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UCL academics join forces with policymakers to roadmap public services for the 21st century
13 November 2024
Experts from policy, politics, and research examined the challenges facing Britain’s core public services from criminal justice to the NHS, at the Institute for Government Public Services Conference, supported by UCL.
Among the UCL representatives at the special one-day conference were Dame Professor Henrietta Moore (UCL Institute for Global Prosperity), Professor Naomi Fulop (UCL Epidemiology & Health Care) and Dr Karen Schucan Bird (UCL IOE Social Research Institute).
They joined political grandees Michael Gove, former Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, and Lord Blunkett, former Home Secretary and Secretary of State for Education, to discuss the cross-cutting issues facing public services today.
The conference came at a critical time for Britain, with a renewed focus on how public services will evolve under the new Labour government.
With grounding in science and research, the UCL experts offered their insights, analysis and evidence-based suggestions for meaningful public services reform across a number of discussion panels.
Reflecting on the urgency of meaningful public service reform, Professor Geraint Rees, UCL Vice-Provost (Research, Innovation & Global Engagement), said: “As a world-leading university with expertise across the range of academic disciplines, UCL is uniquely positioned to use its insight for public benefit. Our academic experts across the university, including the UCL Policy Lab, the Institute for Global Prosperity, and the Institute for Innovation and Public Purpose, are working to address major societal challenges.
““Today’s conference highlights our commitment to collaborating with policymakers and others to ensure that our research is delivering benefit to citizens across the UK.”
The conference underlined UCL’s commitment to bring multidisciplinary expertise to the worlds of policy development and government to support the UK’s national renewal.
Professor Marc Stears, Director of the UCL Policy Lab, said: “Time and again the British public have told their politicians that they are fed up with the quality of what they receive from many public services.
“It is crucial that we all think, therefore, about how these services can be made stronger, more cost effective and, most of all, more responsive to people’s concerns. These are questions that UCL colleagues have much to say about and it is brilliant to be able to bring their insights together with those on the frontline today."
Following last month’s historic tax-raising budget, Professor Dame Henrietta Moore was asked what government spending plans mean for performance and productivity?
She said: “If you are going to have a growth agenda and a growth envelope, what do you want to do with the wealth that you generate? Where are you going to put it and how do you know if it is value for money?”
She called for more place-specific consideration when tackling systematic problems.
““We have to move now from thinking about massive levers with one great big top-down approach, to thinking about how we can do this better in the places it really needs to be done”.
During the conference Preet Gill MP, Shadow Minister for Primary Care and Public Health, echoed this sentiment, calling on local governments to partner with the universities in their communities to harness the research and evidence-led expertise that exists locally.
Emphasising the need for public service reform to be ‘planet responsive’, Professor Dame Moore advocated for governments “to use public services to shape markets, to drive the economy for the results we actually want.”
Speaking on health and social care, Professor Naomi Fulop argued for staff and citizens to co-produce the changes needed in the NHS.
She also cited her research on virtual wards when discussing the advantages and challenges of community-based health and social care.
“We need a strategy on how we do this shift from hospital to community. And of course, that involves general practice and primary care and community care and social care”.
““You need to get providers of community services and hospitals working much more closely together.”
On the criminal justice system, Dr Karen Schucan Bird called for a holistic approach that integrates public services with communities to maximise early intervention for victims of domestic abuse.
She explained: “The majority of victims do not report the abusive relationship to the police, whereas our whole system is set up on the basis that the police are the first responders.”
Dr Schucan Bird highlighted how academic research has shown the effectiveness of educational intervention in reducing violence and abuse in young people.
She exemplified how academic research can shape justice reform and deliver better outcomes for victims.
UCL is committed to using its wide-ranging expertise to support the UK’s national renewal, with world-leading experts on issues from healthcare to education, climate change and inequalities.
Sarah Chaytor, UCL’s Director of Research Strategy and Policy, emphasised: “Through UCL Public Policy, we offer dedicated capacity to connect policy professionals at all levels of government with academic expertise to support policy development and improvements in public services.
““By working with partners across the UK, we can champion evidence-informed policymaking, harness the power of the UK research base, and identify solutions to policy challenges which can improve outcomes for people across the country.”
The conference was supported by UCL Public Policy, expert knowledge brokers who connect UCL researchers with policymakers to help inform effective policy development.
Recordings of the panel discussions are available to watch online on the IFG’s Youtube channel.
Links
- UCL Public Policy
- UCL Policy Lab
- IfG public services conference recordings
- Institute for Government
- Professor Naomi Fulop’s academic profile
- UCL Institute of Epidemiology and Health Care
- UCL Faculty of Population Health Sciences
- Dr Karen Schucan Bird’s academic profile
- UCL Social Research Institute
- IOE, Faculty of Education and Society
- Professor Henrietta Moore’s academic profile
- UCL Institute for Global Prosperity
- The Bartlett Faculty of the Built Environment
Image
- L-R: Lord Blunkett, Dame Professor Henrietta Moore, Dr Karen Schucan Bird, Professor Naomi Fulop, Rt Hon Michael Gove (Credit: Insitute for Government)
- L-R: Rupert Harrison, Dame Professor Henrietta Moore, Nick Davies, Rachel Sylvester, Paul Johnson (Credit: Insitute for Government)
- Dame Professor Henrietta Moore (Credit: Insitute for Government)
- L-R: Dr Becks Fisher, Professor Naomi Fulop, Stuart Hoddinott, Dame Una O'Brien, Preet Gill MP (Credit: Insitute for Government)
- Dr Karen Schucan Bird (Credit: Insitute for Government)
- L-R: Penelope Gibbs, Lord Timpson OBE, Cassia Rowland, Dr Karen Schucan Bird (Credit: Insitute for Government)
- L-R: Dr Hannah White OBE, Rt Hon Michael Gove, Emma Norris, Lord Blunkett (Credit: Insitute for Government)
Media contact
Sophie Hunter
E: sophie.hunter [at] ucl.ac.uk
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