You Couldn’t have planned it better! A day for devolution and policy engagement

On Tuesday 9 July, on behalf of UPEN, Leeds Beckett University hosted an event for 125 guests, university colleagues and policy makers from across the UK, with a focus on Policy Engagement and the future of Devolution.

On the morning of our event, we couldn’t quite believe our luck. On the very same day our new Prime Minister had called a meeting with all metro mayors, including our very own Mayor of West Yorkshire, Tracy Brabin, to kickstart discussions for further devolution and set out plans to establish a Council of Regions and Nations.

The possibility of further powers leaving Westminster to enable further place-based decision making set the tone of excitement for the day.

Just how does policy engagement happen in different localities? We have seen several models appear across the UK and so we were keen to showcase these, share best practice and the challenges, warts and all! We set the task of giving each speaker five minutes to present, a session expertly chaired by Dr Peter O’Brien, Executive Director of Yorkshire Universities. We uncovered many commonalities but one critical success factor that stood out was people! People and the strength in building those relationships are key.

Huge thanks to our panellists, Dave Blackbell (Scottish Policy and Research Exchange, SPRE), Hannah Durrant (Welsh Centre for Public Policy) Sue Jarvis (Liverpool Heseltine Institute for Public Policy), Michelle Reeves (London Research and Public Policy Partnership/GLA), Kayleigh Renberg-Fawcett (Yorkshire and Humber Policy Engagement and Research Network, Y-PERN), Bec Riley (City REDI) and Liz Shutt (Insights North East, INE).

The afternoon addressed two key topics: building sustainability and resilience into policy engagement and hearing from a policy makers perspective; and the future of devolution and the role of universities.

It was a real pleasure to be joined by panellists Professor David Sweeney, University of Birmingham, Professor Jane Robinson, Newcastle University, James Canton, ESRC and Dr Rommany Jenkins, UKRI (UK Research and Innovation).  In a conversation chaired by Sarah Chaytor, UPEN Co-Chair, Director of Strategy and Policy for UCL Research, Innovation and Global Engagement, we looked to address key questions around the initiatives within the current funding landscape and the risk this poses to engagement.

It was comforting to hear the positivity from our funding bodies of the importance of policy engagement and a continued commitment and emphasis on a place-based approach.

In our final session we were joined by Dr Andy Mycock, Chief Policy Fellow of Y-PERN who eloquently set the scene for the future of devolution, particularly given the announcements made that morning. It was great to then flip things around and hear from Felix Kumi-Ampofo, Director of Inclusive Economy, Skills and Culture at West Yorkshire Combined Authority. It is always a pleasure to welcome Felix back to Leeds Beckett having previously held an academic role at Leeds Business School.

He spoke about the importance of harnessing academic research, knowledge and expertise from within universities to support policy makers to make informed and evidenced based decisions. Showcasing the draft of the West Yorkshire Local Growth Plan, Felix drew from examples of working with Y-PERN - a model of policy engagement established in Yorkshire. He emphasised the importance and effectiveness of when these networks work best.

Here in the Research and Enterprise service, we are very committed to supporting our academics at LBU to engage with policy, and sharing our examples of experiences across the University. In April this year, we held our first Policy Week in The Knowledge Exchange. The week brought colleagues and guests together to share best practice, case studies and development opportunities for academics, professional services, our partner organisations who represent the business community, and policymakers. You can read more about it on our blog.

The day started with torrential rain - even with the exciting news from Keir Starmer, the black clouds loomed over Leeds. But by the end of our final session the sunshine appeared, and to our delight we were able to end the day with a little bit of fun. We enjoyed a drinks reception on the rooftop terrace of the Leeds School of Arts building. It was the perfect close to the day, overlooking the city with reflections of what next for devolution, policy engagement and a real sense of optimism.

Top image l-r: Kayleigh Renberg-Fawcett, Senior Programme Manager for Y-PERN, Dr Camelia Dijkstra, Dr Andy Mycock and Natalie Allen