What Works Centre for Local Economic Growth 2023-2025
Lead Research Organisation:
London School of Economics and Political Science
Department Name: What Works Ctr for Local Econ Growth
Abstract
The What Works Centre for Local Economic Growth was set up in 2013. The overall aim of What Works Growth is to increase the cost-effectiveness of policies for local economic growth by improving the use of evidence and evaluation in their design and delivery. What Works Growth is led by a partnership between the London School of Economics and the Centre for Cities.
In the next phase of funding What Works Growth will undertake activities to support high quality impact evaluation, improve the use of evidence in policy design and delivery, and build capability and capacity in local government.
Supporting high quality impact evaluation
We will provide advice to central and local government on evaluation of policies and programmes, through one-to-one meetings, workshops, written advice, and comments on documents.
We will identify evaluation evidence gaps and work with central government to help design and conduct 'demonstrator' evaluation projects to address them. We will also support local areas to take part in high-quality evaluations coordinated or funded by central government.
We will promote excellent evaluation methods and advise on best practice, through bespoke projects and as members of a range of advisory boards and steering groups. We will provide support on cross-cutting evaluation issues that apply to multiple policies or programmes.
We will support those within local government who have more capability and opportunity to undertake impact evaluations. For those who cannot currently conduct impact evaluations, we will focus on helping them understand the basics of evaluation and how it can help inform better policy design.
We will expand our 'how to evaluate' resources which provide case studies and guidance on evaluation, and we will provide training to promote evaluation methods and best practice, and to build capability and capacity.
Improving the use of evidence in policy design and delivery
We will extend our range of free evidence resources to provide decision makers with accessible and reliable evidence on what works to drive local growth. This will include policy briefings which use economic theory and evidence to help policymakers think through the impacts of a policy; evidence reviews which summarise key findings from our rigorous literature reviews; and toolkits which aim to inform specific aspects of policy design within a broad policy area.
We will deliver training on how to use evidence, including webinars and 'live learning' sessions.
We will undertake user-focused policy projects addressing key challenges, such as responding to the challenges and opportunities arising from the transition to net-zero.
We will undertake a programme of engagement and impact activities to reach decision-makers at all levels. Our local programme will include bespoke support for a selection of local areas, and free resources and training and a new online forum for all users. Our central government programme will build on the work of the current funding period, during which the appointment of a Head of Policy allowed us to be more responsive on a wider range of issues, in particular in supporting our co-funders.
We will expand our engagement work to work with the Devolved Authorities and with stakeholders outside government who contribute to policymaking, such as Parliament and think tanks.
Building capability and capacity
We will deliver advice, training and resources as discussed above to improve evaluation and use of evidence in policymaking.
We will develop innovative approaches to building local capability across the UK, informed by an understanding of local needs. We will continue to contribute to the evidence base on knowledge mobilisation through, for example, What Works Network partnerships, publications, and research participation.
We will work with the academic community, building capacity to engage with policymakers and supporting other ESRC investments.
In the next phase of funding What Works Growth will undertake activities to support high quality impact evaluation, improve the use of evidence in policy design and delivery, and build capability and capacity in local government.
Supporting high quality impact evaluation
We will provide advice to central and local government on evaluation of policies and programmes, through one-to-one meetings, workshops, written advice, and comments on documents.
We will identify evaluation evidence gaps and work with central government to help design and conduct 'demonstrator' evaluation projects to address them. We will also support local areas to take part in high-quality evaluations coordinated or funded by central government.
We will promote excellent evaluation methods and advise on best practice, through bespoke projects and as members of a range of advisory boards and steering groups. We will provide support on cross-cutting evaluation issues that apply to multiple policies or programmes.
We will support those within local government who have more capability and opportunity to undertake impact evaluations. For those who cannot currently conduct impact evaluations, we will focus on helping them understand the basics of evaluation and how it can help inform better policy design.
We will expand our 'how to evaluate' resources which provide case studies and guidance on evaluation, and we will provide training to promote evaluation methods and best practice, and to build capability and capacity.
Improving the use of evidence in policy design and delivery
We will extend our range of free evidence resources to provide decision makers with accessible and reliable evidence on what works to drive local growth. This will include policy briefings which use economic theory and evidence to help policymakers think through the impacts of a policy; evidence reviews which summarise key findings from our rigorous literature reviews; and toolkits which aim to inform specific aspects of policy design within a broad policy area.
We will deliver training on how to use evidence, including webinars and 'live learning' sessions.
