speaking publicly

Some more information on the Specialist Adviser role:

The deadline is Thursday 1 September 2022 (to express interest in providing evidence or applying for the specialist adviser role). After 1 September, once the Committee begins its work, there will be more opportunities to submit written evidence and / or express an interest in giving oral evidence through the Committee’s webpages.

Contact Sarah in BU’s policy team for more information or support.

Independent review of children’s social care: the Government’s plans

policy

The Minister for Children and Families, Will Quince, delivered an oral statement to the Commons earlier regarding the publication of the independent review of children’s social care, outlining the Government’s initial and long-term plans. Please see below for a summary of the key exchanges. Summary provided by Dods.

Will Quince, Minister for Children and Families:

  • Said he looked forward to working with the sector, those with firsthand experience, and colleagues across the House, to inform an ambitious and etailed govt response and implementation strategy to be published before end of 2022
  • He said he had three main priorities:
    • Improve the child protection system
    • Support families to care for their children
    • To ensure there are the right places for children in the right places
  • To respond without delay, the Government are establishing a National Implementation Board of people of experience of leading transformational change
  • The Board will also consist of people with experience of the care system
  • Too many vulnerable children have been let down by the system but the Government is striving to change this
  • In April, the Government backed the Supporting Families Programme with £695m for 3,000 of the most vulnerable families – he welcomed reviews recognition of this programme
  • The Government will work with the sector to develop a nation children’s social care framework and will set out more detail on this later this year
  • The Minister said he supported the principle of the review’s proposed early career framework
  • He said they would set out “robust plans” to refocus the support social workers receive early on, with a particular focus on child protection
  • They would take action to take forward the review’s three data and digital priority areas, ensuring Las and partners were in “driving seat of reform”
  • Following review’s recommendation for a data and tech taskforce, the Government will introduce a new digital and data solutions fund to help local authorities improve delivery for children and families through technology – more detail will follow later this year on joining up data across the public sector
  • The Government will prioritise working with local authorities to recruit more foster carers, which will include pathfinder local recruitment campaigns that build towards a national programme
  • The Government will focus on providing more support through the application process, to improve conversion rate from expression of interest, to approved foster carers
  • Quince said he would return to the House on this date next year to update Parliament on progress made with regards to the review
  • As an initial response to the Competition and Markets Authority (CMA) report into the children’s social care market, the Minister said he had asked the DfE to conduct research into the children’s homes workforce
  • He announced that, on Thursday, the Child Safeguarding Practice Review panel would set out lessons learned from the deaths of Arthur Labinjo-Hughes and Star Hobson, and that the Education Secretary would outline the Government’s response in an oral statement to the House

Helen Hayes, Shadow Minister for Children and Families:

  • She welcomed the reviews conclusion that a total rest of the system was needed, and said its conclusion was a “terrible indictment of the extent to which this government has been failing children for more than a decade”
  • She highlighted a rise in the number of children in poverty, saying it was a causal factor underpinning the government’s failure
  • Hayes said the number of looked-after children had increased continually since 2010, as had the number of section 47 inquiries, while half of all children’s services departments had been rated ‘Inadequate’ of ‘Requiring improvement’
  • This was while staff turnover had increased, and outcomes for care leavers had been worsening – all while private providers made £300m in profits last year
  • She said the law recognised the age of 18 as the end of childhood, and it was therefore “shocking” that the Government had allowed children to be placed in unregister children’s homes and “other completely unsuitable accommodation” – she therefore welcomed the review’s conclusion that unregistered placements for 16 and 17 year olds must stop
  • She welcomed the focus on restoring early help to families, as well as the recommendations regarding further support for kinship carers
  • Hayes said that, while the Minister had re-announced a series of policies today, there was nothing here that would deliver the transformation in children’s social care that the review demanded
  • She asked the Minister if he would commit to a firm date for the publication of a comprehensive response to the review and a detailed implementation plan
  • She asked if he expected there would be a need for legislation, and how this squared with the absence of children’s social care in the Queen’s Speech
  • She asked how the announcement of early help investment would ensure that early help services were available in every area of the country so that every family who could be supported
  • She also asked what representations he was making to the Treasury in response to the review
  • Hayes asked if the Minister would commit to an end to profiteering in children’s social care
  • She also asked how he would ensure the voices of children were at the heart of children’s social care, and how he would guarantee the workforce were fully engaged and involved as reforms were implemented
  • Finally, she asked how he would ensure that, as reforms were implemented, the framework of accountability for decisions made by the state about the care of children, would be strengthened

