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Wilford's research-based evidence to a Standing Committee of the NI Assembly (NIA) tasked to review options for the reform of both the Assembly and the NI Executive has exerted impact on several of its recommendations, including a holistic review of the NIA's committee system; the strategic redesign of the Executive, including a reduction in the number of Executive Departments; provisions for an Official Opposition; and the `hollowing-out' of the Office of First and Deputy First Minister.
Politics staff at Cardiff have conducted detailed research on public attitudes towards devolution in Wales. By directly informing the conclusions of the All Wales Convention, and the behaviour of key actors in the 2011 Welsh referendum, the research has significantly influenced the Welsh devolution settlement. The research has contributed substantially to the on-going work of the Silk Commission. Regular and effective public dissemination of key research findings has enabled the research to inform political debate in Wales. The research has also contributed to the development of survey capacity in Wales, and thereby facilitated the conduct of more regular Welsh political polling.
The case study describes the impact of research conducted at the Institute of Welsh Politics (IWP) on public opinion on Welsh devolution by Professor Wyn Jones and Professor Scully. Two types of impact have been generated by this research. First, the research has informed public policy processes relating to the Welsh devolution settlement primarily in Wales but also in the UK more generally. Second, the research, and its dissemination through media, public seminars and educational activities has resulted in impact on societal beneficiaries in Wales, specifically through informing and shaping public discourse on and understanding of Welsh devolution. The impact derives from ESRC-funded public opinion surveys and key academic publications on public attitudes in Wales towards devolution.
Though the individual research agendas have distinctive emphases, the contributions of Aughey, Birrell and Trench have become integral elements in understanding the development of devolution in the United Kingdom (UK). The impact of this work, through engagement with Parliamentary Commissions, Parliamentary and Assembly Committees and policy think tanks, helps define for politicians, administrators, interest groups as well as the general public the relationship between English and British identity, how devolved institutions operate in the context of central government programmes and the options for policy makers in devising financial arrangements which respect devolved autonomy, English interests and UK equity.
Before the UK's 2010 election there were widespread fears that a hung Parliament might lead to political and economic chaos. Research conducted and published by the UCL Constitution Unit showed both the necessity for a Cabinet Manual to guide the process of forming a new government in the event of a hung Parliament, and examined the best models available. Although the full Cabinet Manual was published in 2011, the Cabinet Office published a key chapter (Elections and Government Formation) before the 2010 general election. The chapter, which drew heavily on the insights of and recommendations made in the UCL research, helped ensure in May 2010 an orderly transition to government of the first coalition in 60 years. That transition was also supported by the researchers' use of their findings to enhance understanding among professional, media and public audiences of what would happen in the event of a hung parliament.
Essex research on the causes and consequences of devolution substantially changed the way BBC News and Current Affairs reports on the nations of the United Kingdom. Professor Anthony King's research on devolution underpinned a 2008 report that he was commissioned to prepare for the BBC Trust. The report examined BBC News and Current Affairs' coverage of the UK's nations and made recommendations as to how this coverage could be improved. The BBC Trust and BBC management accepted the bulk of King's recommendations. The result, still in evidence, has been a transformation in the quality and quantity of the BBC's relevant television, radio and online output, including a seven-fold increase in references to devolved institutions in subsequent years' broadcasts.
This case study focuses on the impact of Professor the Lord Norton of Louth's body of research on constitutional structures and procedures as that relates to the creation of mechanisms of post-legislative scrutiny in the UK Parliament. Since his ennoblement in 1998, the impact of this body of research on many areas of public policy, law and services has been both direct and linear, and via Norton's continuing contributions in the Lords chamber and through his chairmanship and membership of various parliamentary committees. The research that he conducted through the Centre for Legislative Studies, specifically that related to parliamentary monitoring of the effects of legislation and post-legislative scrutiny in the UK informed heavily Norton's Chairmanship of the House of Lords Select Committee on the Constitution, leading this committee and others to press the Government successfully to adopt specific proposals regarding systematic post-legislative review. Since 2008, UK Acts of Parliament are normally reviewed three to five years after enactment. This became established procedure and is included in the Cabinet Manual. Clearly, the official adoption of the body of research by the UK Parliament has impacted every piece of UK legislation passed in the current REF period.
Domestic violence affects one in four women in England and Wales and two women are killed each week by their partner or ex-partner. It is recognised as an important policy issue and women's non-governmental organisations (NGOs) contribute to policy development at different levels of government. Research on gender and political processes in the context of devolution has contributed to campaigns conducted by the Violence Against Women Action Group in Wales, understandings of domestic violence within the policy community in Wales, and debates about women's political representation in the UK. It has informed debates about the use of statistics relating to domestic abuse and contributed to the withdrawal of misleading statistics from public display; raised questions about the gender-neutral definition of domestic abuse adopted by the Welsh Assembly Government and Swansea City Council in their domestic abuse strategies; fed into campaigns by third sector organisations relating to domestic abuse and violence against women; and contributed to and informed the debate on positive measures to increase the political representation of women.
This case study reports three inter-related impacts from Peter Clegg's research at UWE, Bristol. Firstly, his research has helped to shape the reform programme and the return to self-government in the Turks and Caicos Islands. Secondly, it has helped to frame the United Nations Decolonisation Committee's views on how best to implement the Third International Decade for the Eradication of Colonialism. Thirdly, it has assisted the UK Overseas Territories governments to create an enabling environment for the protection and promotion of the human rights and dignity of People Living with HIV. It has done so by ensuring that these governments' laws and policies facilitate HIV prevention, care, treatment and support for people living with HIV/AIDS.