We will undertake user-focused policy projects addressing key challenges, such as responding to the challenges and opportunities arising from the transition to net-zero.
We will undertake a programme of engagement and impact activities to reach decision-makers at all levels. Our local programme will include bespoke support for a selection of local areas, and free resources and training and a new online forum for all users. Our central government programme will build on the work of the current funding period, during which the appointment of a Head of Policy allowed us to be more responsive on a wider range of issues, in particular in supporting our co-funders.
We will expand our engagement work to work with the Devolved Authorities and with stakeholders outside government who contribute to policymaking, such as Parliament and think tanks.
Building capability and capacity
We will deliver advice, training and resources as discussed above to improve evaluation and use of evidence in policymaking.
We will develop innovative approaches to building local capability across the UK, informed by an understanding of local needs. We will continue to contribute to the evidence base on knowledge mobilisation through, for example, What Works Network partnerships, publications, and research participation.
We will work with the academic community, building capacity to engage with policymakers and supporting other ESRC investments.
People |
ORCID iD |
| Henry Overman (Principal Investigator) |
Publications
Nunez-Chaim G
(2024)
Does subsidising business advice improve firm performance? Evidence from a large RCT
Overman H
(2023)
Assessing the Local Economic Impacts of Public Sector Relocation
Overman H
(2023)
Local Economic Impacts of Fair Employment Policies
Overman H
(2023)
Understanding Core Economic Concepts in Local Growth
Overman H
(2023)
Rapid evidence review: Local minimum wages
Overman H
(2023)
Rapid evidence review: Public sector relocation
Sutherland V
(2024)
Transport evaluation proforma
Sutherland V
(2024)
Assessing the local economic impacts of supporting social infrastructure
| Description | This award is still ongoing. In the last year, we published a number of evidence briefings and rapid evidence reviews. Our evidence briefings raise issues when considering each policy intervention type, as well as providing a framework for thinking about the potential economic impacts. The briefings have corresponding rapid evidence reviews. Key findings for our rapid evidence review on community finance include evidence that community finance initiatives may be more willing to lend to local businesses and that lending may be more stable than from commercial providers, and that this form of finance can have a positive effect on employment stability and reducing income inequality. Key findings for our rapid evidence review on plural ownership include a lack of strong evidence for an impact of plural ownership on firm performance, and therefore a need for more evidence on the importance of plural ownership for key firm outcomes like employment, productivity, or wages. Key findings for our rapid evidence review on the impact of local economic growth interventions on minority ethnic and immigrant groups include evidence suggesting individuals from minority ethnic and immigrant backgrounds are less likely to participate in apprenticeships or employment training, and that when individuals from these groups do participate, they are less likely to experience the same benefits of participation. Key findings for our working paper on the Department for Business' Growth Voucher Programme RCT include evidence that this policy increased business turnover by 8.2% but that this was short-lived and potentially to the detriment of other, non-supported businesses. The paper also found evidence that propensity score matching methodologies applied to firm-level interventions can produce an upward bias in estimates of turnover and employment. This gives important methodological information for researchers looking at similar policies in the future. We have highlighted to decision makers evidence on the impacts of community finance initiatives and plural ownership structures on local economic outcomes. We have also raised areas to consider when planning interventions to support these and similar structures in the future. We have also highlighted evidence on the different impacts and benefits of certain local growth interventions on minority ethnic and immigrant groups, and suggested issues to consider in future when planning policies to help alleviate this. |
| Exploitation Route | The findings can be used by local and central government when designing and optioneering policy interventions. The gaps in the evidence highlighted by our reviews could be used by academics to set up new research projects and evaluations to address these areas. |
| Sectors | Government Democracy and Justice |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org |
| Description | This project continues to share findings from our research from this year, as well as findings from our evidence reviews and toolkits from previous years, with central and local government. We have been providing support and advice to central government on ways to increase and improve impact evaluation of local growth programmes, through briefing notes, engagement on steering groups, and commenting on draft documents. One example is around transport-this includes discussions of evaluation feasibility of East West Rail, and the evidence around economic impacts with Great British Rail. We offer advice and expertise around evaluation of programmes to a number of government departments, and to a small number of local authorities who have more capacity to carry out impact evaluation. Our ability to understand and represent the perspective of local authority officers fed into our advice and proposals around future local growth fund evaluations. In 2024-5, our team have provided advice over 36 times on evaluation or evidence to 20 local government organisations, and 50 times with 7 central government departments or government agencies. With local government, this included critical friend support on draft Local Growth Plans and M&E Frameworks. These will impact delivery of their Investment Plans and other funded work within MCAs. Evidence: In 2024, we added to the evidence resources published since the award started in 2020. These additions include a number of rapid evidence reviews and evidence briefings looking at the economic impact of plural ownership, community finance, and social infrastructure. We also collated findings across our evidence reviews on minority ethnic and immigrant groups. As a result of publishing the latter, we had discussions with officers