UK Policy Makers Research Articles

Biogas utilisation – Life cycle assessment of enabling technology for transport biomethane - UK case study, Bore Hill farm Biodigester

Policies, implemented and being considered in the UK, promote the use of biogas from anaerobic digestion (AD); however, small-medium scale AD plants, the majority of the UK's AD plants, have little access to energy distribution networks. The opportunity for using biomethane (upgraded biogas) for transportation, is rewarded in the Renewable Transport Fuels Obligation (RTFO), offering the AD plants the lowest cost route to achieving the targets set out in the Biomass Strategy for biomethane. In this study, Life Cycle Assessment is used to demonstrate the environmental benefits of using biomethane for transportation (considering global warming potential and fossil fuel scarcity impacts), compared to a biogas-to-electricity scenario, where the gas grid is not accessible. The results show that biomethane scenarios have significant environmental advantages in selected impact categories, evidencing that biomethane for transportation can decarbonise AD industries and contribute to the Net Zero target in the UK. Biomethane scenarios show greater potential for capturing biogenic CO2. However, biogas upgrading technologies, evolving technically and economically, should be studied further through techno-economic assessments for the appropriate scale and application in AD operations. This study contributes to the UK AD industry and policy makers concerned with the decarbonisation of biogas-to-biomethane routes for the future.

The Networked Data Lab: lessons from four years of analytical collaboration on common problems in health on social care

ObjectiveThe Networked Data Lab (NDL) is a UK-wide network of analytical teams embedded in the health and care system. Each year, we support five local partners to acquire and link new health and social care datasets on a different topic. The NDL provides insights from this linked data to help UK policymakers improve health and care, leveraging public, patient, and stakeholder engagement to prioritise topics of shared local interest. Approach Now in its fourth year, the NDL has commissioned a Learning Study (LS) to evaluate progress towards its aims. This employs a theory-based approach to test and assess key assumptions about programme impact through a Theory of Change. For the study, semi-structured interviews with analysts and stakeholders at the five NDL sites were conducted to identify factors influencing the programme’s impact. ResultsDrawing on interim LS findings, we will describe the types of impact the programme has achieved, and some of the key barriers and enablers to analytical collaboration across geographic and organisational boundaries. Themes include senior sponsorship; stakeholder input into problem definition; information governance and tools and skills. Themes will be illustrated with case studies drawn from the different NDL topic areas, including children and young people’s mental health and unpaid carers. Conclusions and ImplicationsThe Networked Data Lab shows that data linkages can provide unique insights that local service planners can act on, but highlights a complex set of conditions that need to be met to enable impactful analytics using real-world health and care data.

What Is This “Tranquility”? A Reply to Nelson

In a note appearing in the August 2024 issue of History of Political Economy (HOPE), Edward Nelson argues that a passage commenting on James Forder's Macroeconomics and the Phillips Curve Myth (2014) in a 2023 HOPE article by Carlo Cristiano titled “The Early Reception of the Phillips Curve in the United Kingdom” would provide a false characterization of the economic literature and claims priority in affirming that UK policymakers did not use the Phillips curve as a menu for policy. It is shown in this reply that Nelson's reading of Cristiano's 2023 article, and more specifically of the passage commenting on Forder's 2014 book, is based on a misunderstanding. The purpose of the 2023 article was not to show that UK policymakers did not use the Phillips trade-off as a menu for policy. In that article, consensus on this point is taken for granted. It is also argued in this reply that there is no need to mention Nelson's works to affirm that UK policymakers did not use the Phillips trade-off as a policy menu and that Nelson's works are indeed very relevant, but for other reasons.

After nudging: the ethical challenge of post-pandemic policymaking in the UK

This article explores the interplay between crises, opportunities and democratic change in the United Kingdom. A vast body of scholarship underlines that crises open ‘windows of opportunity’ that can occasionally lead to radical shifts in the role of the state and the design of public policy. Even when a radical shift occurs, however, it has often proved temporary, with relationships and processes quickly reverting to pre-crisis modes once the immediacy of the crisis abates. This may not be true of our present period of crisis following the COVID-19 pandemic. The consequences of decades of underinvestment in infrastructure and increasing concentration of resources in a small minority of individuals and organisations are being exacerbated by climate change, geopolitical conflict and new waves of disease. The challenge for policymakers in the UK now is heightened by evidence that suggests that nudging, a libertarian paternalist means of promoting certain ends, is ineffective. Policymakers who have long used state neutrality between conceptions of the good as the justification for not promoting certain ends now have to confront a real ethical dilemma: coerce to achieve specific outcomes or invest in addressing the social determinants that actually affect behaviour. This article suggests that contrary to decades of opposition to redistribution among UK policymakers, only the latter is consistent with libertarian paternalism.

