Tagged / policy

BU policy influence digest newsletter – 09/10/2024

Read the latest edition of the BU policy influence digest newsletter. It is drawn from several sources including directly from UK central and devolved administrations, newsletters from Parliament Knowledge Exchange Unit, UPEN and others.

Items this week include;

  • New consultations and inquiries for policy impact – 08/10/2024
    • New opportunities to respond to consultations and inquiries from the UK and globally
  • Behind the scenes of the government’s areas for research interest
    • Who’s using the government’s new ARI database, and how are different government departments engaging with the researchers who get in touch?
  • Ten things we heard at the Labour Party Conference – HEPI
    • At the Labour Party Conference, higher education was highlighted as essential for addressing economic growth, skills development, and widening participation, with a strong focus on funding, partnerships, and embracing AI in education.
  • Research Professional – Five things we learned from the Labour conference
    • And the big question that universities are still waiting to have answered
  • How evidence-informed policymaking works in a Union of 27 states
    • This event will shed light on the work of The Scientific Advice Mechanism (SAM) and how the European policymaking process works.
  • A Policymaker’s Perspective: The Value of Arts and Humanities Research in the Policy Landscape
    • From UPEN – In this blog, Dr Domonique Davies, University of Reading reflects on the value of arts and humanities research on policy and shares insights from policy makers actively looking for researchers to engage with them.

If you’d like to receive future editions of this digest by email, sign up in two clicks (BU login required).

BU Emeritus Professor contributes to Transforming Society

Publishing

Congratulations to Prof. Jonathan Parker, Professor Emeritus in the Faculty of Health & Social Sciences, who was invited to contribute a post to the influential social science blog Transforming Society. See details here: Transforming Society ~ Now is the winter fuel payment of our discontent. The blog concerns the highly topical winter fuel payments and Jonathan’s policy analysis and its impact.
Congratulations
Prof. Edwin van Teijlingen

Sign up for Parliament for Researchers (House of Lords) training

The UK Parliament Knowledge Exchange Unit have announced a new online Parliament for Researchers with the House of Lords training session.

In this session, they will be joined by Lord Krebs who will share insights on the value of academic research in Parliament, informed by his background in Biological Sciences.

About the session

During the session, you will find out about how research evidence is used in both the House of Commons and the House of Lords, and how you can work with Parliament as a researcher.

Who is this for?

This session is suitable for early career researchers, PhD students and researchers who are new to engaging with the UK Parliament as well as those who would benefit from a refresher. The session will cover useful information for researchers of all academic backgrounds and will be of particular interest to those in the life sciences.

Sign up now

The session will take place online, on Wednesday 11 September, 13:00-14:00. You can register for the session here.

Each subsequent session will focus on a different academic discipline or topic. Details for future sessions will be shared on the KEU website.

Read and sign up to BU’s Policy Influence Digest

If you’re looking to have an impact on local, national and international policy with your research, you may find the BU policy influence digest email useful.

Read the latest edition on our Sharepoint site to get a sense of what is included.

The policy influence digest highlights policy influencing opportunities and tips. The digests are usually circulated weekly and contain information on expert calls, specialist or committee advisor opportunities, areas of research interest issued by the Government departments, fellowship opportunities, the notable sector reports and Government announcements from the week, events and training as well as a range of other opportunities to share your expertise (including responding to consultations or select committee inquiries).

If you’d like to receive the digest by email, sign up in two clicks or scan the QR code below (BU login required).

Sign up to BU’s Policy Influence Digest

Knowledge Exchange

If you’re looking to have an impact on local, national and international policy with your research, you may find the BU policy influence digest email useful.

The policy influence digest highlights policy influencing opportunities and tips. The digests are usually circulated weekly and contain information on expert calls, specialist or committee advisor opportunities, areas of research interest issued by the Government departments, fellowship opportunities, the notable sector reports and Government announcements from the week, events and training as well as a range of other opportunities to share your expertise (including responding to consultations or select committee inquiries).

Sign up in two clicks or scan the QR code below.

BU carbon pricing research cited in select committee report on the financial sector and the UK’s net zero transition

Knowledge Exchange

BU research on the impact of carbon pricing has featured in a House of Commons Environmental Audit Committee (EAC) report on the role of the financial sector in helping the UK achieve net zero emissions by 2050.

A cross-faculty team comprising Dr Alan Kirkpatrick and Dr Tahani Mohamed of the Business School and Dr Festus Adedoyin of the Faculty of Science and Technology submitted written evidence which has been published as part of the report, titled The financial sector and the UK’s net zero transition. 

Their evidence included recommendations considering the economic welfare implications of carbon emissions pricing at a national and international level, and the need for carbon border adjustment mechanisms (CBAMs) that has informed the EAC’s deliberations and subsequent recommendations to the Government.

Carbon pricing systems include carbon taxes and emissions trading systems (ETSs) in which carbon credits may be bought and sold thereby creating a ‘carbon market’ which, theoretically, could help achieve a global price for carbon.

In practice, however, carbon emissions pricing systems may encourage ‘carbon leakage’ – where businesses in countries that have more stringent carbon pricing rules try to save costs by moving production activities to countries with less demanding carbon pricing rules and hence lower costs.

CBAMs are designed to reduce carbon leakage by applying charges to take account of variations in carbon prices ruling in different jurisdictions.

The BU research team discussed the risk that CBAMs might be seen as ‘climate clubs’, reducing the competitiveness of carbon-intensive emerging economies but concluded that CBAMs are necessary to minimise carbon leakage when carbon emissions pricing systems such as the UK’s Emissions Trading Scheme are implemented.

In its report the EAC has recommended that the UK Government should develop a UK CBAM. The BU research team is continuing to analyse the impact of carbon emissions pricing on wider public wellbeing in the UK.

Read the full report – The financial sector and the UK’s net zero transition     

Parliamentary Committees online event, October 3rd

Knowledge Exchange

October 3rd, Cross-cutting policy and scrutiny challenges: Parliamentary committees

Find out about the work of the House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee and the House of Lords Science and Technology Committee, and how these Committees draw on evidence and expertise from academic researchers in science, technology, social science and beyond.

Come along with your questions and contribute to the discussion about cross-cutting and interdisciplinary policy and scrutiny challenges.

The speakers will be Yohanna Sallberg, Second Clerk and Katherine Woolf, Parliamentary Academic Fellow, House of Commons Health and Social Care Committee and Thomas Hornigold, Policy Analyst, House of Lords Science and Technology Committee. The webinar will be chaired by Nicky Buckley, Associate Director, Centre for Science and Policy, University of Cambridge.

This is a free event, please register on Eventbrite.

Masterclass: Writing for Policy and Building your Online Profile – 7th September

Knowledge Exchange

This is a free online event for academics interested in policy engagement, run by Showrunner Communications on 7th September, 13:00-15:00. You can sign up via Eventbrite.

During this session, participants will learn to write for policy stakeholders, including advice on drafting comment articles and blogs, and Select Committee and Government consultation responses.

This session will also focus on building participants’ professional social media profiles and emphasising their expertise online.

Showrunner’s training workshops build the understanding and skills that academics need to effectively achieve policy impact throughout their careers.

This session will be delivered by Nicky Hobbs and Jennifer Harrison, who are communications, policy, and education specialists, in partnership with Showrunner Communications and the Future Leaders Fellows Development Network.

Jennifer Harrison

Jennifer has a distinctive track record within the fields of policy, public affairs, and communications, on behalf of national and local government, the voluntary and community sector, and higher education. Her work has been used by think tanks and policy institutes, directly influenced legislative and policy change, and has represented policy interests at the highest level, including meetings with ministers, in regional and national media, and at parliamentary inquiries.

Jennifer was Durham University’s first policy engagement lead, working with academics to successfully achieve REF and societal impact. This included helping to secure the first ever parliamentary inquiry into urban soil health, securing changes to criminal justice legislation, and campaigning to end irresponsible lending practices that exacerbate poverty. She has been Chair of the Russell Group Political Affairs Network and has contributed widely to thought leadership across the sector, including policy blogs and conference speaking engagements focusing on the nature of policy engagement and research impact.

Nicky Hobbs

Nicky is a communications and engagement leader with over two decades of experience, Nicky has run programmes and led teams for multiple private and public sector organisations.

Nicky has led award-winning communications departments in two Russell Group universities; UCL and Queen Mary and stakeholder engagement at a Government department. At Queen Mary, Nicky led communications for the ground-breaking City of London Institute of Technology which opened in 2022. As a consultant, she has led engagement campaigns for multiple social enterprises and charities and has significant expertise in developing high-impact digital content with a focus on higher and further education.

 

Bespoke Engaging with Parliament training in May/June

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

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)

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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.