at GLA and WMCA about opportunities for evaluation of their employment support programmes targeting key minority ethnic communities. We published a maturity matrix to support local government in the use of evidence. Feedback from two MCAs was that it's helped them shape plans for the use of evidence across their organisations. Demonstration projects: In response to research areas raised by DfT, DBT (previously BEIS), and DLUHC, we have carried out evaluation on the economic impact of a number of Local Major Schemes (DfT), the Growth Vouchers Programme (DBT), and Enterprise Zones (DLUHC). The evaluation of the Growth Vouchers Programme is complete and has been published as a Centre for Economic Performance working paper. The other two evaluations are in progress and will be completed and published by summer 2025. Capacity building: Our workshops continue to be popular. In 2024-5, we have had 297 attendances from 83 local government organisations or devolved authorities, and 48 attendances from central government departments or agencies. We have continued to add new training courses, which now include Making use of logic models, Making use of evidence, Understanding impact evaluation, Understanding how local economies work, and Understanding data on local economies. These courses have also been delivered in-house for three Mayoral Combined Authorities along with additional support around embedding use of evidence and establishing good practice around evaluation. To support wider take up of evidence, we offered spring and autumn series of webinars around our evidence resources. Over 488 attendances came from 138 local government organisations and devolved administrations attended the sessions and 74 attendances from central government. Overall, 58% of local government organisations in the UK (including LEPs and pan-regional partnerships) in the UK engaged with us in the 2024-25 period. |
| First Year Of Impact | 2023 |
| Sector | Government, Democracy and Justice |
| Impact Types | Economic Policy & public services |
| Description | Advice on evaluation of Investment Zones to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Impact | Advice is ongoing. We anticipate that this will directly shape the evaluation plan for gov't on investment zones. |
| Description | Advice to Department of Business and Trade on local growth and the industrial strategy |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or improved professional practice |
| Impact | Although the industrial strategy is not yet published, we anticipate more evidence-informed priorities in the industrial strategy, as well as proportionate evaluation options. |
| Description | Advice to National Wealth Fund on understanding impact on local growth |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | Advice and training are ongoing. Impact will be on increasing impact of investments on local growth from more evidence-based decisions. |
| Description | DLUHC - Evaluation options for devolved adult education budget |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Implementation circular/rapid advice/letter to e.g. Ministry of Health |
| Impact | We carried out a scoping exercise looking at evaluation options for DLUHC, exploring both impact evaluation programme-wide, and opportunities for impact evaluation of interventions. We also hosted a roundtable with both evaluation and skills leads from MCAs with DfE and DLUHC. Our report, recommendations, and MCA feedback have influenced decisions on evaluation approaches by DLUHC, which is ongoing, and supported MCAs in their own evaluation decisions. |
| Description | DLUHC Investment Zone evaluation steering group |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Impact | We anticipate that the impact of this work on policy will be a tipping of the scales in favour of rigorous policy evaluation. The direct contact with decision makers and ability to respond to their challenges and requests in a timely manner make this most likely to influence decisions which will ultimately improve the impact of economic growth policy on the places it is designed to help, although quantifiable financial impacts will be two or more years down the road. |
| Description | DLUHC Local Growth Fund and Getting Building Fund evaluation steering group |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Impact | Building on our previous advice and relationships, we have influenced the department to include impact evaluations as part of the evaluation of each fund. Each M&E plan has a quasi-experimental evaluation at intervention-level to ensure more robust results. We advised and supported DLUHC and interested local authorities on the feasibility of RCTs, an approach that has been further supported by the Government' guidance "Simplifying the funding landscape for local authorities" |
| Description | DSIT what evaluation works steering group |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Impact | "We anticipate that the impact of this work on policy will be a tipping of the scales in favour of rigorous policy evaluation. The direct contact with decision makers and ability to respond to their challenges and requests in a timely manner make this most likely to influence decisions which will ultimately improve the impact of economic growth policy on the places it is designed to help, although quantifiable financial impacts will be two or more years down the road." |
| Description | Evaluation of devolution: taking a more pragmatic approach |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or improved professional practice |
| Impact | Although discussions are ongoing, analysts are suggesting a plan for more robust evaluations of interventions, and savings from not carrying out programme-wide evaluation. |
| Description | Evaluation of the Towns Fund and Future High Streets Fund |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Impact | Building on our previous advice and relationships, we have influenced the department to include impact evaluations as part of the evaluation of each fund. Each M&E plan has a quasi-experimental evaluation at intervention-level to ensure more robust results. We anticipate that the impact of this work on policy will be a tipping of the scales in favour of rigorous policy evaluation. The direct contact with decision makers and ability to respond to their challenges and requests in a timely manner make this most likely to influence decisions which will ultimately improve the impact of economic growth policy on the places it is designed to help, although quantifiable financial impacts will be two or more years down the road. |
| Description | Influence on central government evaluation - WWC advising central government on a range of evaluation projects |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to a national consultation/review |
