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NEWS

INSIGHT

Our task is to discover what works. We cannot do that unless we first have the capacity to understand what works. All our consultants are members of practice groups, charged with developing original ideas and keeping pace with the latest research and policy debates in our chosen areas of work: communities, economies, skills and enterprise.

We seek out interesting projects from which we can learn, and we attend and present at both academic and practitioners’ conferences. Members of our team are also frequently published and quoted in the Press, academic journals and online. The links on this page connect you to some of our recent insights.

RESEARCH THOUGHTS

Regenerating seaside towns – issues and evidence >>

How can our seaside towns, many of which are among the most depressed places in the UK, be helped to regain their former prosperity? In this briefing paper David Tyrer sets out some of the evidence, profiles the interventions, and looks at the deeper issues affecting Margate, Hastings and other towns like them.

Click HERE to download the paper as a pdf

Robust evaluation need not be expensive– measuring additionality >>

How can impacts be measured cost effectively? Impact evaluation is essentially concerned with estimating the ‘additionality’ generated by a policy intervention, over and above what would have happened in the absence of the intervention (the ‘counterfactual’). Often due to budgetary constraints, additionality is estimated by asking beneficiaries to attribute a percentage of the change in the variable(s) of interest to the intervention. This type of exercise is valuable, but it can be subject to uncertainty and biases. In this briefing paper, Richard Sutcliffe describes an alternative technique which can be used to provide more robust estimates of the additionality of a wide range of policies, without necessarily incurring significant costs.

Click HERE to download the paper as a pdf

Innovation support for businesses: what are the English regions doing well? >>

It is a measure of how far we have travelled that nations elsewhere in Europe now look to the UK for evidence of how to conduct effective regional policies. Research Director Dr Steve Johnson was recently invited to speak at a conference in Lodz, in Poland, on the lessons to be learned from the innovation support being provided to SMEs in England by the various regional development agencies. Click on the link below to read the paper that Steve and colleague Roger Henderson wrote for the conference.

Click HERE to download the paper as a pdf

UK skills policy – employee demand for skills >>

Research Director Dr Steve Johnson’s most recently published paper for UKCES involved a detailed review of evidence and policy relating to the factors that influence the engagement of the individual in skills development. The following executive summary summarises the paper’s main conclusions.

Click HERE to download the summary as a pdf

Olympic Cities: 2012 and the Remaking of London >>

Emma Roberts, one of our Senior Consultants, recently co-authored a book chapter with Professor Gavin Poynter for Olympic Cities: 2012 and the Remaking of London published by Ashgate. The book examines the role of a sporting mega-event in promoting urban regeneration. Emma and Gavin’s chapter comments on the success and challenges faced by Atlanta who hosted the Games in 1996.

For more information about the book click HERE

LATEST NEWS

Consulting Inplace continues to secure new contracts (July 2010) >>

Consulting Inplace has successfully secured a number of exciting consultancy assignments in the past couple of months. For example we have been commissioned by PUSH (Partnership for Urban South Hampshire) to undertake a youth-led engagement project to inform ‘Quality Place-Making’. This involves engaging young people, aged between 0 and 19 years, in conversations with decision makers about what it means to make and live in a quality place. We have also been commissioned by the North East Improvement and Efficiency Partnership to evaluate the Community Engagement and Empowerment Programme which has been developed to enable communities to have a stronger voice and more involvement in the development and delivery of public services in the North East. Working with Driver Jonas Deloitte, we have been appointed by Herefordshire Council to review and update the Herefordshire employment land study that we completed two years ago. The commission reflects the significant changes that have taken place at local, regional and national levels. We have also been successful in winning a further contract from Capacitybuilders, this time looking to undertake an evaluation of the “Real Help for Communities Modernisation Fund” Grants Programme.

Consulting Inplace develops innovative short film to caputure the findings and impact of the Coventry Neighbourhood Management Programme (July 2010) >>

As part of our final evaluation of Coventry’s Your Neighbourhood Matters Programme, we produced a short film in conjunction with B15 Design and Media to capture the impact of the programme and provide a means for residents and service providers to understand how they can make a difference through partnership. The film is to be produced on DVD and distributed to local residents shortly.