Beyond the limits of solidarity in the post-pandemic university

This article challenges a liberal analysis of higher education (HE) inside an integrated system of economic production, and instead critiques: first, how UK policymakers sought to re-engineer English HE during and after the pandemic, through governance, regulation and funding changes predicated upon accelerating a discourse of value-for-money; second, the institutional labour reorganisation that followed, and which placed complete class fractions of academic labour in a permanent state of being at risk; and third, how in continually demonstrating that it cannot fulfil the desires of those who labour within it for a meaningful work-life, the university must be transcended. In addressing the entanglement of precarity and privilege, it argues that, if the university is unable to contribute to ways of knowing, being and doing that address socio-economic, socio-environmental or intersectional ruptures, then it must go.

Universality: A Battleground for UK Public Service Media in the Platform Age

AbstractThis article examines how UK policy makers are redefining the value of universality in the transition from public service broadcasting (PSB) to public service media (PSM). Over the past decade, the UK's media landscape has undergone a significant transformation, driven by the economic, infrastructural and social influence exerted by global platforms. These transforming conditions have profoundly complicated the relationship between PSM and the principle of universality—in particular, the core values of universal access and universal appeal—with potential consequences for the broader legitimacy of the future public service mission. In an age of apparent media abundance, the question of how PSM can effectively reach and engage its audience remains a persistent inquiry. Presenting findings from an analysis of key and contemporary media policy and regulatory documents, this article demonstrates how universality has become a key battleground in current debates around the future of PSM.

How the presence of public charging infrastructure can impact the adoption rate of electric vehicles in the UK

In the current work, the presence of public charging facilities and their impact on the adoption rate of Electric Vehicle (EV) are studied across 363 Local Authorities (LA) districts in the UK. This analysis is conducted utilizing the data from the UK government on the location of public electric vehicle chargepoints in various LAs as well as the EV ownership rate between years 2011 and 2021. Various rural, urban and extra urban (e.g. London) regions are analyzed to assess whether EV ownership has been impacted as the charging infrastructure is rolled out in these regions. The quarterly data on the number of licensed Ultra Low Emission Vehicles (ULEV) in each UK local authority is used to track EV ownership levels. The results indicate that the publicly available charging points stimulate the diffusion of EV adoption; however, this varies by region and saturation. The reverse effect of EV ownership on charging infrastructure rollout by Local Authorities cannot be entirely rejected; however, the positive stimulus of public infrastructure on adoption of EV is established. The findings can provide the UK policy makers with insight into the public charging infrastructure requirements and benefits in short to medium term to meet the committed emission reduction targets by 2035 and 2050.

Mitigating Overheating Risks for Modern Flats in London Due to Climate Change

With the increase in global temperatures, a significant threat of overheating has been reported due to more frequent and severe heatwaves in the UK housing stock. This research analyzes dwellings’ physical attributes through overheating assessments and their adaptation for modern flats in London in the current (2022) and anticipated (2050) weather. According to preliminary research, Southeast and London in England, mid-terraced, and flats (especially built post 2012), among other archetypes, were discovered to be the most susceptible to overheating in the UK. This study employed a case study of a 2015 modern flat located in a high-risk overheating zone in London to understand the building’s overheating exposure. A range of Dynamic Thermal Simulations (DTS) was conducted using EnergyPlus with reference to case studies in order to assess the performance of passive cooling mitigation strategies (PCMS) on peak summer days (15 July) as well as during the summer against CIBSE Guide A and ASHARE 55. Reduced window area and LoE triple glazing were identified as excellent mitigation prototypes, in which solar gains through exterior glazing were reduced by 85.5% due to triple glazing. Zone sensible cooling was reduced by 52%, which minimized CO2 emissions. It was also identified that the final retrofit model passed CIBSE Guide A by achieving a temperature threshold of 20 °C to 25 °C during the summer months, whereas it failed to accomplish the ASHARE 55 criteria (20–24 °C). The outcome of this study justifies the necessity of tested PCMS and advises UK policymakers on how to foster resilient housing plans to overcome overheating issues.