| Description | Local government capacity and capability around using evidence |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Contribution to new or improved professional practice |
| Impact | Conversations are ongoing, but the roundtable and advice supports broader moves within MHCLG and HM Treasury to simplify funds and offer capability and capacity funds. |
| Description | Support to local government on logic models to better embed use of evidence and strong strategic fit |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Policy Influence Type | Influenced training of practitioners or researchers |
| Impact | Training participants from online logic model training report using the training content and resources to improve internal processes around project development, use of data and evidence, and agreeing monitoring and evaluation frameworks. We anticipate that the impact of this work led to the design of policy interventions that are more evidence-informed. |
| Description | 10/9 and 24/9 - Understanding economic growth - Liverpool City Region CA |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Supported Liverpool City Region CA learning and development programme around economic growth - A 2.5 hour practical workshop designed to help people working in local economic growth to understand key economic concepts and how they play out in their local areas. Second session focused on interventions and how they relate to economic outcomes |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/training/ |
| Description | 11/6/24 Making use of logic models |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A 2.5-hour workshop designed to help people working in local economic growth use logic models effectively |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/training/ |
| Description | 13/1/25 Making use of logic models |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A 2.5-hour workshop designed to help people working in local economic growth use logic models effectively |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/training/ |
| Description | 13/6/24 Understanding impact evaluation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A 2-hour workshop designed to help policy makers working in local economic growth understand impact evaluation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/training/ |
| Description | 14/10/24 - Understanding data in local economic growth |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A 2.5 hour course designed to help local and central government staff use efficiently available data on local economic growth |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/training/ |
| Description | 14/3/24 Making use of evidence |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A 2.5 hour workshop by What Works Growth with practical exercises to support using evidence in policy design and delivery |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/training/ |
| Description | 16/4/24 - Lunch and learn webinar - Thinking through plural ownership |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A short 45- minute session sharing findings from our recent review of the evidence on the local economic impacts of plural ownership and a discussion of how to think through the possible benefits. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/events/lunch-and-learn-plural-ownership/ |
| Description | 17/2/25 - Making use of evidence |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A 2.5 hour workshop by What Works Growth with practical exercises to support using evidence in policy design and delivery |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/training/ |
| Description | 2/5/24 - Lunch and learn webinar - Thinking through community finance |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A short 45- minute session sharing findings from our recent review of the evidence on the local economic impacts of community finance and a discussion of how to think through the possible benefits. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/events/lunch-and-learn-community-finance/ |
| Description | 21/3 Making use of logic models |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A 2.5-hour workshop designed to help people working in local economic growth use logic models effectively |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/training/ |
| Description | 21/5/24 Lunch and learn webinar - Enterprise Zones |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | A short 45- minute session sharing findings from our upcoming review of the evidence on the local economic impacts of enterprise zones. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/events/lunch-and-learn-enterprise-zones/ |
| Description | 22/10/24 Understanding data in local economic growth |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A 2.5 hour course designed to help local and central government staff use efficiently available data on local economic growth |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/training/ |
| Description | 26/3/24 Lunch and learn webinar - Growth Voucher Programme |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | A short 45- minute session sharing findings from a recent paper on the randomised control trial of the Growth Vouchers Programme - Impact on businesses, lessons learnt about how the programme was run, and why the evaluation is so important |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/events/lunch-learn-growth-vouchers-programme/ |
| Description | 29/10/24 Making use of logic models |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A 2.5-hour workshop designed to help people working in local economic growth use logic models effectively |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/training/ |
| Description | 3/2/25 Understanding data in local economic growth |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A 2.5 hour course designed to help local and central government staff use efficiently available data on local economic growth |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/training/ |
| Description | 3/5/24 Making use of logic models |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A 2.5-hour workshop designed to help people working in local economic growth use logic models effectively |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/training/ |
| Description | 30/1/25 Understanding data in local economic growth |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A 2.5 hour course designed to help local and central government staff use efficiently available data on local economic growth |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/training/ |
