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Lack of access to water and sanitation services (WSS) is a long-term material deficit in Latin American democracies, worsened since the 1980s by privatization and commodification policies. Research at Newcastle since 2005 has played a major role in supporting policy change to defend and enhance public services by providing evidence-based grounds for policy interventions and informed citizen participation. It has:
Professor Paul Grout has had a significant impact on national policy on the delivery of public services by the private sector in the last five years. His research undertaken at the University of Bristol on private provision by regulated utility companies and public private partnerships, using both economic theory and empirical studies, paved the way for his central involvement in, and directly informed, key regulatory decisions. These decisions impact materially on almost every individual and organisation in the UK. His research also directly led to his appointment in 2012 to the Board of Ofgem (the Gas and Electricity Markets Authority), the UK energy regulator.
Unique research at the University of Manchester highlights the shortcomings of public accountability and the high cost, to the public purse, of PPPs and the Private Finance Initiative (PFI) using critical financial analysis. Lead researchers have been invited to engage in dialogue with national audit regulators, give evidence to parliamentary committees and contribute to policy debate through international roundtables. The work has been used to challenge government policy and has significantly influenced the national and international public debate about the costs, affordability and value for money of PPPs. The UK government has now renegotiated existing PFI projects to achieve cost savings, and we have given evidence by invitation to international committees concerned with public accountability and policy development.
The Personal Finance Research Centre (PFRC) at the University of Bristol conducted a major research programme that shaped UK financial inclusion policy and informed research and policy internationally. PFRC carried out seminal research to measure the level and nature of financial exclusion in the UK. Subsequent studies looked at ways of improving access to banking, credit, insurance and savings that could reduce the `poverty premium' paid by low-income households. PFRC's research directly informed UK central government policy which resulted in the successful achievement of a shared government-banking industry target to halve the number of adults in households without a bank account (from two million to 890,000) and funding to extend affordable credit union loans and savings products to an additional one million low-income people.
Research conducted at the UoE (2005-13) on private sector involvement in health care has:
This impact has been achieved as a result of the distinctive methodology employed in the underlying research and, relatedly, the degree to which it has authority among policy stakeholders at the national and global levels.
One strand of Griffiths' academic work has looked at public service reform. This research has influenced a variety of think tank publications examining reform strategies in health, education and social care. In particular, it has shaped debates on citizenship, choice in public services, the `coproduction' of services between citizen and state, and greater professional autonomy. Both the New Labour Government and the Coalition have moved policy in this direction. Griffiths' contributions have been significant enough to be discussed by Cabinet Ministers and senior opposition politicians, special advisers, trade union groups and in local government. His latest edited book in this area is currently the subject of an ongoing series of debates between academics and policymakers, including government ministers, hosted by the Royal Society and Arts and sponsored by the ESRC.
This case study refers to the work of Professor Thankom Arun of the Institute of Global Finance and Development (IGFD) at UCLan, who has been working very closely with Microfinance Institutions (MFIs) and international development agencies to understand and tackle the critical issue of finance in the development process. The ingenuity and originality of this type of research has had a profound impact on national and international policy debates, challenging and disproving misunderstandings about the inability of the poor to engage effectively with financial services provision, such as savings and insurance. The research has had a significant direct impact on the functioning of microfinance institutions at the local and grassroots level and on the delivery of financial services to some of the most vulnerable communities around the world.
The Centre for Management Buyout Research (CMBOR) pioneered a unique live platform that has informed and influenced the work of UK, European and International government agencies, industry, policy makers, practitioners and researchers. For the first time, CMBOR provided systematic research evidence on private-equity buyouts which is an area that is often misunderstood among policy makers and the wider public. The provision of extensive data on over 30,000 European private equity buy-out transactions and quarterly reports / analyses on buy-out activity has served to enhance government, industry and the wider public's understanding and inform the development of policies and practice on a strategic and operational level in the UK, Europe and US.
The Personal Finance Research Centre (PFRC) at the University of Bristol conducted research between 2004 and 2006 to develop the UK's first quantitative baseline survey of financial capability. The survey was a significant departure from previous methodologies in that it not only assessed knowledge, but also skills and behaviours. The survey results became the basis for the Financial Services Authority's (FSA) understanding of financial capability in the UK, and PFRC's analysis of the survey findings were used to set priorities for its National Strategy for Financial Capability, worth £90 million. One of the findings of the survey was that young people are much less financially capable than their elders. As a result, a priority within the National Strategy was to educate young people. A number of programs were put in place including Learning Money Matters, which offered free advice, support and resources to schools between 2006 and 2011. The program successfully reached over 2 million young people in 4,259 schools, and in 2011 economic wellbeing and financial capability became a statutory part of school curriculum in England. Overall, the FSA strategy was deemed successful, exceeding its target of reaching 10 million people. International bodies regard the FSA's baseline survey as a model for their own work and the UK methodology has been adopted by countries including Ireland, Canada and the Netherlands. The World Bank has led a substantial research and evaluation programme in low and middle income countries that uses the UK approach.
Neuberger, together with David McCarthy (Imperial), who, in their earlier work, had raised concerns about the sustainability of the Pensions Protection Fund (PPF), were commissioned by the Fund to conduct research on alternative levy structures. This led to the development of a new risk-based levy structure, which was implemented over the years 2012-2013. This research and its resulting impact have not only shaped how the PPF operates in ensuring the levy's burden is fairly shared, but has also benefited all UK holders of occupation based pensions and the taxpayer at large.