Learning to see modern slavery in supply chains through paradoxical sensemaking

AbstractMandatory annual reporting, to improve transparency of working conditions in firms' supply chains, is the favored approach of UK policymakers for reducing modern slavery risks in supply chains. Despite legislation and extensive guidance, annual corporate statements are disappointing, providing little evidence of substantive action. So far though, there has been little primary research of managers' understanding of the phenomenon or their perceived agency in tackling modern slavery. In a qualitative study, employing template analysis, data were drawn from multiple sources, including interviews with 32 managers from three large UK firms in a complex, high‐risk sector (construction). Four focus groups were used to establish credibility of the findings. As managers struggle with how to make sense of where to look, how to look, and what to see, they adopt narrowed perspectives and analogies that inhibit immediate, compelling action. Improved awareness of UK labor supply chain issues has distanced managers further from action relating to global material supply chains. Through analogy with health and safety legislation, which developed over a considerable period, managers justify a wait‐and‐see approach, deferring action. Such convenience framing helps them to avoid issues relating to complexity, control, cost, and (in)visibility. This framing needs to be disrupted for meaningful action to result. Drawing on sensemaking theory relating to paradoxical financial and sustainability objectives, the study suggests how extended legislation and governance may drive more substantive responses that transcend the constraints of business‐case logic.

Demanding the Impossible: Public Procurement as Industrial Strategy

AbstractGovernments have rediscovered industrial strategy as a central tool of economic policy in order to deal with a range of challenges, including ending the stagnation in productivity, transforming economies to meet net zero targets and coping with disruptive new technologies. An important emerging feature of this is a shift in emphasis from ‘supply‐side’ policies, focussing on tackling market failures, to ‘demand‐side’ policies, which aim to help entrepreneurs overcome uncertainty by providing a final market for their products. For UK policy makers, this shift represents opportunities to support nascent technology industries, but it also holds dangers of waste, overreach and political capture. The article assesses several possible approaches available to the UK and concludes that a viable strategy for the UK is not to try to compete with big spending schemes, like the USA's Inflation Reduction Act, but to work with entrepreneurs in de‐risking new product development.

The effect of provisions on the mental health of young adult care leavers. A systematic review

PurposeCare leavers are identified as a vulnerable group within UK society and, unsurprisingly, are more susceptible to mental health problems. Research highlights inadequacies among UK Government provisions combined with poorer outcomes for care leavers. This paper aims to measure the effectiveness of provisions on mental health when transitioning from the care system to adulthood.Design/methodology/approachA systematic review was conducted to identify and highlight the inadequacies of provisions in place to aid a care leaver’s transition and the effects on their mental health. Of the 211 studies identified from the search, six studies met the eligibility criteria and were deemed eligible by the researcher for further exploration of themes.FindingsThe findings identified feeling isolated, training given to care professionals and caregivers, collaboration, lack of preparation and support and access and gaps in provisions as the five key themes. The overarching theme of interconnectedness and interplay between subthemes, mental health and a care leaver’s transition, is strongly presented throughout. Many participants within the individual studies reported negative findings illustrating the weaknesses of provisions and the negative effect on their mental health. Furthermore, the findings emphasise the unique nature of everyone’s experience transitioning out of the care system.Research limitations/implicationsA limitation of the review is the selection of key words, which may have restricted the results produced during the main search, subsequently affecting the amount of relevant data extracted and synthesised. Finally, less emphasis on grey literature and more on empirical studies reduces the probability of discovering null or negative findings, therefore increasing the chances of publication bias (Paez, 2017). A small number of eligible studies increase the risk of not making important comparisons, prompting a wider search to be conducted in the future. An unequal ratio between national and international research in the systematic review restricts fresh perspectives and strategies concerning the mental health of care leavers.Practical implicationsCare leavers are identified as a vulnerable group within society and, unsurprisingly, are more susceptible to mental health problems. The UK Government enforces national and local policies to support young adults leaving the care system and transitioning to independence. However, previous research highlights inadequacies among provisions, combined with poorer mental health outcomes for care leavers.Social implicationsFollowing on from gaps in the current findings, an investigation into regional disparities across provisions aimed at assisting care leavers transitioning to independence would produce useful information for the field and policymakers. Although current research addresses the essence of interplay between mental health and transitioning, further research is required to help build a supporting argument for adaptations and improvements in policies and practice.Originality/valueThis study supports the argument for an increase in attention from the UK Government and policymakers to improve the quality and quantity of support for a population often underserved and marginalised, especially in terms of reducing poorer mental health outcomes.

