Professor Steve Martin, Director of the Wales Centre for Public Policy for the centre’s first ten years, sheds some early light on his research into what it takes to lead these organisations – and how this learning could be used…
Understanding impact across the UK’s What Works Network
All What Works Centres (WWCs) aim to have impact by getting evidence into policy and/or practice. However, because every Centre has different aims, practices, audiences, funding models, staffing levels and size, their understanding of impact, and how they measure and…
What has devolution delivered for Wales?
The day after marking its 25th birthday, the Welsh Senedd voted to increase its size by more than 50%. In 2026 the Welsh public will therefore elect 96 members in place of the current 60. Advocates of this change hailed…
Exploring and enhancing the role of lived experience
The Wales Centre for Public Policy is delighted to be hosting an 18-month collaborative UKRI Innovation Policy Fellowship to explore and enhance the role of lived experience expertise at WCPP, in the What Works Network and in policy making more…
The state of democracy in Wales: What is it and how can we measure it?
Concerns over democratic health are a global phenomenon, often triggered by crises or events that result in public pressure for reform. Iceland’s near-economic destruction after the Global Financial Crisis, for instance, instigated wide-ranging reforms to their democratic system. In Wales…
How to improve regional productivity levers in England and Wales
How to improve regional productivity levers in England and Wales As winners of the 2024 Award for the Best Paper published in Regional Studies Policy Debates, Helen Tilley, Jack Newman, Charlotte Hoole, Andrew Connell, and Ananya Mukherjee discuss the winning…
Understanding organisations that provide evidence for policy
This blog post is based on the Evidence & Policy article, ‘Knowledge brokering organisations: a new way of governing evidence’. New organisations have emerged in different countries to help inform policymaking. Different from think tanks and academic research centres, these…
Has devolution delivered?
The last 25 years have seen a significant and sustained increase in public support for devolution in Wales. The 1997 referendum produced only a wafer thin majority in favour of creating a Welsh Assembly. Now fewer than 1 in 5…
Taking stock of our Research Apprentice scheme
The Wales Centre for Public Policy (WCPP) introduced the Research Apprenticeship scheme in 2017. The scheme aims to build the capacity of early-career researchers to engage with policymakers and public services to respond to key challenges in Wales. It has…
National Milestones – Using evidence and expertise to tell a ‘status story’
The ‘second wave’ of Welsh Government consultation on its National Milestones ended last month. The Milestones relate to a set of National Indicators, articulated under the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, which enable the measurement of progress towards…