Minister Quince:

  • The Minister reiterated that he wanted to take as much of a cross-party approach to this reform as possible
  • He said they had to be honest that, despite years of real-terms increase in social care, too many children were still being let down
  • On implementation, he said he and the Education Secretary were determined that this wouldn’t be “just another report”, which was why he was establishing an implementation board, with the view of delivering a plan by the end of this year
  • He said he hoped that, with this excellent review, they had a roadmap and an opportunity to ensure cases of abuse and neglect were “as rare as they are trgic”

Robert Halfon (Con, Harlow), chair of the Education Committee:

  • Halfon described it as a “visionary” report, saying that it was a family/community-upwards approach, rather than a top-down
  • He said he hoped the Government would be bold on the funding issues raised, and also the proposal on the private company windfall tax
  • He asked what the Government were doing to ensure children in care were being placed in ‘Good’ or ‘Outstanding’ schools and were receiving the right targeted catch-up tuition, and mentoring support, to help catch up on lost learning and leave care into a good job

Minister Quince:

  • The Minister confirmed their plan was to be “bold and ambitious”
  • Their intention was to set out an immediate response today, and then publish a full response and implementation plan by the end of the year
  • He said Halfon was right that the results of children in care and care leavers were unacceptable, and that this review was about improving the life chances of some of the most vulnerable children in the country

Tim Loughton (Con, East Worthing and Shoreham), co-vice chair of the APPG for Looked After Children and Care Leavers and former children’s minister:

  • Loughton noted a review was only as good as its delivery, and asked why this one would be different to the previous “once-in-a-generation reforms” that hadn’t fixed these issues
  • He also asked the Minister how the proposed Family Help programme would interact with the Family Hubs programme and the Best Start in Life programme

Minister Quince:

  • The Minister said he was right that they had to ensure that the implementation of this review was different to what had gone before – and noted the SEND review of 2014 as an example of a bold and ambitious plan, where the implementation did not match
  • This was why he wouldn’t be diving straight into the 80+ recommendations, and instead had opted to set out an initial plan and then engage on the bigger conclusions so that they could get this right

Emma Hardy (Lab, Kingston upon Hull West), vice-chair of University APPG:

  • Hardy urged the Minister to look particularly at what happened to care leavers when they reached 18, saying that the support immediately fell away, and asked the Minister to consider this when formulating the government response to the review

Minister Quince:

  • The Minister said she was right and that he would be looking carefully at the recommendations
  • He also said it was important they didn’t see this as a DfE-only issues – that there was a role for every government department, local authority, and even business, to play

Jess Phillips, Shadow Minister for Safeguarding:

  • Phillips offered her guidance and experience in the development of the response, particular so the government ensured that violence against women and girls (VAWG) specialist were included
  • She urged the Minister to stop the placement of 16 and 17 year olds in unregulated settings today

Minister Quince:

  • The Minister said she was right to reference victims of domestic abuse, and assured her he was committed to working across government and public services in their response and wider support
  • On the point of regulation, he said the government had £142m earmarked to support the regulation of settings to 17 and 18 year olds

Andrew Gwynne (Lab, Denton and Reddish), chair of the Kinship Care APPG:

  • Gwynne asked if the Minister would commit to delivering on the proposals in the review to unlock family networks, including family group decision-making, as well as the package of support for kinship carers

Minister Quince:

  • The Minister said they would look very closely at the recommendations regarding kinship care and special guardians

Munira Wilson, Liberal Democrat Education Spokesperson:

  • Wilson said kinship carers received no financial support unless they registered as foster parents, but that this process denied them parental responsibility for the child – so she asked again if the Government would accept the review’s recommendations for kinship carers to get the same financial support as foster carers

Minister Quince:

  • The Minister said they would look carefully at all the recommendations and, while he agreed with her, he wouldn’t been drawn on committing or dismissing the report’s recommendations at this point in time

Research process seminar: Research, Policy Impact and Evidence. Tuesday 8th March at 2pm on Zoom

Uncategorized

You are warmly invited to join us for this week’s research process seminar. Hosted in FMC but open to all.