Press the play button below to see the short film:

If you are interested in finding out more about our evaluation or the development of the film, please contact Naz Khan.

UKCES publishes latest Consulting Inplace reports (July 2010) >>

Two national research reports written by Consulting Inplace, have just been published:

Review of Skill Shortages and Needs
A report into skill shortages and skill needs written by Richard Holt and Dr Szymon Sawicki has just been published by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) and Migration Advisory Committee (MAC). This highly topical report, given recent debates on immigration policy, provides an understanding of the workings of the labour market and ability of the labour market to meet the skill needs of employers. The analysis within this report will help inform the approach used to identify occupations that are considered to be skilled, suffering from shortages and which it would be sensible to fill through migration. To access a pdf copy of the report please click HERE.

Personal Learning Accounts – Building on Lessons Learnt
This report, authored by Dr Steve Johnson, Richard Holt, Naz Khan, Mark Morrin and Dr Szymon Sawicki was commissioned as part of a programme of activity to inform the development of the proposals in ‘Ambition 2020: Skills, Jobs Growth’. It draws upon international comparisons and research in the UK to explore the challenges and potential of Personal Learning Accounts.To access a pdf copy of the report please click HERE

HEFCE publish Consulting Inplace report into the longitudinal destination survey of leavers from Higher Education (June 2010) >>

A report written by Dr Steve Johnson, Richard Holt, Helen Blakeley, Chris Wallbridge and Matt Antill has just been published. Consulting Inplace was commissioned by The Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) and the Higher Education Statistics Agency (HESA) to undertake a consultation exercise to ascertain the views and experiences of users and potential users of the Longitudinal Destination of Leavers from Higher Education (LDLHE) Survey, which ascertains information on graduates from higher education forty months after they have finished their courses. To access a pdf copy of the report please click HERE

Consulting Inplace secures further new contracts (May 2010) >>

Consulting Inplace has recently been appointed by the UK Commission for Employment and Skills (UKCES) to undertake a review of progress being made towards integrating the employment and skills delivery systems across Great Britain. We have also been commissioned to undertake a Local Economic Assessment for the Isle of Wight Council, and have been awarded a contract to undertake the interim evaluation of the South East ESF programme on behalf of SEEDA. In addition Leicester City Council has commissioned us to investigate the reasons behind high business failure rates in the city, compared to elsewhere in the county and sub-region.

Senior Consultant to join our Birmingham team (May 2010) >>

We are delighted to announce that Lachlan Smith is joining our Birmingham Office as a Senior Consultant this summer. An Australian by birth, Lachlan joins from the Learning and Skills Council (now the Skills Funding Agency) where he has been a member of the national Integrated Employment and Skills Team. Previously he worked with Jobcentre Plus and eight local authorities to deliver the City Strategy in the Birmingham, Coventry and Black Country City Region. Before that, Lachlan worked for Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, where he held a number of positions including economic development officer and employability manager.

Students inplace (May 2010) >>

As part of our Corporate Social Responsibility commitment we recently provided 12-week placements for two final year students who were looking to further their understanding of urban regeneration and the role of socio-economic consultants in regeneration. Jamie Roxburgh and Rebecca Harper, both studying Geography at the University of Birmingham, worked closely with our consultants in our Birmingham office to learn about local regeneration initiatives and the diverse work carried out daily by our consultants.

Intern students

Both Jamie and Rebecca were introduced to a couple of local projects that we were delivering, shadowing our experienced consultants. A key part of the placement was for us to support each of them with original research of their own, which will now be assessed as part of their final year appraisals. Jamie chose to research the Kick Start Initiative, run by HCA, and Rebecca decided to examine the potential links between attainment and place, and the relationship between areas of isolation and high propensity of delinquency.

Both have now completed the placements and we wish them well with their final exams.

Please click HERE to view archived news stories.

Newsletters

To view a pdf of our recent newsletters please click below: