Blog Post Uncategorized Methods Powers and Policy Levers - What works in delivering Welsh Government policies? As Wales marks twenty years of devolution, our latest report, Powers and Policy Levers: What works in delivering Welsh Government policies? presents the findings of a research project into the way that the Welsh Government has used the powers and policy levers available to it. Having outlined the policy context in Wales over the last […] Read more Topics: Local government May 17, 2019
Blog Post Uncategorized Methods The role of KBOs Introducing our Advisory Board Members The group brings together a stellar cast of more than 20 eminent individuals with experience of having worked at the highest levels in government, public services, academia, think tanks and independent research organisations. It includes members with experience as national and local politicians, political advisers, senior civil servants, senior managers in local government, health, the […] Read more May 15, 2019
Blog Post Uncategorized Methods How can governments improve cross-cutting working? Cross cutting working - making sure that different departments and services work effectively with each other - is a constant challenge for all governments, even when they are as comparatively small as the Welsh Government. Last year, we were commissioned by the First Minister to synthesise the evidence on cross-cutting working, and our latest report, […] Read more Topics: Local government April 17, 2019
Blog Post Uncategorized Impact Methods The role of behaviour change in shaping public policy decisions Behaviour change is an increasingly common theme in public policy. Peter John goes as far to claim that ‘many of the greatest challenges in public policy can only be fully addressed by changing the behaviour of citizens’. Previously, public policy interventions in behaviour change worked from the assumption that behaviours were rational processes, and that […] Read more March 27, 2019
Blog Post Uncategorized Methods Managing diverse relationships in cross-cutting government This ‘think piece’ builds on my recent presentation to a seminar for senior officials hosted by the Wales Centre for Public Policy which looked at the thorny issue of cross-government working. It isn’t an academic review, and I have deliberately not burdened it with lots of academic references. Instead I’m drawing on practical, interesting and […] Read more Topics: Diversity and inclusion Local government March 5, 2019
Blog Post Uncategorized Methods The role of KBOs Evidence-informed policymaking: does knowledge brokering work? Sarah Quarmby takes a look inside the Wales Centre for Public Policy to see how its day-to-day workings tally with the body of knowledge about evidence use in policymaking. This article originally appeared on the LSE British Politics and Policy blog. There’s widespread and sustained interest in the role of evidence in policymaking. But because policymaking […] Read more June 18, 2018
Blog Post Uncategorized Methods The role of KBOs Strengthening the Links Between Academic Research and the National Assembly for Wales It is widely accepted that academic research has an important role to play in policy formation and scrutiny, but there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ way of making this happen. The National Assembly for Wales (aka the Welsh Assembly) is involved with some exciting initiatives to make sure that evidence gets to the politicians who need it […] Read more May 16, 2018
Blog Post Uncategorized Methods Brexit and Wales: Understanding the Reasons Behind the Welsh Vote On Thursday 30th March, 2017, the PPIW and Knowledge and Analytical Services welcomed colleagues to an evidence symposium which aimed to understand the reasons behind the Welsh vote in 2016's referendum on EU membership. The event featured expert speakers from UK universities and research centres, providing a mix of short presentations with a broader discussion with […] Read more Topics: Economy April 6, 2017
Blog Post Uncategorized Methods How Wales is Understood in the UK is a Problem It was recently announced that a new BBC TV channel will broadcast in Scotland from 2018. It will have a budget of £30m, roughly equivalent to that of BBC Four. Alongside that, Scotland will receive more money to make UK-wide programmes. Perhaps the most interesting development is that, included in the new channel’s scheduling is an hour-long […] Read more Topics: Local government March 23, 2017
Report Uncategorized Methods Connection, Coherence and Capacity: Policy Making in Smaller Countries The William Plowden Fellowship supports short research projects looking at issues of governance and public policy. Under its auspices, Tamlyn Rabey, a civil servant at the Welsh Government, has undertaken a study of policy making in smaller countries. The study found that there are significant advantages in relation to policy making from working at the […] Read more Topics: Local government October 6, 2015