This session is the first of a series of seminars looking at research impact. John will reflect on his impact case study for REF 2021 (submitted for UoA34) and his ongoing role with UK Parliament in giving you practical tips on developing evidence of impact in the policy sphere.

Research, Policy Impact and Evidence – by Prof. John Oliver

This session will provide an outline of how to produce evidence that establishes the policy impact of your research. In particular, it will provide examples of recent policy impacts with both the UK communications regulator Ofcom and UK Parliament. 

Tuesday 8th March at 2pm on Zoom

https://bournemouth-ac-uk.zoom.us/j/9292103478?pwd=UzJnNTNQWDdTNldXdjNWUnlTR1cxUT09

Meeting ID: 929 210 3478

Passcode: rps!4fmc

Hope to see you there

 

 

Free event – Q&A about engaging with Parliamentary Select Committees

BU research, Impact, parliament, policy, Research communication

If you would like your research to have policy impact, this free event being run by UCL is a great opportunity to find out more about  select committees and how to engage them with your research.

“This year marks the 120th anniversary of the IOE, UCL’s Faculty of Education and Society, and we will be bringing experts, senior academics, doctoral students and early career researchers together online on 27 January 2022 at 12.30pm to discuss effective ways researchers and the professionals who collaborate with them can work with Select Committees, engage policy makers with their scientific findings and achieve real-world change!

Join us for an insightful talk and Q&A with:

Much of the work of the UK House of Commons or House of Lords takes place in committees. There is a Commons Select Committee for each government department, examining three aspects: spending, policies and administration. These departmental committees have a minimum of 11 members, who decide upon the line of inquiry and then gather written and oral evidence. Findings are reported to the Commons, printed, and published on the Parliament website. The government then usually has 60 days to reply to the committee’s recommendations.

This interactive session consists of a brief introduction of the work of Select Committees, before sharing inside knowledge on how best to translate research findings into actionable recommendations that are included in their evidence reports, and launching into a Q&A session. Audience members are free to submit questions prior to and during the session.”

Places are limited and will be allocated on a first come, first served basis. Sign up to guarantee your ticket below:

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/ioe-impact-meet-ups-online-working-with-uk-parliament-select-committees-tickets-229339248867

Announcements: Clinical Research | Broadcasting | Body Image | Decarbonising Transport | NHS

Impact, policy, Uncategorized

Today’s announcements:

Health Secretary Matt Hancock has made an announcement on the £64 million funding provided to strengthen clinical research delivery

 

Digital Secretary Oliver Dowden has made an announcement on plans for a new broadcasting white paper

 

The House of Commons Women and Equalities Committee has published a report on the government response to the Women and Equalities Select Committee Report; ‘Changing the perfect picture: an inquiry into body image’

 

The Institute for Public Policy Research has published a report on decarbonising UK transport

 

NHS Providers has published a survey on pressure on the NHS

Event: Journalism – an effective bridge between research and policy?

Impact, policy

Social Science and the media: How can journalism provide an effective bridge between research and policy?
A free online event on 24 May to explore how we can grow a more supportive relationship between journalism, social research and policy. The meeting is part of a series organised by Transforming Evidence, an interdisciplinary collaboration aiming to share learning, connect communities and generate meaningful research about how we make and use evidence. This workshop aims to bring together academics, researchers, journalists and funders to discuss the current and potential role of the media in influencing the relationship between university research and policy

AGENDA

13:00 Welcome and introduction to Transforming Evidence

Professor Annette Boaz, co-lead Transforming Evidence.

13:05 Introductions

Jonathan Breckon(Chair)

13:10 What more can social scientists do to provide relevant and high-quality news content?

David Walker, contributing editor Guardian Public, and ex-ESRC Board Member

13:20 The role of academic expertise in media debates on Europe in post-Brexit Britain

Professor Catherine Barnard FBA, Deputy Director, UK in Changing Europe.

13:30 Educational research for the media; how best to inform policymaking for schools?

Fran Abrams, Chief Executive, Education Media Centre.

13:40 Academic rigour and journalistic flair: what role can intermediary organisations play
between journalist, academics and policy makers?

