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Wildfire was barely recognised as a significant hazard in the UK prior to University of Manchester (UoM) research, that significantly changed stakeholders' and national policy-makers' awareness. This work on mapping and forecasting moorland wildfire risk has informed the Cabinet Office, and has demonstrated clear impact on fire preparedness planning in the Peak District National Park (where it is estimated that a large fire is potentially avoided each year). Following an ESRC-NERC seminar series (FIRES), the England and Wales Wildfire Forum (EWWF) was established, with EWWF persuading Government to further amend national policy on wildfire. This impact is ongoing, with DEFRA including wildfire in its `National Adaptation Programme', and the Cabinet Office recently including wildfire within the `National Risk Assessment' framework.
Research conducted by Members of the Centre for Local and Regional Government Research (CLRGR) in Cardiff Business School (CBS) concerning the use of targets, performance indicators and external inspection to assess council performance and drive improvement in local services, has had a direct, significant and on-going impact on government policies in England and Scotland. In England, the research informed the Labour Government's decision to reduce the number of national performance indicators. It was also used by the Conservative Party in developing its 2010 manifesto commitment to reduce local government inspections and informed the local government policies implemented by the Coalition Government. In Scotland, the research directly influenced the design of a new inspection methodology introduced by Audit Scotland in 2009.
This case study concerns research in the fields of fire prevention and community safety. A novel causal factor model of accidental dwelling fire risk was developed and incorporated into a geographical information system for fire prevention management, which has been used by Merseyside Fire and Rescue Service (MF&RS) to support delivery of fire prevention activities within the region since 2010.
In addition, a novel customer segmentation approach was developed to provide an enhanced understanding of at-risk social groups in terms of combined fire risk, health risk, social care risk, and crime risk. This formed the basis for further analysis of causal factors within the same geographical area, enabling the deployment of yet more accurate targeting of fire prevention resources.
The impact of the research has been the adoption of the approach as a form of best practice to improve targeting of fire prevention activities, which is a contributing factor to the observed reduction in fire incidence. This was associated with a reduction in accidental dwelling fires by approximately 12% (163 incidents) observed across Merseyside between 2009/10 and 2012/13.
Research at the University of Manchester on the risk and cost of wildfire has altered government policy, changed firefighting practice and help conserve a National Park. Aylen's advice to the Resilience & Emergencies Division of the Department for Communities & Local Government in 2012 ahead of a submission to the Cabinet Office helped build the case for inclusion of wildfire in the Government's National Risk Assessment. His confidential briefings drew extensively on his published research on the novel topic of forecasting and costing wildfire incidents in the UK and his unpublished work on the costs of the Swinley wildfire in 2011.
Research by the Oxford Public Policy Group addresses a widespread concern among governments, international organisations, and NGOs that the pervasive use of targets and performance indicators in public service management can have important distortive effects. The group's work clarifies the different effects and shortcomings of performance indicators and develops a pioneering approach to assess their reliability. The research has been influential in generating better informed approaches to the use of indicators and targets in public service management — in the UK and by international institutions — and has shaped the wider policy and public debate.
Enhanced public safety and transformation of structural design for fire has resulted from improved building design through ERPE researchers' development of new and unique design methodologies, frameworks and tools for analysing fire spread. Fire safety engineering research within ERPE has created an improved scientific understanding of the effect of fire on structures and materials. Structural and fire safety engineers across UK, EU, USA, Canada as well as those who are members of international fire safety bodies have subsequently implemented significant advances for the design of safer, more economical, sustainable, and architecturally innovative buildings.
ERPE research has thus assisted the design and construction of increasingly optimised, sustainable, and economical buildings globally with significant changes in building design and regulation, particularly during 2009-2013.
This research addresses the long-recognised need for the development of collaborative research to develop shared understandings across professional groupings in local authorities. It has had major impact on policy and decision making at strategic and operational levels on the development and management of inter-professional partnerships in local authorities and public service agencies in the North West of England. It has also enabled substantial financial savings by improving decision making through developing inter-professional management strategies, and led to the growth of an international network of scholars through a Special Interest Group of the American Educational Research Association (AERA) and the development of two research scholarships in conjunction with Cheshire Fire and Rescue Service and two Academy Schools in Cheshire and Merseyside.
Policymakers worldwide have struggled to identify the optimum size for units of local government. The received wisdom has been that large councils are more efficient but less responsive to local needs. Researchers at the Centre for Local and Regional Government Research (CLRGR) in Cardiff Business School (CBS) undertook the first comprehensive empirical analysis of the impact of size on the performance of local authorities and studied whether partnerships between councils offer a better way of gaining the critical mass needed to achieve economies of scale than reorganising councils to produce larger organisations. The results directly influenced the policies of Welsh Ministers to encourage collaboration between councils and informed the decision by the Coalition Government to halt local government re-organisation in England.
This case study describes the effects of a new performance management system, developed in China and adopted by organisations facing complex management challenges. To date, seven public and private sector organisations have successfully used the `3E' (Effectiveness, Efficacy, and Efficiency) system for tasks as varied as developing performance indicators, improving management communication and designing appraisal systems that work under conditions of rapid growth and change.
The participating organisations include the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), Hunan University, Tonsan Adhesives Inc, Xingxiang Insurance, Sun-rivier local government, Liao-ling Plaze hotel and Hua-bao International Holdings. Their adoption of the 3E system has resulted in improved performance management within these organisations.
The Steady State Tube Furnace (ISO/FDIS 19700) allows fire toxicity to be quantified in real fire conditions. This has led to the introduction of "acidity classification" for cables in the European Construction Products Directive/Regulation (2008/2013) (as a surrogate for fire toxicity) to promote the use of safer, low smoke, zero halogen (LSZH) alternatives to PVC cables. Additionally, architects and building specifiers can use our data to avoid the most toxic foam insulation materials in low energy buildings. The biggest impact of our work, the global reduction in loss of life in fire is probably the most difficult to quantify, as too many other factors influence the fire statistics.