| Description | 7/11/24 Understanding impact evaluation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A 2-hour workshop designed to help policy makers working in local economic growth understand impact evaluation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/training/ |
| Description | 8/7/24 Understanding data in local economic growth- Part 1 + 2 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Two sessions - 1.5 hours on basic concepts on using and understanding data, and then 2.5 hours course designed to help local and central government staff use efficiently available data on local economic growth |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/training/ |
| Description | Blog series: Understanding core concepts in economic growth |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Recap of the 'Understanding core concepts in economic growth' series |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/insights/understanding-core-economic-concepts-in-local-growth/ |
| Description | Blog: Budgeting for evaluation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Reflection on the autumn budget and how evaluation is crucial to ensure policies deliver growth |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/insights/budgeting-for-evaluation/ |
| Description | Blog: Challenges to using evidence in local economic development |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Justin Brown, Chair of CEDOS and member of our User Panel, responds to the recent report from Centre for Cities L.A. Evidential |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/training/ |
| Description | Blog: Checking the logic behind your project |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Checking the logic behind your project. This blog was originally published for the Local Policy Innovation Partnership (LPIP) Hub. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/insights/checking-the-logic-behind-your-project/ |
| Description | Blog: Do plural ownership policies matter for local economies? |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Summary blog on our brifeing on plural ownership and its role in local economies |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/insights/do-plural-ownership-policies-matter-for-local-economies/ |
| Description | Blog: Effective devolution: why evidence and evaluation are key to success |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A summary blog on effective devolution - lessons over 10 years, highlighting the importance of using evidence and evaluation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/insights/effective-devolution-why-evidence-and-evaluation-are-key-to-suc... |
| Description | Blog: English Devolution: new responsibilities, new challenges |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Reflections on the new white paper and the new responsabilities it proposed |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/insights/english-devolution-new-responsibilities-new-challenges/ |
| Description | Blog: Fair employment policies: thinking through local impacts |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Summary blog on the new evidence briefing on assessing the local economic impacts of fair employment policies. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/insights/fair-employment-policies-thinking-through-local-impacts/ |
| Description | Blog: Getting ready for local growth plans |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Some tips for local authorities to start preparing for local growth plans |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/insights/getting-ready-for-local-growth-plans/ |
| Description | Blog: How big is this number? Learning from Cities Outlook on how to think about data |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Some reflections on how to think about data based on 2024's Cities Outlook from Centre for Cities |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/insights/how-big-is-this-number-learning-from-cities-outlook-on-how-to-t... |
| Description | Blog: How can the next government ensure better evidence use for achieving economic growth? |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | What strong evidence base policy making means and some ideas on what can be changed in the way evidence is used at the local and central levels, to support effective growth policy |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/insights/how-can-the-next-government-ensure-better-evidence-use/ |
| Description | Blog: How do the 2024 manifestos compare to the evidence on local growth? |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A look at the Labour and Conservative manifestos and what existing evidence tells us about the likely effectiveness of some of their policy proposals for local growth. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/insights/how-do-the-2024-manifestos-compare-to-the-evidence-on-local-gro... |
| Description | Blog: Increasing the likelihood that policies can be evaluated |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A blog on the challenges for impact evaluation of policies |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/insights/increasing-the-likelihood-that-policies-can-be-evaluated/ |
| Description | Blog: Lessons for business support schemes from a large RCT in the UK |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A broadcast e.g. TV/radio/film/podcast (other than news/press) |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Summary of the main findings of the randomised control trial of the Growth Vouchers Programme (GVP) |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/insights/lessons-for-business-support-schemes-from-a-large-rct-in-the-uk... |
| Description | Blog: Local economic policy making: where's the evidence? |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Rob Johnson author of the latest Centre for Cities's L.A. Evidential, lays out why all levels of government must make changes over the short and long-term if local government is to have the incentives, resources, and capacity to do evidence-based economic policy. This blog was originally published on the Centre for Cities website. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/insights/local-economic-policy-making-wheres-the-evidence/ |
| Description | Blog: Making sense of services |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | How to think about what high growth potential services look like at the local level |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/insights/making-sense-of-services/ |
