Resolution Foundation Events Podcast externalaffairs

1999 saw the Scottish Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Senedd all meet in their full form for the first time. This marked the most significant act of devolution of the 20th Century, and it has changed the United Kingdom significantly over the past quarter of a century. The process of devolution has continued to evolve, with the extent of the devolution of economic powers building over time. And those powers have been used, with different tax, spending, and social security choices made across the nations. As devolution hits its 25th birthday, now is the time to take stock of what has been done, and what has been learned.
How have devolved nations used policy levers differently, whether to raise revenue or address priorities like reducing child poverty? Have different growth strategies been pursued across the nations, and what are the different approaches to strategic economic policy making? Has devolution of economic powers gone too far or not far enough? And what lessons can policy makers in Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Westminster learn from devolution so far – and from each other – to improve economic decision making across the whole United Kingdom?
The Resolution Foundation is hosting a major conference, in partnership with PolicyWISE, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of devolution to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. We will hear from leading politicians, economists and policy makers on the lessons from devolution, including keynote speeches by the Former Deputy First Minister of Scotland, John Swinney, and the Former First Minister of Wales, Mark Drakeford.

1999 saw the Scottish Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Senedd all meet in their full form for the first time. This marked the most significant act of devolution of the 20th Century, and it has changed the United Kingdom significantly over the past quarter of a century. The process of devolution has continued to evolve, with the extent of the devolution of economic powers building over time. And those powers have been used, with different tax, spending, and social security choices made across the nations. As devolution hits its 25th birthday, now is the time to take stock of what has been done, and what has been learned.
How have devolved nations used policy levers differently, whether to raise revenue or address priorities like reducing child poverty? Have different growth strategies been pursued across the nations, and what are the different approaches to strategic economic policy making? Has devolution of economic powers gone too far or not far enough? And what lessons can policy makers in Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Westminster learn from devolution so far – and from each other – to improve economic decision making across the whole United Kingdom?
The Resolution Foundation is hosting a major conference, in partnership with PolicyWISE, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of devolution to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. We will hear from leading politicians, economists and policy makers on the lessons from devolution, including keynote speeches by the Former Deputy First Minister of Scotland, John Swinney, and the Former First Minister of Wales, Mark Drakeford.
Speakers:
Chair: Clodagh Rice, Business Correspondent for BBC NI
David Phillips, Associate Director at the IFS


Professor Katy Hayward, Queen’s University Belfast


Jonathan Tench, Director of Well-being Economy and Programmes, Future Generations Commission

1999 saw the Scottish Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Senedd all meet in their full form for the first time. This marked the most significant act of devolution of the 20th Century, and it has changed the United Kingdom significantly over the past quarter of a century. The process of devolution has continued to evolve, with the extent of the devolution of economic powers building over time. And those powers have been used, with different tax, spending, and social security choices made across the nations. As devolution hits its 25th birthday, now is the time to take stock of what has been done, and what has been learned.
How have devolved nations used policy levers differently, whether to raise revenue or address priorities like reducing child poverty? Have different growth strategies been pursued across the nations, and what are the different approaches to strategic economic policy making? Has devolution of economic powers gone too far or not far enough? And what lessons can policy makers in Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Westminster learn from devolution so far – and from each other – to improve economic decision making across the whole United Kingdom?
The Resolution Foundation is hosting a major conference, in partnership with PolicyWISE, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of devolution to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. We will hear from leading politicians, economists and policy makers on the lessons from devolution, including keynote speeches by the Former Deputy First Minister of Scotland, John Swinney, and the Former First Minister of Wales, Mark Drakeford.
Speakers:

Chair: Clodagh Rice, Business Correspondent for BBC NI


Emma Congreve, Deputy Director at the Fraser of Allander Institute


Dyfed Alsop, Chief Executive of the Welsh Revenue Authority


Lindsey Whyte, Director General of International Finance at HM Treasury

1999 saw the Scottish Parliament, the Northern Ireland Assembly and the Senedd all meet in their full form for the first time. This marked the most significant act of devolution of the 20th Century, and it has changed the United Kingdom significantly over the past quarter of a century. The process of devolution has continued to evolve, with the extent of the devolution of economic powers building over time. And those powers have been used, with different tax, spending, and social security choices made across the nations. As devolution hits its 25th birthday, now is the time to take stock of what has been done, and what has been learned.
How have devolved nations used policy levers differently, whether to raise revenue or address priorities like reducing child poverty? Have different growth strategies been pursued across the nations, and what are the different approaches to strategic economic policy making? Has devolution of economic powers gone too far or not far enough? And what lessons can policy makers in Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh and Westminster learn from devolution so far – and from each other – to improve economic decision making across the whole United Kingdom?
The Resolution Foundation is hosting a major conference, in partnership with PolicyWISE, to celebrate the 25th anniversary of devolution to Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland. We will hear from leading politicians, economists and policy makers on the lessons from devolution, including keynote speeches by the Former Deputy First Minister of Scotland, John Swinney, and the Former First Minister of Wales, Mark Drakeford.

Over one-in-ten workers across Britain is employed on some form of precarious contract. The problems with such working arrangements for some workers are well known: they have limited control over their working patterns and insecure incomes too. But why firms use, or even come to rely on them, is rarely discussed and poorly understand. We need a far better understanding of both the causes of precarious employment and the consequences if work practices were to change.
What kinds of firms and sectors are most likely to employ staff on precarious contracts? Does that vary across different types of employment, from fixed term to zero hour contracts? Do firms choose this approach to better serve their customers, give workers the flexibility they want, or does it boil down to the bottom line? What would it take for firms to change their approach – and what would the consequences be?
The Resolution Foundation is hosting an in-person and interactive webinar to debate these questions, and share new evidence from a specially commissioned survey of firms. Following a presentation of this research, which marks the start of a major new project on precarious work, supported by Unbound Philanthropy, we will hear from leading experts from the world of business on firms’ use of insecure contracts.
Read the report here: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/firm-foundations/ 
View the slides from the event here: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/precarious-profits/ 

The UK’s transition towards a net zero economy requires a complete overhaul of our power sector. We don’t just need electricity generation that has been decarbonised, but a huge amount more of it as we switch away from heating our homes with gas and powering our cars with petrol. This will require a huge step up in investment – we must raise wind turbines, build nuclear power stations and expand the national grid. And that investment will need to be paid for.
How big is the investment required to decarbonise our energy systems? What will it cost – and how will that cost vary depending on the choices we make and the interest rates markets charge? How big is the impact on household bills likely to be? And what will it take to ensure the costs and benefits are spread fairly across society?
The Resolution Foundation is hosting an in-person and interactive webinar to debate and answer these questions. Following a presentation of the key highlights from new research on how the power sector can be decarbonised in a fair and efficacious way, we will hear from leading experts on how they think the UK can rise to this challenge.
Read the report: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/publications/electric-dreams/ 
View the event slides: https://www.resolutionfoundation.org/events/powering-britain/