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South Yorkshire Sub-Regional Report 2025

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We proudly present our South-Yorkshire Sub-regional Report, a collaborative effort between Y-PERN, Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) and the University of Sheffield (UoS).

Sheffield Hallam University (SHU) and the University of Sheffield (UoS) jointly host the South Yorkshire Y-PERN team. The SHU team operates from the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research (CRESR) and includes two policy fellows, Elizabeth Sanderson and Dr. Jamie Redman, along with Professor Peter Wells, who is a member of the Y-PERN Academic Steering Committee, and Dr. Rich Crisp, who is also a Co-Investigator for the Yorkshire Policy Innovation Partnership (YPIP).

At the University of Sheffield, Y-PERN is represented by policy fellow Dr. Dan Olner and Professor Vania Sena, who is the Chair of Entrepreneurship and Enterprise within the university’s Management School. Dr. Olner is embedded within the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA), while Professor Sena serves on the Y-PERN Academic Steering Group and is also a Co-Investigator for YPIP.

The report, authored by Rich Crisp, Dan Olner, Jamie Redman, Elizabeth Sanderson, Vania Sena, and Peter Wells, provides a detailed overview of the collaborative initiatives undertaken by the South Yorkshire team in partnership with the South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority (SYMCA).

It highlights the ongoing collaboration with SYMCA, focusing on enhancing regional economic development and addressing skills shortages. A key aspect of this partnership is the transition from reactive contract research to a strategic partnership model, which promotes long-term collaborations between Y-PERN, Sheffield Hallam University (SHU), the University of Sheffield (UoS), and SYMCA.

These joint efforts aim to improve job quality and support the development of SYMCA’s Skills Strategy. Various initiatives, including evidence briefings, workshops, and data analysis, have been implemented to inform policy decisions.

The report underscores the importance of close collaboration and knowledge exchange, illustrating the benefits of integrating academic resources within local government to establish a stronger foundation for economic growth in the South Yorkshire region.

South Yorkshire Seminars Series: The region’s political and economic history

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South Yorkshire’s past, present and future: what does the data say?

Written by Dan Olner

Dan Olner is a Policy Fellow for Y-PERN, South Yorkshire Mayoral Authority and Sheffield University Management School. Dan is an expert on economic and quantitative geography, data science, politics and international relations.

The Sheffield Political Economy Research Institute (SPERI) at Sheffield University have organised a set of seminars digging into the political economy of South Yorkshire, bringing together researchers and policymakers to better understand where the region has come from, where it is now and what the future holds.

In the first session, which took place on 5th March 2025, James Evans talked through some of the region’s historical data. James spoke about 1921, when Sheffield was the most heavily industrialised city in the UK. During this period up to the 1960’s employment in coal mining shrank while metalwork jobs carried on rising. In this time, most of the jobs growth happened away from cities, in surrounding towns – often making those towns reliant on a few large employers. This meant that from the 1970s onwards when employment began to retreat across the entire of the UK, some places were more vulnerable than others.

During the seminar, James discussed a typology of surviving versus declining places. Surviving places, more resilient because they were more economically diverse, could adapt. Those in the declining category, including places that had become more economic monocultures, were vulnerable. Impacts on these areas are still visible today in the deprivation data.

I (Dan Olner) then discussed 1970s and beyond, using Census data to dig further into just how profound the employment impacts were during that decade, and how certain parts of the country – including South Yorkshire – missed out on much of the bounce back that took place in the 80s.

1971-1981 employment in England / Scotland. The dark red indicates were employment fell, and the dark blue zones are where employment rose.

From the late 90s onwards, detailed regional productivity data paints a picture of continued structural change in the UK. While manufacturing shrunk and services grew in this period across the entire of the UK – continuing the same decades-long process of deindustrialisation – it was sectors concentrated in the North (like manufacturing) that declined most as a proportion of the UK economy. And whilst more recently there have been positive signs of jobs and output growth in Yorkshire, the region’s difficult economic history is still visible in its struggling productivity levels and low skills equilibrium.

