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Baseline research undertaken by University of Glasgow staff as part of the Sino-British Unemployment Insurance Project (UIP) improved unemployment insurance and employment service systems in six Chinese cities in the Liaoning and Sichuan provinces, directly benefitting a reported 25,000 recipients. The UIP pilots have since influenced unemployment insurance provision more widely in China. The research findings led to greater investment in technology, staff training and capacity development at different levels of government. This in turn has improved efficiency, enabling the Chinese government at provincial and urban levels in particular to monitor, collect and administer unemployment insurance payments and assistance.
A major challenge to economic policy and public sector governance is how to provide a sustainable economic basis for less prosperous localities and neighbourhoods. Research findings demonstrated the need for a greater focus upon enterprise and jobs at a sub-regional level and improved co-ordination and integration of governance arrangements in order to tackle this issue. These findings influenced the development of national and local government policy and practice towards the economic development of deprived areas from 2004 onwards. Impacts were evident through shaping a significant re-orientation in policy approaches towards deprived neighbourhoods as well as the development of specific policies and governance practice.
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.
Research by Professor Darren Smith into Housing in Multiple Occupation (HMO) improved knowledge of the effects of students in university towns in the UK and North America. His research led to revised national planning/housing legislation to integrate students into university towns and provide student housing in more strategic ways. Ministers for Communities and Local Government and Housing used his evidence when revising Use Classes. National consultation documents and government-commissioned evidence-gathering reports on HMO emphasise the importance of his research. His work led to Local Authority Student Housing Strategies and University Student Accommodation Strategies, best-practice guides for student-community relations by National Union of Students (NUS)/private sector, and inclusion of student housing in Regional/Local Housing Strategies and Housing Market Impact Assessments.
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.
For almost 50 years UK governments have designated area-based initiatives (ABIs) to moderate social, economic and environmental problems in disadvantaged urban areas. A research team from the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research (CRESR) has been assessing and explaining changes associated with ABIs for more than 20 years. Insights from two long-standing and inter-related research themes impacted on regeneration policy and practice in the post 2007 period: developing innovative methodologies through which to monetise benefits of ABIs; and research scoping the scale and nature of longer-term outcomes associated with ABIs, including those related to the engagement of communities. Impact has been achieved through the dissemination of findings and the provision of advice and guidance to government policy makers, committees and politicians. Beneficiaries from this research include central government regeneration policy makers, lobbying organisations and think tanks.
Southampton statisticians have made a valuable contribution to government policy formulation across the UK and further afield to areas of North America and Europe. Novel methods for delivering more accurate estimates of socio-economic indicators at neighbourhood level have given local authorities, national government agencies and MPs the tools to implement more effective policies designed to assist the poorest communities and strengthen community cohesion. The UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS) has described Southampton's contribution as `a breakthrough', while the Mexican government agency, CONEVAL, regards this work as `the most prestigious' of its kind.
Research conducted by Professor Wrigley of the University of Southampton has had a major impact on retail sector practices and government retail policy. Retail is a key sector of the economy. Gross value added (GVA) by the sector has risen by over 50% in real terms over the past 15 years. Wrigley's research established the key role of food retail in disadvantaged communities as a tool for both urban regeneration and a response to the `obesity epidemic'. Its impact has reset the parameters of policy debate on retail competition and contributed to both the evidence base and policy formulation on the future of the high street in the face of case of economic crisis and changing retail practices. These impacts have had national and global reach on UK and US government policies and have been significant in the launch of a large-scale experiment to eradicate `food deserts' (areas lacking healthy foods) in Philadelphia. The impacts have also been instrumental in convincing the retail industry of the value of academic research.
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.