Public lecture podcasts University of Bath

Economic growth in the UK has been sluggish ever since the global financial crisis. More recent large-scale disruptions caused by Brexit and Covid-19 have created additional challenges to growth and the vital public services, institutions, and fiscal measures that underpin it. Productivity and public investment remain low. Meanwhile, stalling wage growth and the cost-of-living crisis continue to eat into households’ disposable income, discouraging spending while also deepening economic inequalities. What policies might underpin a new vision for prosperity – one that focuses not purely on growth but also ensures that economic gains are widely shared and environmentally sustainable?

This IPR panel discussion featured Torsten Bell, Professor Dame Diane Coyle and Dr Anna Valero.

It took place on 25 April 2024.

Hosted with Resolution Foundation.

This event marked the launch of the new Institute for Policy Research report: "Coping and hoping: Navigating the ups and downs of monthly assessment in universal credit".

The report, written by Dr Rita Griffiths and Dr Marsha Wood, explores how the system of monthly assessment in Universal Credit – used for assessing entitlement, recovering debts and calculating payment – is affecting income security and financial well-being in working households. The research, funded by abrdn Financial Fairness Trust, tracked changes in earnings and household income, in real time, between 2022 and 2023 tracked changes in earnings and household income, in real time, between 2022 and 2023, among 61 Universal Credit claimants in 42 working households with one or two earners in paid work or self-employment.

The specific research questions the study sought to answer were:

- How stable or volatile are monthly household incomes and what are the key drivers?
- To what extent does Universal Credit dampen or accentuate income insecurity and help with household budgeting?
- Is the adjustment to the Universal Credit payment in response to changes in earnings timely and smooth?
- Is household income sufficient to generate a buffer and cover reductions in the Universal Credit payment when earnings rise?
- What budgeting strategies do participants use to manage fluctuating payments and variations in household income?
- To what extent does monthly assessment incentivise employment, longer working hours and higher earnings?
- What conclusions and policy implications can be drawn from the findings and what policy recommendations can be made?

The event included a presentation from the report authors, Dr Rita Griffiths and Dr Marsha Wood, and audience questions. It took place on 16 April 2024.

Science and politics have collaborated throughout human history, and science is repeatedly invoked today in political debates, from pandemic management to climate change. But the relationship between the two is muddled and muddied.

In this IPR lecture, leading policy analyst Geoff Mulgan calls attention to the growing frictions caused by the expanding authority of science, which sometimes helps politics but often challenges it. He dissects the complex history of states’ use of science for conquest, glory and economic growth and shows the challenges of governing risk – from nuclear weapons to genetic modification, artificial intelligence to synthetic biology. He shows why the governance of science has become one of the biggest challenges of the twenty-first century, ever more prominent in daily politics and policy.

This IPR event took place on 26 March 2024.

Devolution to nations, regions and cities has been a feature of British politics since 1997 - to the nations of the UK, Greater London and more recently to other English counties and city regions. It has led in some cases to significant change and the rise of powerful national institutions and city leaders, but it has also been a messy, incomplete process that has produced inequalities of power between different parts of the UK.

Not all areas have seen substantive devolution, devolved authorities have different powers, considerable power is still hoarded in the central UK state, and the consequences of devolution for the constitution of the UK, and relations between its constituent nations, remain fraught and contested. Some argue that England should be formally recognised as a partner nation in the UK; others that devolution has gone too far. How has devolution worked in practice? What should the next government do? What can places ask for? Can we move from an overly centralised state to one where true power rests with elected representatives and local communities? Should we consider a federal future for the UK?

In this IPR panel discussion, Zoë Billingham (IPPR North), joins Michael Kenny (Bennett Institute for Public Policy, Cambridge), Marvin Rees, Mayor of Bristol, and Hannah White (Institute for Government). Hosted by Nick Pearce, Director of the Institute for Policy Research (IPR) and Professor of Public Policy.

This discussion took place on 27 February 2024 and was hosted with Bristol Ideas.

Britain is facing a teacher retention and recruitment crisis which has the potential to severely impact schools' ability to provide quality education to all students. The latest workforce survey by the Department for Education (DfE) indicates that record numbers of teachers working in state schools – about one in ten – left the profession for reasons other than retirement in 2021-22. In a recent survey conducted as part of Education Support’s Commission on Teacher Retention, more than one in five secondary teachers expected to leave the profession within five years’ time. Meanwhile, new national data on the teacher labour market shows that across the vast majority of secondary subjects, recruitment targets are not being met, suggesting that teacher shortages are likely to intensify in the future.

In this IPR event, Professor Simon Burgess, Evelyn Forde MBE and Jack Worth discuss the factors influencing teacher retention and recruitment – such as excessive workload, insufficient pay, lack of career development opportunities, and challenging working environments – as well as the policy interventions that could improve the attractiveness of teaching as a profession. Hosted by Matt Dickson.

This IPR event took place on 22 February 2024.

Over the last 12 months, we’ve witnessed an explosion of discussion and debate on artificial intelligence among UK Members of Parliament. But what do they think about AI, and what are their concerns?

James Boyd-Wallis from the Appraise Network, an AI policy forum, explains the findings of its survey of how MPs feel about AI. The research reveals to what extent MPs feel regulators have the necessary skills and expertise to regulate AI, how optimistic and pessimistic MPs are toward the technology, and their concerns about jobs, society, and the speed of development.

This IPR event took place on 24 January 2024.