David Levy, Trustee, The Conversation UK and Senior Research Associate,
Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, University of Oxford

13:50 Chair leads discussion with speakers & audience Q&A

14:15 Finish

Parliament, policy engagement, and devolved policy training sessions for researchers

Impact, policy

UK Parliament’s Knowledge Exchange Unit are offering two free online training sessions for academic researchers and knowledge mobilisers.

Please email policy@bournemouth.ac.uk if you secure a place at either of these events so we can track interest in the events we are sharing. Thank you.

 

Parliament for Researchers: free online training sessions from UK Parliament

BU research, Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, policy, Training

UK Parliament’s Knowledge Exchange Unit has two free online training sessions coming up in May. The sessions are popular and fill up quickly, so book your free ticket as soon as possible! You can also access recordings and resources from previous ‘Parliament for Researchers’ training sessions, including sessions tailored for researchers at different career stages and covering different topics such as select committees and writing for a parliamentary audience.

Policy Engagement for Researchers – Government in contrast to Parliament: 19th May 2021, 14:00 – 15:00pm

Parliament and Government are separate institutions, with different ways for researchers to engage with each. To complement your knowledge about working with Parliament, join this practical online training session to explore how research evidence and expertise is used by Government and how you as a researcher can engage, plus how this relates to research use at UK Parliament. Featuring speakers from across UK Government.

Parliament for Researchers – how to engage with devolved legislatures: 25th May 2021, 10:00 – 11:00am

Join this practical online training session to explore research use by the UK’s devolved legislatures and how you as a researcher can engage, plus how this relates to research use at the UK Parliament. Featuring speakers from the Scottish Parliament, Northern Ireland Assembly and Welsh Parliament/Senedd Cymru.

For more information about online training for researchers from UK Parliament, email Parliament’s Knowledge Exchange Unit on keu@parliament.uk.

 

Ask the Experts – Briefing on COVID-19

policy

The Parliamentary & Scientific Committee are holding an Ask the Experts briefing on COVID-19 on Monday 15 March from  5.30pm to 7.00pm on Zoom – organised jointly by the Parliamentary and Scientific Committee, the Academy of Medical Sciences, the British Academy, the Royal Academy of Engineering and the Royal Society.

This briefing event is the next in a series of ‘ask the experts’ online briefings and Q&A sessions on COVID-19 organised for Parliamentarians by the National Academies.

As all four nations of the UK begin to ease restrictions, this session will bring together a panel of experts who can answer your questions about:

  • New variants of COVID-19 and our ability to respond to them
    Professor Judith Breuer FMedSci, Director of Infection and Immunity, Professor of Virology at UCL, who sits on the BSI immunology advisory group  
  • Vaccine passports
    Professor Melinda Mills MBE: Fellow of the British Academy, Director, Leverhulme Centre for Demographic Science, University of Oxford & Nuffield College and co-author of Twelve criteria for the development and use of COVID-19 vaccine passports 
  • How we can make spaces COVID-safe and the limitations of this
    Dr Shaun Fitzgerald FREng Royal Academy of Engineering Visiting Professor in Sustainable Buildings at the University of Cambridge and member of the SAGE Environmental Working Group
  • Long COVID
    Professor Charles Bangham FMedSci FRS: Professor of Immunology, Faculty of Medicine; Co-Director of the Institute of Infection, Imperial College London

    The event is free for BU colleagues. Please contact policy@bournemouth.ac.uk to find out how to book your place.

 

Other Forthcoming  Meetings and Events 

Monday 12th April 2021 at 5.30pm, Online 

The UK National Quantum Programme  

In partnership with Innovate UK 

 

Monday 7th June 2021, at 5.30pm, Online  

Natural Capital Initiative  

 

Monday 5th July 2021,  at 5.30pm, Online  

Climate Change    

In partnership with the  Met Office    

 

Parliamentary & Scientific Committee – online events

policy

The Parliamentary and Scientific Committee have announced their forthcoming 2021 seminars. BU staff are eligible to attend without charge.

Please contact policy@bournemouth.ac.uk if you wish to book a place on any of these events.

