Val Birchall reflects on becoming a LPIP Fellow and the work she has planned for her fellowship. About Me As a Place Fellow at the LPIP, I am excited to be joining a team of practitioners at the intersection of policy and place. I bring over two decades of experience shaping and delivering local cultural … Continue reading “Culture at the Crux of Place-Based Thinking: Positioning Locally Driven Cultural Development Within a New National Policy Framework”
Second Cities, Shared Lessons: Insights From UK–Japan Devolution
Across advanced economies, national averages mask widening divides within countries. Big metros power ahead while many towns and smaller regions struggle to keep up. Our recent UK-Japan study with the City-Region Economic Development Institute (City-REDI) looks squarely at this problem through two ‘second city’ regions – Birmingham/the West Midlands (United Kingdom) and Osaka/Kansai (Japan) – and finds … Continue reading “Second Cities, Shared Lessons: Insights From UK–Japan Devolution”
Policy News – December 2025
This blog summarises the latest policy news that is important to place, including reports, inquiries, consultations, government research and events. It is updated every week. View previous editions. If you have a piece of research that you would like to be featured in Policy News, please get in touch. UK Government Title Details End date / Published … Continue reading “Policy News – December 2025”
Policy Innovate – 4th December 2025
Welcome to the latest edition of Policy Innovate. Policy Innovate aims to gather and disseminate the work of the Local Policy Innovation Partnership (LPIP) programme and wider relevant research to provide evidence on building confidence, capacity, and capability in an effective service-driven approach to place-based policy-making and public service delivery. The LPIP Hub seeks to address … Continue reading “Policy Innovate – 4th December 2025”
Placecast Podcast – Episode Nine – Place is a Unifying Force
In the latest episode of Placecast, Nicola Headlam sits down with Dr Sarah Longlands, Chief Executive of the Centre for Local Economic Strategies (CLES), to explore why place matters more than ever in shaping policy, economy, and community wellbeing. Their conversation offers a compelling case for moving beyond one-size-fits-all solutions and embracing the complexity of … Continue reading “Placecast Podcast – Episode Nine – Place is a Unifying Force”
Community Empowerment and Living Heritage in 2026: A Watershed Moment for Community-Owned Culture and Heritage in England?
Liam Smyth, LPIP Hub Place Fellow, discusses his recent briefing paper on how the UNESCO 2003 Convention for the Safeguarding of Intangible Cultural Heritage (ICH) and the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill could be triangulated with a place-based cultural development context to herald in a watershed moment for community-owned culture and heritage in England. … Continue reading “Community Empowerment and Living Heritage in 2026: A Watershed Moment for Community-Owned Culture and Heritage in England?”
Collaborative Innovation in Employment Policy: A Liverpool City Region Case Study
This blog summarises a new LPIP Hub policy briefing authored by Susan Jarvis, which explores how Liverpool City Region demonstrates the power of place-based relationships in sustaining innovation and collaboration in employment support policy. Read the full Policy Briefing. Persistent challenges and local resilience Persistent worklessness and labour market disparities remain long-standing challenges in disadvantaged … Continue reading “Collaborative Innovation in Employment Policy: A Liverpool City Region Case Study”
Business Cases and Place-Based Funding
Alice Pugh discusses her recent report exploring how sub-national institutions apply the HM Treasury Green Book’s Better Business Case model when bidding for place-based economic development funding. Context and Methodology This report critically examines the application of the Better Business Case Green Book model by practitioners when seeking to secure past place-based economic development funding. … Continue reading “Business Cases and Place-Based Funding”
Business Cases for Environmental and Climate Change Projects
On 24 September, the Local Policy Innovation Partnership (LPIP) Hub and the Yorkshire Policy Innovation Partnership (YPIP) attended the Yorkshire and Humber Climate Change Commission Annual Convention to present on developing business cases for environmental and climate change projects. The presenters at the event included: Professor Andrew Brown – Discussed his experience of developing a … Continue reading “Business Cases for Environmental and Climate Change Projects”
Valuing What Matters: From Tick-Box to Stewardship – Reclaiming Social Value as a Driver of Trust, Equity, and Lasting Change
Mark Swift, LPIP Hub Place Fellow, argues that social value in public spending must move beyond compliance and tick-box exercises to a stewardship approach that embeds collaboration, citizen co-creation, and mission-driven investment to tackle inequalities and build resilient communities. When the Public Services (Social Value) Act 20121 was introduced in England and Wales, it was … Continue reading “Valuing What Matters: From Tick-Box to Stewardship – Reclaiming Social Value as a Driver of Trust, Equity, and Lasting Change”