This very broad-brush picture doesn’t tell the full story, however. Economic Innovations are taking place that cross sectoral boundaries; for example, those being celebrated at the Digital Forge, are blurring the difference between technology and manufacturing. The region’s devolved organisations are building plans that aim to benefit everyone – SYMCA’s plan for good growth aims to invest in both economic infrastructure and communities; South Yorkshire’s Integrated Care Strategy builds on deep data analysis to identify vital links between the wider determinants of health and economic outcomes.

The seminars into South Yorkshire’s political economical history will hopefully be the foundation to develop practical, policy relevant research that can contribute to helping the region navigate 21st century challenges.

The upcoming sessions will explore inequality, social change and devolution and will take place in person at the University of Sheffield. Contact d.olner@sheffield.ac.uk for further information.

You can view the slides from the first seminar here >

The Y-PERN Year 2 Regional Report has landed

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The team at Y-PERN are pleased to present our Year 2 Regional Report.

The report, which summarises Y-PERN’s activity to date, reflects on what we have learnt about our impact and value, how Yorkshire and the Humber is leading the way in regional academic policy engagement and discusses how Universities can support multi-level governance for inclusive and sustainable growth.

The Y-PERN report evidences in detail how Yorkshire and the Humber is leading the way in regional academic policy engagement, and suggests how Universities can support multi-level governance for inclusive and sustainable growth.
Let us continue to work together across the region for the benefit of the places we live in, work in & call home.

- Andrew Brown, Y-PERN Academic Director, Kersten England CBE, Y-PERN Engagement Director & Peter O’Brien, Y-PERN Policy Director

In the report, you’ll discover:

  • Activities and impacts from the Yorkshire sub-regions including:

o   How Y-PERN synthesized ten projects related to early years education and childcare to help shape West Yorkshire Combined Authority’s economic strategy and local growth plan

o   How Y-PERN’s academic insights on the region’s economic history and recent economic growth areas have fed into South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority’s Skills Strategy and Plan for Good Growth

  •  How Y-PERN is working to connect and our region’s policy makers, researchers and community organisations
  •  Emergent findings on local governance issues with Yorkshire and Humber being a ‘live laboratory’ for regional devolution
  • Strategical next steps for Y-PERN and the future of regional policy engagement

Discover how Y-PERN is transforming the way university academics and knowledge exchange experts work with policy partners across the region in our Y-PERN Year 2 Regional Report

Hull Poverty Truth Commission Evaluation Report

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University of Hull’s First Hull Poverty Truth Commission Evaluation Report  has now been published.

Written by Dr Gill Hughes and Y-PERN Policy Fellow Dr Juan Pablo Winter, the report discusses how the first Hull Poverty Truth Commission has inspired a major cultural shift to ensure that people who experience the impact of decisions should be part of the decision-making process.

The evaluation report shows how a ‘new business as usual’ is unfolding and speaks to the statement that the Poverty Truth Network (PTN) embraced:

“Nothing about us, without us, is for us.”

Read the Hull Poverty Truth Commission Report here >

You can also find out more about the story of the first Hull Poverty Truth Commission by viewing the University of Hull commissioned film “My pockets” here >

The film identifies the process as an ‘engine switch’ not a ‘paint job’ – this is about a participatory needs-led approach that shifts power through equitable trusting relationships to create transformative systems change.

Y-PERN: Place-based policy that is grounded in evidence, developed in partnership

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Y-PERN is transforming the way academic researchers and knowledge exchange experts in the 12 Yorkshire and Humber universities work in partnership with policymakers in the region.

The deepening of devolution across our region presents a unique opportunity to co-create evidence based policies that bring real benefits to communities.

Take a look at Y-PERN’s 4-page summary to find out what we’re doing, where and how.

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