  • Monday 1st February – What does the UK-EU deal mean for science? in partnership with the Royal Society, 11:00-12:10, online. 
  • Monday 15th February – Sector Deals for SME’s at 5.30pm, online.
  • Monday 8th March – STEM for Britain 11.00am – 1.00pm, online
  • Monday 15th March – Covid 19 update in partnership with the Royal Society, 5.30pm, online 
  • Tuesday 16th March – Annual General Meeting 12.30pm, online  
  • Monday 12th April – The UK National Quantum Programme in partnership with Innovate UK at 5.30pm, online 
  • Monday 7th June – Natural Capital Initiative  at 5.30pm, online
  • Monday 5th July – Climate Change in partnership with the Met Office at 5.30pm, online  

   

  

 

Child poverty – call for evidence

policy, Uncategorized

 The Work and Pensions Committee has launched a new inquiry to examine what steps the Government could take to reduce the numbers of children who grow up in poverty in the UK.

The initial focus of the Committee will be on the best way to measure child poverty and how the Dept of  Work and Pensions works with other Government departments and local authorities to reduce the number of young people living in poverty.

The inquiry is then expected to examine how well the social security system is working for children, the experiences of families with no recourse to public funds, and support for working parents and separated families.

The Committee have launched a call for written submissions to the inquiry, which they would like to focus on the following questions:

Measurement and targets

  • How should child poverty be measured and defined?
  • The measures of child poverty changed in 2016. What has the impact of those changes been?
  • What were the advantages and disadvantages of having a set of targets for reducing child poverty?
  • What has been the effect of removing from law the targets in place between 2010 and 2016?
  • What is the impact of child poverty and how can it best be measured?
  • What links can be established for children between financial hardship, educational under-achievement, family breakdown and worklessness?

Joint working

  • How effectively does the Department for Work and Pensions work with other Government departments, particularly the Department for Education and the Treasury, to reduce child poverty?
  • How effectively does the Department for Work and Pensions work with local authorities and with support organisations to reduce the numbers of children living in poverty and to mitigate the impact of poverty on children?
  • What would be the merits of having a cross-government child poverty strategy? How well has this worked in the past?

You can view the call for evidence here: https://bit.ly/3ifuSds

You can also read the full press release here: https://bit.ly/2KhL4yx

Please contact Sarah or Jane in the BU policy team before responding to this inquiry. Email us on policy@bournemouth.ac.uk

 

Women in the Armed Forces

Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology, policy

The Defence Committee are particularly keen for academics to contribute to their inquiry into Women in the Armed Forces

The inquiry focuses on the experiences of Women in the Armed Forces, from recruitment through to employment, and (for those who leave) their transition to civilian life.

The Committee is currently accepting written evidence submissions for this inquiry and would like to boost participation in this, especially from academics. Individuals and organisations are able submit written evidence here, until 31 January 2021. Please get in touch with the BU policy team if you are considering replying to this inquiry.

There are options for colleagues who wish to submit evidence in a personal capacity or anonymously – again talk to Jane or Sarah within the policy team so we can support you.

Net Zero

policy

The Think Tank Onward have published its latest research report, Getting to zero, which marks the launch of a major cross-party programme of research  to understand the political and practical challenges to achieving net zero by 2050, and to develop policies to help people and places who may be disrupted in the transition.

You can read the full report here.

Summary below provided by Dods.

Getting to zero will be jointly chaired by Rt Hon Caroline Flint, who served as Shadow Energy and Climate Change Secretary for 4 years, and Dame Caroline Spelman, who was Environment Secretary for 2 years and negotiated the Sustainable Development Goals for the UK at Rio 2012. The wider steering group includes Melanie Onn, former Labour MP for Great Grimsby and Deputy CEO of Renewables UK, Ruth Edwards, MP for Rushcliffe, and Guy Newey, Energy Systems Catapult. A full list is included below.

The launch report for the programme, published today, argues that the UK has led the world in delivering net zero in recent years:

  • The UK was the first major economy to legislate for Net Zero emissions by 2050, prompting China, Japan, France and South Korea to follow suit. With the USA expected to join the club in 2021, more than three fifths (62%) of global CO2 emissions, and three quarters (74%) of global GDP, will shortly be subject to legally binding net zero targets.
  • The UK’s manufacturing, industrial, heat and electricity sectors have all decarbonised by around half since 1990, the highest rates in the G7. Over the same period, China and India have seen their manufacturing and industrial emissions grow by 370% and 280% respectively and China’s emissions from heat and electricity have risen 540%.