Withdrawal symptoms: party factions, political change and British foreign policy post-Brexit

ABSTRACT The effects of Brexit on British foreign, security and defence policy have been complex. Initial efforts to agree structured cooperation failed, with later governments refusing to negotiate on this area, followed by unstructured re-engagement after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This article argues that these changes can be explained by reference to the factional politics during the Brexit negotiations within the Conservative Party, with the defeat of May’s Withdrawal Agreement bringing to power a pro-Brexit faction with a distinct foreign policy worldview and incentives to demonstrate a cleaner break from the European Union. Empirically, the article draws on a series of interviews conducted with UK and EU policymakers. The findings demonstrate the significance of ideology and party factions in a policy domain where the UK is powerful enough to treat EU institutions as useful rather than necessary, and shows the direct and indirect ways factional politics brings about external change.

Reflexive standardization and the resolution of uncertainty in the genomics clinic.

In genomics, the clinical application of Next Generation Sequencing technologies (such as Whole Genome or Exome Sequencing) has attracted considerable attention from UK policymakers, interested in the benefits such technologies could bring the National Health Service. However, this boosterism plays little attention to the challenges raised by a kind of result known as a Variant of Uncertain Significance, or VUS, which require clinical geneticists and related colleagues to classify ambiguous genomic variants as 'benign' or 'pathogenic'. With a rigorous analysis based on data gathered at 290 clinical meetings over a two-year period, this paper presents the first ethnographic account of decision-making around NGS technology in a NHS clinical genomics service, broadening our understanding of the role formal criteria play in the classification of VUS. Drawing on Stefan Timmermans' concept of 'reflexive standardisation' to explore the way in which clinical genetics staff classify such variants this paper explores the application of a set of criteria drafted by the American College of Medical Genetics and Genomics, highlighting the flexible way in which various resources - variant databases, computer programmes, the research literature - are drawn on to reach a decision. A crucial insight is how professionals' perception of, and trust in, the clinical practice at other genomics centres in the NHS, shapes their own application of criteria and the classification of a VUS as either benign or pathogenic.

Explaining the UK’s ‘high-risk’ approach to type 2 diabetes prevention: findings from a qualitative interview study with policy-makers in England

ObjectivesWhen seeking to prevent type 2 diabetes, a balance must be struck between individual approaches (focusing on people’s behaviour ‘choices’) and population approaches (focusing on the environment in which those...

Social, health and economic impact of COVID-19: Healthy Ageing In Scotland (HAGIS) – a protocol for a mixed-methods study

IntroductionPublic health responses to the COVID-19 pandemic have reaped adverse physical, psychological, social and economic effects, with older adults disproportionally affected. Psychological consequences of the pandemic include fear, worry and...

Sustainable pathways towards climate and biodiversity goals in the UK: the importance of managing land-use synergies and trade-offs

Agricultural and environmental policies are being fundamentally reviewed and redesigned in the UK following its exit from the European Union. The UK government and the Devolved Administrations recognise that current land use is not sustainable and that there is now an unprecedented opportunity to define a better land strategy that responds fully to the interconnected challenges of climate change, biodiversity loss and sustainable development. This paper presents evidence from three pathways (current trends, sustainable medium ambition, and sustainable high ambition) to mid-century that were co-created with UK policymakers. The pathways were applied to a national integrated food and land-use model (the FABLE calculator) to explore potential synergies and trade-offs between achieving multiple sustainability targets under limited land availability and constraints to balance food supply and demand at national and global levels. Results show that under the Current Trends pathway all unprotected open natural land would be converted to urban, agriculture and afforested land, with the consequence that from 2030 onwards tree planting targets could not be met. In contrast, the two sustainable pathways illustrate how dietary change, agricultural productivity improvements and waste reduction can free up land for nature recovery and carbon sequestration. This enables a transition to a sustainable food and land-use system that provides a net carbon sink with up to 44% of land able to support biodiversity conservation. We highlight key trade-offs and synergies, which are important to consider for designing and implementing emerging national policies. These include the strong dependence of climate, food and biodiversity targets on dietary shifts, sustainable improvements in agricultural productivity, improved land-use design for protecting and restoring nature, and rapid reductions in food loss and waste.

