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This case study captures the aftermath of the abolition of Regional Development Agencies and Government Offices in England after 2010. The research underpinning this case study analysed the shift from `regionalism' to `localism' in the North East of England and found that the abolition of the regional tier of governance in England did not invalidate the continuing need for multi-level policy coordination, networking and `voice' at the regional level. These findings, characterised as `Common-Sense Regionalism', directly led to the creation (by Central Government) of a Cross-Government Group of national and sub-national civil servants, representatives from local government and from the voluntary sector.
Research by Lawton Smith into analysing firms' behaviour and the relationships between entrepreneurship and innovation and regional growth has impacted on policy-making by regions and governments with international reach though the OECD. An initial Oxfordshire focus of the research resulted in the establishment of the Oxfordshire Economic Observatory (OEO) (joint Oxford University/Oxford Brookes/Birkbeck) which facilitated the application of the results of the research. Since 2008 OEO has been commissioned to undertake policy-focussed research in a variety of national and international contexts. The research has led to Lawton Smith's involvement in influential policy advisory groups in the UK and overseas.
Goddard's research in the Centre for Urban and Regional Development Studies (CURDS) has:
This case study relates to the impact of research by the University of Cumbria's Centre for Regional Economic Development (CRED) on the regional impacts of inward investors on supply chains and the effectiveness of policies designed to grow regional clusters. On the basis of publications, Professor Frank Peck (Director of CRED) was appointed Expert Evaluator for a sequence of EU FP7 "Regions of Knowledge" project proposals (2007-2011), and subsequently invited to join an EU Expert Group examining the role of clusters in Smart Specialisation Strategies in EU Regions. This work has demonstrated that existing cluster initiatives can justifiably be used as a means of implementing smart specialization. As a result, regions are being encouraged to retain cluster strategies as integral parts of EU regional and innovation policies for the 2014 - 2020 programming period.
The Local Governance Research Unit (LGRU) undertook a Knowledge Transfer Partnership (KTP) with the Association for Public Service Excellence (APSE), a not-for-profit local government association that provides policy and operational advice to over 300 councils. This partnership informed APSE's strategic policy review, co-producing a new model of the Ensuring Council, which was adopted by its national council, and used to brand and position APSE within local government. Seven evidence-based policy tools were created through the partnership and taken up and used by APSE for consultancy and membership services. Externally, APSE used these outputs to increase its influence over national policy.
A series of empirical research studies, underpinned by economic theory, explored enterprise support and urban settlement structure. The research contributed significantly to the evidence base used by East Midlands Development Agency (EMDA) in developing their Regional Economic Strategy (RES), and was key in shaping two of the Strategic Priorities. More generally, the research-based recommendations informed EMDA policy development, in particular, the £290 million Single Programme investment set out in the RES. The research also helped shape county councils' support for enterprise, innovation and business. More recently, the research has informed the shape of regional economic development beyond the regional development agencies into new government policy through the new Local Enterprise Partnerships; for example Lincolnshire's £14 million investment in broadband.
Researchers within the University of Cumbria Centre for Regional Economic Development (CRED) have published work on themes relevant to local economic policy across the UK. The research has focused in particular on the ways in which local and regional policymakers can influence growth processes in local economies; both directly through public sector procurement, and indirectly by providing advice and support to small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs). This research has been funded by public sector bodies specifically to inform their strategies, and to provide a basis for local economic policies. The findings have impacted upon the procurement practices of local authorities by drawing attention to the barriers to SME involvement in public contracts. Research on the nuclear supply chain has also influenced the Business Plan of the Cumbria Local Economic Partnership (LEP), and has been used in evidence to the Public Accounts Committee, UK Parliament.
Research undertaken within the Centre for Research on Socio-Cultural Change (CRESC) since 2009, has been applied within Enfield Borough Council to change its economic renewal strategies from having a training and infrastructure focus, to one which focuses on re-building local supply chains, leading to job creation, and the re-investment of pension funds to fund the delivery of badly needed social housing. This change in policy has been achieved by encouraging major employers, such as utility companies, to think of corporate social responsibility in a more local frame; and the council to re-engineer financial flows from the local authority pension fund.
Traditionally seaside towns have been one of the least understood of Britain's `problem areas'. Research by Beatty and Fothergill in the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research (CRESR) has broken new ground by developing and applying methodologies to assemble systematic evidence on the population and economy of seaside towns, dispelling myths about their decline, providing more subtle view of trends around the coast, documenting economic growth as well as unemployment, and highlighting the diversity of local experience. Impact has been achieved through the dissemination of findings and the provision of advice and guidance to government, policy makers and politicians. The major beneficiaries of this research have been policy makers and politicians in central and local government.
The governance geography adopted for the new Greater Birmingham and Solihull Local Enterprise Partnership (GBSLEP) in 2010 drew significantly on our research which showed that the functioning economic geography of the West Midlands included a distinctive economic growth belt that lies between 20km and 40km of the Birmingham conurbation. The approach taken by policy-makers and business leaders in the area to include this belt within the partnership area, extending it well beyond the core conurbation of Birmingham and Solihull, drew on research by Bryson, Daniels and Taylor. The LEP has continued to use the formulation of the enterprise belt in its subsequent proposals and developments, which cover an area with a population of nearly two million people, supporting 918,000 jobs and a GVA of about £35.5 billion. The influence of the Birmingham research on its approach is clear from the explicit references by the GBSLEP and other agencies to the term E3I, combining `economic', `entrepreneurial', `environmental' and `innovation' drivers of local economic growth, which was coined to describe the belt in the Birmingham research outputs.