But as the UK goes further and faster to delivering net zero there will increasingly be geographic, political and economic trade offs that need to be better understood and mitigated. Looking at the distribution of jobs in industries that contribute more than 2% of UK carbon emissions, Onward finds:

  • The UK’s least prosperous regions disproportionately rely on heavily emitting industries for jobs at present. The East Midlands has the highest proportion of jobs in high emitting industries (42%), closely followed by the West Midlands (41%), Yorkshire and the Humber (38%), and the North West (38%). In contrast, London and the South East have the lowest proportion of jobs in high emitting industries, with 23% and 34% respectively. In total, more than half (52%) of high emitting jobs are located in the North, Midlands (19%) and Scotland (9%).
  • Politically, there is a strong correlation between the political battlegrounds of recent elections, and the areas with the most high emitting jobs. Of the top tenth of constituencies by high emitting jobs, 14% are in Scotland, 28% are in the North and 22% are in the Midlands, but just 5% are in London. In the reverse, over half (52%) of the lowest tenth of constituencies by high-emitting jobs are in London. Just 5% are in the Midlands.
  • The seats that make up the so-called Red Wall in the North and the Midlands, which were targeted at the last election and which will form the key battleground at the next election, are likely to suffer the highest levels of disruption of any constituencies. 43% of workers in the Red Wall work in currently high-emitting industries, compared to an average of 37% for Conservative and Labour seats outside the Red Wall. Liberal Democrat seats have the lowest proportion of high emitting jobs – just 32% on average.
  • The more rural a constituency is, the more its local economy relies on high emitting jobs. Nearly half (48%) of the top decile of constituencies by high emitting jobs are classified as rural or towns, while just a quarter (25%) are in cities. In contrast, more than half (54%) of the seats least reliant on high emitting jobs are in cities, 44% are in towns and only 2% are rural.

The research will spend the next nine months ahead of COP26 looking at three aspects of the net zero transition: how to decarbonise incumbent industries; how to retrain and upskill workers at risk of disruption; and how to create the regulatory and financial conditions for innovation. It will use statistical research, polling and focus groups and engage a wide range of Whitehall departments, industries and campaigners.

Ted Christie-Miller, author of the report:

“Net zero will require more than legal commitments. It demands a plan that is not only practical but which smooths the transition for those people and places whose livelihoods are based in the carbon economy, many of whom are in the Red Wall battlegrounds that decided the last election and may well decide the next.”

 

“The UK has an historic opportunity in advance of COP26 next year to develop lasting policies that can not only deliver net zero but which can carry the support of voters and companies through a titanic transformation of our economy and society. It must take it.”

 

Dame Caroline Spelman, Co-chair of the Getting to zero commission:

“Reducing carbon consumption to net zero is the socially responsible decision our generation has taken to help future generations; but we must make sure the impact of this does not aggravate existing inequalities in our country. This can only be done by enabling mitigation for those who will be hardest hit and taking advantage of the opportunities that are there to be grasped.”

 

Rt Hon Caroline Flint, Co-chair of the Getting to zero commission:

“The challenge of net zero is immense; the deadlines are rushing towards us. This requires faster decision making than we are used to in British politics, as we change our industries, our homes, how we get from place to place and the very energy we use. In cleaning up our act, no community should be left behind. They will all have to be part of the journey and share the benefits. I look forward to working with Dame Caroline Spelman and the wide range of contributors to the Getting to zero project.”

 

 

Call for researchers with disabilities to engage with Parliament

Impact, policy

Parliament aims to diversify the voices heard from the research community. Researchers with disabilities are under-represented in engagement with Parliament and the Parliamentary Office of Science and Technology (POST) is aiming to change this. (Note – they cover all disciplines not just science and technology.)  In February 2021 POST are running online discussion groups to learn about the experiences and ideas of researchers with experience of disability. They aim to explore and understand barriers for researchers with disabilities in engaging with Parliament, and work towards overcoming these. POST are calling for researchers and knowledge exchange professionals with disabilities to join with the UK Parliament’s Knowledge Exchange Unit and to share their experience. The groups will take place on 18th, 23rd and 24th February 2021.  Find out more and apply to join a session.

This activity is part of ongoing work to support more diverse and inclusive engagement between UK Parliament and researchers, from Parliament’s Knowledge Exchange Unit.