COMPAS-MIGOBS impact project

Immigration is one of the most important public policy issues in the UK. It has, over the past ten years, consistently ranked among the top issues of concern to the British public. The current Government has embarked on a series of significant immigration policy changes which have generated heated public and policy debates as well as extensive media coverage.

Public debates and media coverage of migration, both in the UK and the EU, are often highly polarised and based on assertions and opinions rather than facts and evidence. There is widespread confusion about what we know and don't know about the scale and impacts of migration in the UK. More transparent and accessible data and analysis are needed to help generate a more evidence-based debate and strengthen policy-making. Different people and organisations will always legitimately disagree about the goals of immigration policy - but it is clearly desirable to aim for more clarity, transparency and agreement in the evidence base underlying the discussions.

COMPAS has a successful track record at engaging users of its research and is constantly seeking to strengthen its user engagement and impact on public and policy debates. With its record for high quality academic research and policy expertise, the Centre on Migration, Policy and Society (COMPAS) is well placed to play a more significant role within the UK's migration debate. Recognising the importance of this we recently established The Migration Observatory, a new flagship project specifically aimed at informing public debate and policy on international migration in the UK.

The proposed project would further develop and strengthen the impact of the user engagement activities of the Migration Observatory and COMPAS. The proposed activities will make data and analysis more accessible to key users, such as Government officials, private business and non-governmental organisations, as well as the general public. The project will inform and engage with media and public debates on migration and public policy; strengthen policy-making by providing more transparency and clarity about the evidence base; enable a wide range of users, particularly government officials and the private sector, to easily access and use our charts, maps and analysis for more evidence-based contributions to the UK's migration debate; and help us to establish enduring partnerships with key migration data providers and users.

To achieve these aims, the project includes a range of user engagement activities:

- Web functionality: enhanced functionality of interactive charts and maps (including Census 2010 data available next year); and increased numbers of new videos and podcasts on key migration issues;
- Policy and User Events: policy briefings and user workshops (again based on the upcoming Census results); the extension of COMPAS Breakfast Briefings series; and a high level symposium on Migration Impacts over the last 10 years.
- Media monitoring: this will enhance our ability to track and understand public discourse around migration, with a view to extending the impact we have in this field;
- Knowledge Exchange visits: between staff at COMPAS, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) and the Home Office

This portfolio of activities is designed to maximise the impact of COMPAS' existing research, as well as position us as a focal point for analysis of the forthcoming Census 2011 results on migration.

Public debates and media coverage of migration, both in the UK and the EU, are often highly polarised and based on assertions and opinions rather than facts and evidence. There is widespread confusion about what we know and don't know about the scale and impacts of migration. More transparent and accessible data and analysis are needed to help generate a more evidence-based debate and strengthen policy-making. This proposed portfolio of activities specifically aims to informing public debate and policy on international migration in the UK.

Who will benefit?
All elements of this project appeal to a wide number of user groups. Of course, each part of the project might have a slightly different user audience and the level of representation might change according to the actual activity. Where possible we will make papers and podcasts available on our websites making the data and analysis available to a wider audience. This project seeks to benefit the following groups:
- The Coalition Government and Opposition Party and Parliamentarians
- Civil servants
- Civil Society including businesses and employer associations, trades unions, and NGOs
- Key opinion formers - columnists, bloggers, key social networkers, home affairs correspondents, think tanks etc
- Media - columnists, home affairs correspondents, journalists
- Academics (Other migration centres, key disciplinary scholars - i.e. potential reviewers)
- Students
- Funders and potential funders
- Members of the public with an interest in migration issues

How will users benefit?
- Use of highly accessible and exportable charts, maps and analysis of key migration trends and impacts in the UK, set in international context
- Greater expertise among users to become more effective contributors to migration policy debate
- Better evidence base for policy-making
- Clear, authoritative and easily accessible data and analysis for media reporting on migration
- Better understanding of how media covers migration and how the media impact on public opinion towards immigration
- More ways of interacting with data and analysis to suit users' needs
- Better access to researchers and more opportunities to shape research questions and communicate particular data and analysis needs
- Enhanced relationships that can be built on for future partnerships and projects

What are the impacts?
The above benefits will have the following non-academic impacts and benefits in public policy, economic prosperity, culture, and quality of life:
- Promotion of a more evidence based migration debate - by making analysis of both the latest and historical data on migration and migrants highly accessible to a wide range of academic and non-academic users (including government departments, the business community, trades unions, civil society, journalists, etc.)
- Strengthened migration policy making - by providing rigorous, independent and strictly evidence based analysis of what we know and don't know about migration and its impacts in the UK
- Establishment of strategic knowledge exchange partnerships - by sharing knowledge between producers of statistics (Home Office and ONS) and COMPAS/ MigObs and the wider academic community
- Improved understanding of how migration is covered by the media and how this impacts on public opinion

How will we measure success?
- Website hits/analytics including usage of specific charts, maps and other website features
- Actual use of our charts, maps and analysis in stakeholders' policy positions and in processes of policy-making
- Results from new media monitoring facility
- Tracking number of enquiries and requests for public/media comment
- Increase in media coverage
- Increased number of users with good working relationships
- Increase in mailing list subscribers, Twitter followers and Facebook contacts
- Numbers of downloaded papers and podcasts
- Increase in pieces of analysis that respond to specific user needs