Innovation isn’t a glossary term—it’s the practical work of turning ideas into value for people and places. In this blog, Gerardo J. Arriaga‑Garcia explores how the LPIP programme helps move innovation from theory to meaningful impact.
If you work in policy, you’ve seen the glossaries: tidy lists of “innovation” terms presented as if they live on whiteboards rather than in real communities. But innovation is not a dictionary entry; it’s a practice. It’s the messy, iterative work of turning knowledge into value. New products, better services, smarter organisations, guided by evidence, shaped by place, and accountable to the people it affects. That is the proposition at the heart of the Local Policy Innovation Partnerships (LPIP) programme and the LPIP Hub at City-REDI.
Concepts that move the dial (and why they matter now)
Innovation ecosystems. These are the webs of relationships that turn ideas into outcomes from firms, universities, civic groups, local authorities and colleges to Catapults, labs, investors, skills providers and brokers. They work through knowledge flows, talent pipelines, supply chains, standards, finance and demand (procurement and testbeds). The UK’s policy arc since 2021 has been clear: build whole-system capacity so ideas scale faster and broader. The 2021 UK Innovation Strategy set the ambition to make the UK a global innovation hub by 2035, highlighting the role of business, universities, finance and the state acting in concert. The Science and Technology Framework then codified the levers (from talent to procurement) and has been refreshed in 2025 to align with the Industrial Strategy delivery.
Place-based policy. The English Devolution White Paper sets out plans to widen and deepen devolution and embed mayoral leadership in growth policy, with measures progressing through the English Devolution and Community Empowerment Bill (introduced in July 2025). In parallel, the UK Shared Prosperity Fund has a 2025–26 extension year with updated delivery guidance, giving councils and combined authorities continuity to invest in communities and place, local business support, and people and skills. The LPIP programme fits this architecture by convening cross-sector partners to tackle locally material challenges, coordinated by a national Hub.
Balanced instruments: technology-push and demand-pull. Successful places blend upstream research support with downstream market signals. UKRI’s portfolio demonstrates this mix, grants, R&D tax relief and innovation-friendly procurement, alongside place-based cluster and diffusion programmes such as the Strength in Places Fund (SIPF) and the new Local Innovation Partnerships Fund (LIPF), a £500 million (2026–2031) programme backing triple-helix partnerships via earmarked and competed strands to scale high-potential clusters.
Good appraisal and better learning. The Treasury’s Green Book represents a benchmark, and the 2025 review tightens practice. In turn, the updated Magenta Book reinforces a shift by emphasising proportionate, learning-oriented evaluation and the capabilities needed to use it effectively. Within LPIP, we’re already operationalising this approach of theory-of-change-led portfolios, rapid-cycle evaluations via regional workshops, and shared practices across the four LPIPs, so places can compare what works, adapt quickly, and stay Green-Book-consistent under devolution.
The LPIP Innovation Evidence Review synthesises what works for local innovation, and where capacity gaps persist. Five signals are particularly relevant to England’s current policy moment:
- Ecosystem first. Strong local coalitions make it easier for firms (especially SMEs) to find facilities, finance and advice; cluster policy is most effective when it builds on existing strengths rather than inventing them.
- Multi-level coherence. R&D policy is highly centralised; devolving selective powers and aligning national missions with local industrial strategies raises impact, but requires analytical capacity and clear roles.
- Both radical and incremental innovation matter. Diffusion (e.g., adopting and adapting what already exists) often delivers faster, fairer gains in “left-behind” areas than frontier R&D alone.
- Inclusive innovation isn’t optional. Who benefits, who participates and who decides priorities must be designed in, from widening participation and decent work to “innovating for impact” on social and environmental missions.
- Evaluate, iterate, scale. Rigorous evaluation and regular benchmarking help policy learn in public and adapt faster. The growing use of open tools like DSIT’s UK Innovation Clusters Map can anchor those feedback loops with shared, place-sensitive data.
Where LPIP is working: four diverse testbeds
The four LPIPs provide contrasting contexts to test these principles: Rural Wales (inclusive, sustainable growth under rural constraints), FORTH2O Stirling (water systems and net-zero opportunities), Yorkshire and Humber Policy Innovation Partnership (empowering marginalised communities, data use and entrepreneurship) and Epic Futures Northern Ireland (open think-tank model tackling economic inactivity). Together with the LPIP Hub, they are building comparative insight about what actually travels between places.
Policy shifts to watch (and use)
- Mission delivery with local anchors. The 2025 refresh of the Science and Technology Framework, plus extensions to the Innovation Accelerators, signal continued government appetite for locally led missions backed by national levers. Local leaders should treat Innovation Accelerators-style governance (co-design, rapid evaluation, cluster focus) as a reusable template.
- Smarter regulation as an enabler. DSIT’s “pro-innovation” AI approach advocates outcome-based, regulator-led principles useful beyond AI as a model for agile, learning-oriented regulation in other emergent domains.
- Evidence infrastructure for place. Tools (Innovation Clusters Map, the Midlands Dealroom), alongside evaluative evidence (e.g. SIPF evaluations) and improved R&D statistics together are reducing ambiguity about where innovation happens and how it diffuses, which is crucial for applying Green Book appraisal to system change.
What this means for practitioners
- Start with problems people recognise. Frame missions in citizen-relevant outcomes (warm homes, faster diagnostics, safer streets), then back-cast to the R&D, data, skills and procurement needed. Use Green-Book-consistent Theories of Change but evaluate what matters locally, not only what’s easily measured.
- Design for diffusion. Tilt funding toward adoption and adaptation in firms and public services, KTP-style brokerage (i.e. Knowledge Transfer Partnerships model that embeds a graduate “associate” in a business, jointly supervised by a university, to transfer expertise and deliver a defined innovation project) plus common data standards, testbeds and innovation-friendly procurement, so innovations travel across supply chains and geographies.
- Build coalition capacity of partnership. Treat convening as infrastructure. LPIP shows that universities, local government, business and civic actors can jointly steward portfolios of place-based innovations spanning missions, testbeds and adoption programmes.
- Open the door wider. Apply inclusive innovation commitments in the design: who participates, who benefits and who holds power. Measure distributional effects, not just averages.
A call to action
For policy-makers, combined authorities, universities, NHS and public-service leaders, business and civic partners, the task now is disciplined delivery. That is a mission-led, locally anchored, and supported by continuous evaluation and open reporting. The following are three practical next steps:
- Adopt a shared, public learning loop: publish short “trial–evidence–tweak” notes for every funded intervention within 100 days of start-up.
- Mainstream community voice: embed deliberative engagement at gateway points (option appraisal, procurement design, benefit realisation) so local knowledge shapes decisions, not just comms.
- Procure for innovation and inclusion: set outcome-based specifications that reward diffusion, open standards and local social value, then evidence value for money using Green Book principles.
Let’s move from glossary to ground game.
This blog was written by Gerardo J. Arriaga-Garcia, Research Fellow, City-REDI, University of Birmingham.
Find out more about the Local Policy Innovation Partnership Hub.
Disclaimer:
The views expressed in this analysis post are those of the author and not necessarily those of City-REDI or the University of Birmingham.