Jimmy Reid: A Clyde-Built Man

Jimmy Reid: A Clyde-Built Man

Can network spending to support the shift to electric vehicles deliver wider economy gains? The role of domestic supply chain, price, and real wage effects

The transition of societies to a low carbon future presents several important political economy challenges. For example, can the deployment of low carbon solutions deliver economic prosperity and support policy makers in developing decarbonisation policy pathways around which societal and political consensus can build and be sustained? Taking the example of decarbonising private transport in the UK, we use a computable general equilibrium model – informed by energy systems analysis – to consider the potential wider economy impacts, over different timeframes, of electricity network upgrade costs to enable the EV rollout required by 2050. We demonstrate opportunities for both transitory and sustained gains in GDP, employment, and earnings across the UK economy. The key source of sustained expansion is the strength of domestic supply chains supporting the UK electricity sector. However, the transition pathway is sensitive to how network upgrade costs and trajectories respond to the speed of consumer behaviour adjustments, and to the price impacts of constrained wider economy expansion, with notable implications for the price of electricity. The key outcome of concern for UK policymakers is how a lasting constraint on total labour supply means that the EV rollout is associated with lasting impacts on electricity and other consumer prices.

Interchangeability of biosimilars: A study of expert views and visions regarding the science and substitution.

Healthcare systems have reached a critical point regarding the question of whether biosimilar substitution should become common practice. To move the discussion forward, the study objective was to investigate the views of experts from medicines agencies and the pharmaceutical industry on the science underpinning interchangeability of biosimilars. We conducted an empirical qualitative study using semi-structured interviews informed by a cross-disciplinary approach encompassing regulatory science, law, and pharmaceutical policy. In total 25 individuals with experience within biologics participated during September 2018–August 2019. Eight participants were EU national medicines authority regulators, and 17 had pharmaceutical industry background: five from two originator-only companies, four from two companies with both biosimilar and originator products, and eight from seven biosimilar-only companies. Two analysts independently conducted inductive content analysis, resulting in data-driven themes capturing the meaning of the data. The participants reported that interchangeability was more than a scientific question of likeness between biosimilar and reference products: it also pertained to regulatory practices and trust. Participants were overall confident in the science behind exchanging biosimilar products for the reference products via switching, i.e., with physician involvement. However, their opinions differed regarding the scientific risk associated with biosimilar substitution, i.e., without physician involvement. Almost all participants saw no need for additional scientific data to support substitution. Moreover, the participants did not believe that switching studies, as required in the US, were appropriate for obtaining scientific certainty due to their small size. It is unclear why biosimilar switching is viewed as scientifically safer than substitution; therefore, we expect greater policy debate on biosimilar substitution in the near future. We urge European and UK policymakers and regulators to clarify their visions for biosimilar substitution; the positions of these two frontrunners are likely to influence other jurisdictions on the future of biosimilar use.

A Deliberative Approach to Valuing Capabilities: Assessing and Valuing Changes in the Well-Being of those Close to Patients Receiving Supportive End of Life Care

ABSTRACT Aim: Explore the use of deliberative valuation to elicit relative weights for a set of capabilities identified as being important and relevant to those close to patients receiving supportive care at the end of life. Methods: Focus groups, involving the general UK population (n = 38) and policy-makers (n = 29) with experience of, and influence on, priorities for end of life care. Public participants completed two valuation tasks (budget pie and visual analogue scale (VAS)) individually, discussed their responses, and then recorded a final (individual) response. Policy-makers completed the VAS tasks in a separate series of focus groups. Quantitative and qualitative analyses of participants’ responses are reported. Results: Individual values were aggregated to form relative weights for the capabilities. Capabilities given greatest weighting were “good communication between care providers and close persons” and “practical support for close persons”. The quantitative impact of deliberation on weights overall was negligible, but qualitative findings indicated that disclosure of personal experiences did appear to prompt others to consider issues from new perspectives. Discussion: Deliberative valuation was found to be a potentially feasible method for generating weights. However, further consideration needs to be given as to how to optimise recruitment whilst ensuring that participants actively engage with the task.