Summary Impact Type: Political

REF impact found 509 Case Studies

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Accurate statistical methods for detecting the source of human campylobacteriosis cases in New Zealand leads to an annual reduction of around 90,000 cases per year.

Summary of the impact

Research at Lancaster led to a novel approach to detect the source of cases of campylobacteriosis (a bacterial foodborne disease). The application of this method to data from New Zealand pin- pointed that New-Zealand's high rate of cases was linked to the eating of contaminated poultry. These results were a key part of the evidence used by New Zealand's Food Safety Authority to introduce a new code of practice for the poultry industry. The impact of this code of practice has been a halving of the number of reported cases of campylobacteriosis in New Zealand (from around 16,000 cases in 2006 to less than 7,000 in 2008). With notification rates estimated as 1 in 10, this corresponds to around 90,000 fewer actual cases per year. The saving for the New Zealand economy during the REF census period has been independently estimated as between £100M and £150M.

Submitting Institution

Lancaster University

Unit of Assessment

Mathematical Sciences

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Mathematical Sciences: Statistics
Economics: Applied Economics

Achieving change through policy-relevant research: strengthening the provision of health visiting by influencing government

Summary of the impact

Evidence about the need for and provision of health visiting services generated through research undertaken at King's College London (KCL) has underpinned major changes in national policies for health visiting. Our findings about health visitors' practice, availability and distribution of services and effectiveness in terms of parenting/child outcomes, revealed both shortfalls in provision and opportunities for improvement and led to the development of a new caseload weighting tool and funding model for service planning. The accumulated evidence from this research helped convince the UK Government in 2010 to commit to 4,200 more health visitors by 2015 — a workforce expansion of nearly 50% — in a time of austerity and restraint elsewhere in the public sector.

Submitting Institution

King's College London

Unit of Assessment

Allied Health Professions, Dentistry, Nursing and Pharmacy

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services
Studies In Human Society: Social Work

Advertising breast milk substitutes: testing the effectiveness of new legislation

Summary of the impact

The UK infant formula market increased in value from 2005-2013 by 65% to £463m. The Unit's research, funded by the Food Standards Agency and the Department of Health, addressed the concerns of policy makers and breast feeding lobby groups that baby food manufacturers might be circumventing recently introduced restrictions on advertising infant formula (breast milk substitute) products in such a way as to undermine support for, and uptake of, breastfeeding. The research findings underpinned the recommendations on regulatory change made to government by an independent review panel established by the Minister of State for Public Health. Since the panel reported, manufacturers have addressed the issue by removing publicly accessible links to infant formula product information.

Submitting Institution

University of Leicester

Unit of Assessment

Communication, Cultural and Media Studies, Library and Information Management 

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services

Advertising Obesity? TV Marketing, Food Promotion, Diet and Body Weight in Children.

Summary of the impact

Research conducted by the University of Liverpool (UoL) has convincingly shown that there are strong links between the exposure of children to food advertising, brand recognition and being overweight or obese. This work consistently informs the policies of regulators and health agencies, nationally and internationally. In this specific example, work by Halford and Boyland to characterize the effects of food advertising on children's diet, food preferences, intake and body weight has had a direct effect on UK and overseas policy development. Notably this includes informing WHO guidelines to national governments on introducing effective regulatory frameworks and for monitoring their effectiveness.

Submitting Institution

University of Liverpool

Unit of Assessment

Psychology, Psychiatry and Neuroscience

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Nutrition and Dietetics, Public Health and Health Services

1m. Aerial perches improve the welfare of laying hens and are now recommended by the European Union

Summary of the impact

Impact: Policy / animal welfare. Policy implementation changed and bird welfare improved.

Significance: Our research informed welfare guidelines impacting upon housing of around 200 million laying birds in the EU. Our work has been adopted in EC regulations, and they are pushing all EU member states to ensure all their producers install aerial perches over slatted surfaces.

Beneficiaries: Laying birds, welfare organisations, egg producers, and the general public.

Attribution: Prof. Sparks, Dr. Sandilands (SRUC). Involved collaboration with Prof. Green at Heriot Watt University acting as a vision specialist.

