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By Brunel Public Policy Team
01 Oct 2024
New academic year, new UK government, new opportunities for policy engagement
This summer has seen a change of government, so as Universities begin the new academic year, we would like to take the chance to highlight how this could open up new opportunities to engage with UK public policy, and remind you of the support and advice available from Brunel Public Policy.
Change of direction, focus, and research needs with the new government
At the centre of Labour’s election campaign were 5 missions for change, all of which will benefit from research and expert input in order to target policy change and funding to best address the issues. In order to Kickstart economic growth, they have already highlighted the importance of Britain’s excellent research institutions and a regulatory framework that supports innovation. In their mission to make Britain a clean energy superpower, they will need to invest in further R&D of renewable energy sources for the energy grid and vehicles and into how the energy grid itself must be modernised for the transition to green energy sources and battery charging requirements. Their plans for taking back our streets include wide-ranging reforms, which requires a rigorous analysis of how those reforms would be implemented, their benefits and potential unintended consequences. Plans to build an NHS fit for the future will benefit greatly from research to develop both the most effective health interventions and the systems to support the overall service including its administration and data storage. The mission to break down barriers to opportunity still requires further evidence and expertise on which interventions, from early years education to professional training to equality legislation and beyond, will be effective in breaking down those barriers.
Beyond and supporting those 5 missions, for those working on a range of facets of AI, it may be worth noting the recent change in direction. The new government is now focussing on how this type of technology can be used to innovate and improve government services, whilst shelving many projects proposed but not yet funded by the previous government, which were primarily direct industry investment to strive for technical milestones and positioning the UK’s status. However, there could still be new opportunities in the new direction, such as an £800m expansion to Project Gigabit announced, £8m for UK Biobank “the world’s most advanced source of data for health research”, and £32m to support 98 different projects intended to improve productivity and public sector efficiency. The new Minister for AI and Digital Government, Feryal Clark, recently undertook a well-documented tour of a hospital and two businesses, where she observed the positive impact AI can have on the sector.
As an early indicator of whether the new government may need expertise in your research area, we recommend looking at the King’s Speech 2024, as this lays out the legislative programme and priorities of the first term of the new government.
Channels and opportunities for engaging with national policy making in the UK
When an election is called, many of the channels and mechanisms through which academics and researchers engage with policy pause, close, or slow down. Many are still not yet in full swing, but once they are, we expect increased opportunities for engagement. This is partly because any new government is likely to want to change policies and priorities and as such will have a need for new and different expertise to what was gathered by the previous government, and also because there are early indications that this government may be more open to seeking input from experts.
Parliamentary Select Committees - Academics and researchers can submit written evidence to inquiries launched by parliamentary select committees, and may also be called upon to deliver oral evidence or act as a specialist adviser. When parliament is dissolved ahead of a general election, all House of Commons Select Committees and many House of Lords Committees cease to exist. Parliament is still in the process of setting up the new select committees, and we expect them to form soon. Once they form, we expect many new inquiries
Government Areas of Research Interest (ARIs) - Areas of research interest (ARI) give details about the main research questions identified by government departments, and are published as a call for experts in these areas of interest to engage in dialogue with the government department and identify evidence relevant to the ARI.
We expect the areas of interest to change across all government departments with the change of administration. No department has yet published an updated ARI since the general election, but we expect them to do so soon.
You can see the full listing of UK Government ARIs here. You can also search this database of ARIs for key terms, but do check how old the ARI is before following up.
POSTnotes - The parliamentary office of science and technology is a research and knowledge exchange service based in the UK Parliament who publish impartial, non-partisan, timely and peer-reviewed research. They regularly have open calls for academic experts to contribute to their work, or may seek experts for input and reviews. They pause publishing whilst parliament is dissolved, but are now up and running as normal. You can see current work topics, most of which have open calls for expert input, on their future research page.
Brunel Public Policy Autumn 2024 Event Series: Are Regulators Keeping up with the Science?
This lunchtime lecture/ discussion series will explore the ways in which regulators and policies may need to be updated to keep up with the current science, knowledge, technological developments, and societal changes. Or whether the race to keep up sometimes leads to policy that has not been properly scrutinised. It will be online in order to make it open to attendees from other universities, government and regulatory organisations, and the broader public. Full announcement with speakers, finalised topics, and dates to follow. In the meantime, please contact bpp@brunel.ac.uk if:
- You would like to propose a specific topic or question to explore within this overarching theme. Are there elements of regulation that need to be or have been updated on the basis of your research findings? Do your findings show how a lack of regulation response to a rapidly changing world has caused problems? Or are there times when regulation and policy has been rushed through before the scientific evidence is there to back it up?
- You would like to volunteer or propose a colleague to present
Finally, we’d like to draw your attention to our recently published advice on First Steps to Engaging with Public Policy and this recent blog from Policy Leeds on the skills researchers need to effectively engage with policy makers
September 2024