Policy News highlights the latest reports, inquiries, consultations and research shaping local and regional policy across the UK. Explore key developments in devolution, economic growth, community ownership, skills and place-based policymaking. View previous editions. If you have a piece of research you would like to feature in Policy News, please get in touch. UK Government and … Continue reading “Policy News – July 2026”
We Are Guests – Part Four
This is the fourth blog in the series ‘We Are Guests’, by LPIP Hub Place Fellow Helen O’Gara. Helen looks at the interaction of policy with the community development workforce based on interviews with four community development professionals. View the other blogs in the series. What is policy? “It’s a messy space, but I sometimes … Continue reading “We Are Guests – Part Four”
Placecast Episode 19: Why UK Local Economic Policy Keeps Failing
In this episode of Placecast, presenter Nicola Headlam is joined by Glenn Athey, a freelance consultant and LPIP Fellow with over 31 years of experience in economic development. Glenn brings a forensic and refreshingly candid lens to one of the most persistent problems in UK public policy: why decades of place-based economic interventions have repeatedly … Continue reading “Placecast Episode 19: Why UK Local Economic Policy Keeps Failing”
Universities and Place-Based Lifelong Learning for Climate Action
Dr Andrew Reeves highlights the key role that civic universities can play in their localities to support learning towards action on climate change through collaboration with a range of public, private and community sector bodies. It has long been established that the societal transformation needed to address the climate emergency relies on commitment and changes … Continue reading “Universities and Place-Based Lifelong Learning for Climate Action”
The Implementation Doom Loop: Why UK Regional Policy Keeps Failing
Dr Glenn Athey argues that the UK’s national policy system is itself a primary, structural cause of the regional economic disparities it repeatedly promises to fix — and sets out how national and local leaders can break the cycle. This blog draws on his Local Policy Innovation Partnership (LPIP) research at the University of Birmingham, … Continue reading “The Implementation Doom Loop: Why UK Regional Policy Keeps Failing”
We Are Guests – Part Three
LPIP Hub Place Fellow Helen O’Gara’s series ‘We Are Guests’ continues with a third blog exploring the community infrastructure and experiences of funding felt by the community development workforce. View the other blogs in the series. “I think what you need is a common something that you can work together on” “They’re almost a … Continue reading “We Are Guests – Part Three”
Place Leadership: From Town Hall to Whitehall and Back Again – A New Era for England
In the first of a series of blogs looking at place leadership, Jamie Ounan and Abigail Taylor explore why understanding and supporting the often-invisible leaders shaping England’s towns, cities and regions is more important than ever in a new era of devolution and place-based governance. As part of the Local Policy Innovation Partnerships (LPIP) research … Continue reading “Place Leadership: From Town Hall to Whitehall and Back Again – A New Era for England”
Meet LPIP Place Fellow Andrew Reeves: Focussed on Civic Universities and Place-Based Climate Action
About Me How do we make a positive difference to big environmental challenges like the climate crisis within the specific communities where we live and work together? Broadly speaking, this is the question I’ve been grappling with for 20+ years through a wide range of voluntary projects and more recently as an academic, currently working … Continue reading “Meet LPIP Place Fellow Andrew Reeves: Focussed on Civic Universities and Place-Based Climate Action”
We Are Guests – Part Two
LPIP Hub Place Fellow Helen O’Gara continues her series on the felt experiences of the community development workforce, ‘We Are Guests’. This second blog explores the emotional experiences involved in working with communities. Other blog in the series: We Are Guests – Part One As I talked with four people, from different parts of the … Continue reading “We Are Guests – Part Two”
We Are Guests – Part One
As part of her Place Fellowship, Helen O’Gara presents a series of blogs exploring the felt experiences of community development professionals. Helen has spent time interviewing four community development practitioners across different parts of the UK who have been in the same place for between 19 and 50 years. The resulting series explores some of the themes, … Continue reading “We Are Guests – Part One”