This article was originally published on Lgcplus.com. The version below features a minor edit.
A unique collaboration between universities and local government in Yorkshire and the Humber has provided policy support for councils across the region, write former Bradford City MBC chief executive Kersten England and Paul Hayes, senior policy engagement fellow at Leeds University Business School.
The capacity of local government to develop effective strategic and policy responses to the big challenges of our time, such as climate change, inclusive growth and fracturing levels of community cohesion, is very unevenly spread across our sector.
Austerity has hollowed out corporate centres, especially for smaller authorities. In a time which can charitably be described as an ‘interesting’ economic, social and policy environment, there is a clear need for local government to continue to respond effectively on behalf of the communities they serve.
Universities can be a key resource and partner for local and combined authorities. Universities are anchor institutions, but also sources of rigorous research and advice, and potential co-producers of solutions. Many sub-regions of the UK have a largely untapped asset for their region in the excellent research of their universities.
Building the infrastructure
The government wants universities to play a greater role in places. Education secretary Bridget Phillipson wrote to all vice chancellors in November asking them to “ensure local communities and businesses benefit fully from your work” and to work “in partnership with local government and employers to shape and deliver economic and social change”. The devolution white paper sets out an expectation that universities will play a larger role within and alongside combined and mayoral strategic authorities.
Whilst many councils and combined authorities have collaborated with their local universities in the past, this has mainly been for one-off projects and without a systematic framework which allows councils to tap into wider academic knowledge or support on a continuing basis. In Yorkshire and the Humber we have been building the infrastructure for this to happen over the last five years.
This will particularly benefit authorities without a physical university presence.
In Yorkshire and Humber alone, there are 12 universities across the region, with over 15,000 academics and many disciplines in which the research undertaken is recognised as world class.
In 2021, the Yorkshire and Humber Councils Group, composed of the then 22 councils across the region, signed a memorandum of understanding with Yorkshire Universities – the coordinating body for the region’s universities. This was the first agreement of its kind and set out a shared commitment for joint working to deliver greater prosperity and well-being for the people and places of the Yorkshire and Humber region.
Sustaining relationships
An early deliverable from this was Y-PERN, the Yorkshire and Humber Policy Engagement & Research Network. This £4m project, funded by Research England, has led to 11 policy fellows from universities supporting combined authorities and councils by not only providing direct academic input into projects – such as the growth strategies of combined authorities, work on the childcare and early years ecosystem within West Yorkshire, female entrepreneurship in North Yorkshire and the poverty truth commission in Hull – but also acting as knowledge brokers and connectors, allowing local areas to identify academic expertise across the wider region to meet their local issues. This role continues to grow, and will particularly benefit authorities without a physical university presence.
Y-PERN is also conducting research and working with local government across the region on issues such as the next stage of devolution and graduate retention. More importantly, it is building and sustaining relationships between higher education and local government, acting as both a regional resource and as an exemplar for other parts of the country.
The network is supporting the Yorkshire and Humber policy officers network, bringing together local and combined corporate policy specialists from across the region, as well as conducting events to bring together early career policy officers with academics. The aim is not only to stimulate collaboration, but to mainstream it across every local authority and every university within the region.
The foundations built through Y-PERN have helped the region secure an additional £5m of research council funding for the Yorkshire Policy Innovation Partnership, Y-PIP. This funding has created a Local Policy Innovation Partnership that involves all Yorkshire universities and addresses inclusive growth, sustainable living and data analytics, with a focus on marginalized communities and places.
Rebuilding capacity
At a more local level, a formal collaboration between the University of Leeds and Leeds City Council, involves the council and university agreeing a series of ‘Areas of Research Interest’, the first established at local government level. Since its inception this has led to 18 collaborative projects including work around culture, food systems, safety in parks and inclusive growth and over £1m of funding targeted to areas where LCC has identified the most need.
In Bradford the City of Research approach anchored by Born in Bradford (the world’s largest longitudinal study of childhood development) has lead to over £80m of investment from UK Research Councils, non-departmental public bodies such as the Arts Council, Sport England, the Big Lottery, government departments and research foundations such as Wellcome. This collaboration has provided critical evidence and support for policy making around issues such as tackling air pollution, childhood obesity, planning guidelines for neighbourhoods, food systems and early diagnosis of autism with proven savings to public services over the life course of individuals.
There are also four Health Determinants Research Collaboration authorities in Yorkshire and the Humber (Bradford, Doncaster and Wakefield MBCs and North Yorkshire Council). This is a significant investment in rebuilding the research appetite and capacity within those local authorities.
The work across the Yorkshire and Humber region is by no means mainstream, but it is gathering speed and making a difference, particularly around creating opportunities for places lacking their own physical university presence. Mayors, local authority leaders and vice chancellors continue to show commitment to developing and sustaining these relationships.
Local government has a key role as convenor and place shaper, bringing together partners to improve places, lives and opportunities. Strong and active partnership with the university sector can only help secure our ambitions, both at local and regional scale.
Kersten England was chief executive of Bradford City MDC from 2015 to 2023. She is currently Director of Engagement at the Yorkshire Policy Engagement & Research Network (Y-PERN).