Reach: Guidelines have been adopted in EU legislation.

Submitting Institutions

University of Edinburgh,SRUC

Unit of Assessment

Agriculture, Veterinary and Food Science

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Biological Sciences: Zoology
Medical and Health Sciences: Neurosciences

Affecting private delivery of public services for households and businesses across the UK

Summary of the impact

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.

Submitting Institution

University of Bristol

Unit of Assessment

Economics and Econometrics

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Economics: Applied Economics
Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services: Banking, Finance and Investment
Studies In Human Society: Policy and Administration

Air Quality; Measurement, standardisation, and quantification of airborne contaminants

Summary of the impact

Impact type: Public Policy

Significance: The research provided evidence for formulation of government policies to ameliorate poor air quality, to which fine particulate matter (PM2.5), O3 and NO2 are the most important contributors; PM2.5 alone reduces average life expectancy in the UK by 6 months and costs £9bn-£20bn a year. The research has been incorporated into UK national guidance and policy-evidence documents for Defra, the Health Protection Agency, and the Environment Agencies.

Beneficiaries are the public and the environment.

Research; date; attribution: EaStCHEM research (1995-2011) (a) established reliable techniques to measure NO2 for a national protocol, and (b) quantified the impact of pollutant emissions on PM2.5 and O3 concentrations, and on hospital admissions and deaths. Heal (EaStCHEM) led the research and wrote, collaboratively in some cases, the reports and the work cited.

Reach: UK wide.

Submitting Institutions

University of St Andrews,University of Edinburgh

Unit of Assessment

Chemistry

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services

Alcohol, culture and public policy

Summary of the impact

This case study refers to research on British drinking cultures and alcohol policy carried out by James Nicholls, Reader in Media and Social Policy, Department of Film and Media Production/HCI (2004-September 2012). In this role, Nicholl's research and his public engagement contributed to shaping the UoA's research reference frame of cultural behaviour, cultural practice and public policy (see Ref5). Following the publication of his book, The Politics of Alcohol (2009) Nicholls developed as a specialist advisor involved in the analysis and planning of alcohol policy at national and regional levels. His work and influence has been cited in key policy documents (including the House of Commons Health Select Committee Report, Alcohol: First Report of Session 2009-10 HC151-1) in 2010. This work has subsequently helped to shape regional and national alcohol policy in both England and Scotland. This case study provides evidence of this impact in regard to the following areas:

  • Influence on alcohol policy at a national level, particularly regarding the role of historical perspectives in the development of policy.
  • Impact on alcohol policy at a regional level through knowledge transfer activities.

Submitting Institution

Bath Spa University

Unit of Assessment

Communication, Cultural and Media Studies, Library and Information Management 

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Medical and Health Sciences: Public Health and Health Services
Studies In Human Society: Policy and Administration

A New Way to Build Alliances in the EU

Summary of the impact

Increased understanding of how a member state can influence the EU created two kinds of impacts: changing thinking, understanding and awareness (e.g. HM Treasury); and changing strategy and policy (e.g. EU Committee of Regions). Impacts were generated between 2008 and 2012 on the Polish Government, the Swedish International Development Agency, the US Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation, civil servants in Ukraine, Russia and the UK, the European think tank community, the Labour Party and the EU's Committee of the Regions. Impact was generated through consultancies to public bodies and by providing advice to governments, international organisations and the private sector.

Submitting Institution

Aston University

Unit of Assessment

Area Studies

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Commerce, Management, Tourism and Services: Business and Management
Studies In Human Society: Policy and Administration, Political Science

Arbitration in Scotland

Summary of the impact

Professor Fraser Davidson's research underpinned impact on public policy and law-making in Scotland by enriching and informing the development by the Scottish Government and the Scottish Parliament of a new legal framework for commercial dispute resolution under the Arbitration (Scotland) Act 2010 ("the 2010 Act"). This Act has the objective of entirely reforming the Scots law of arbitration and establishing Scotland as a major forum for international commercial arbitration, with resultant economic benefits.

Submitting Institution

University of Stirling

Unit of Assessment

Law

Summary Impact Type

Political

Research Subject Area(s)

Law and Legal Studies: Law

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