| Description | Blog: Matrix Revolutions: a tool for implementing evidence use in local growth policymaking |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A blog on our recently published maturity matrix for use of evidence |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/insights/matrix-revolutions-a-tool-for-implementing-evidence-use-in-loca... |
| Description | Blog: Meeting places where they are |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Our head of outreach announced she was appointed to the Board of the Institute of Economic Development (IED), and how that relates to her role at What Works Growth in supporting local government. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/insights/meeting-places-where-they-are/ |
| Description | Blog: New opportunities in transport investment for growth? |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Summary blog on our transport evidence review and how it can help places to through likely impacts. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/insights/new-opportunities-transport-investments/ |
| Description | Blog: Planning ahead for local growth |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Some tips for local places to work out new steps and strategies for boosting their economies |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/insights/planning-ahead-for-local-growth/ |
| Description | Blog: Public sector relocation: how to think about local impacts |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Summary blog on our new briefing on public sector relocation |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/insights/public-sector-relocation-how-to-think-about-local-impacts/ |
| Description | Blog: Recommended listening: podcasts for the festive break |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | We asked members of our team to recommend podcasts they've heard in 2023. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/insights/recommended-listening-podcasts-for-the-festive-break/ |
| Description | Blog: Spatial disparities in productivity are central to the future of levelling up |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | What disparities mean for local economies |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/insights/spatial-disparities-in-productivity-are-central-to-the-future-o... |
| Description | Blog: Supporting local authorities at any level of evidence use |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Concerns on effective use of evidence across local authorities |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/insights/supporting-local-authorities-at-any-level-of-evidence-use/ |
| Description | Blog: Thinking about why and how to improve access to debt finance |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Some reflections on access to debt finance based on our new briefing on access to finance |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/insights/thinking-about-why-and-how-to-improve-access-to-debt-finance/ |
| Description | Blog: Thinking through multipliers: small numbers, big value |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Summary blog on multipliers following our breakfast briefing webinar. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/insights/thinking-through-multipliers-small-numbers-big-value/ |
| Description | Blog: Understanding additionality and deadweight |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Tenth blog on the key concepts to consider when thinking about economic growth policies. This blog focuses on additionality and deadweight |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/insights/understanding-additionality-and-deadweight/ |
| Description | Blog: Understanding agglomeration |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Seventh blog on the key concepts to consider when thinking about economic growth policies. This blog focuses on agglomeration |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/insights/understanding-agglomeration/ |
| Description | Blog: Understanding capitalisation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Thirteenth blog on the key concepts to consider when thinking about economic growth policies. This blog focuses on capitalisation |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/insights/understanding-capitalisation/ |
| Description | Blog: Understanding core concepts: take our quiz |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | A light-hearted quiz to test understanding of our series on local economic growth |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/insights/understanding-core-concepts-take-our-quiz/ |
| Description | Blog: Understanding crowding out, displacement, and leakage |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Eleventh blog on the key concepts to consider when thinking about economic growth policies. This blog focuses on crowding out, displacement, and leakage |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/insights/understanding-crowding-out-displacement-and-leakage/ |
| Description | Blog: Understanding efficiency and equity |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Eighth blog on the key concepts to consider when thinking about economic growth policies. This blog focuses on efficiency and equity |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/insights/understanding-efficiency-and-equity/ |
| Description | Blog: Understanding market failures |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Sixth blog on the key concepts to consider when thinking about economic growth policies. This blog focuses on market failures |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/insights/understanding-market-failures/ |
| Description | Blog: Understanding multipliers |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Ninth blog on the key concepts to consider when thinking about economic growth policies. This blog focuses on multipliers |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/insights/understanding-multipliers/ |
| Description | Blog: Understanding tradable and non-tradable sectors |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Twelfth blog on the key concepts to consider when thinking about economic growth policies. This blog focuses on tradable and non-tradable sectors |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/insights/understanding-tradable-non-tradable-sectors/ |
| Description | Blog: Using evidence for making sense of policy debates in this election |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Some reflections to make sense of the different parties proposals on the economy and local growth in election times |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/insights/using-evidence-for-making-sense-of-policy-debates/ |
| Description | Blog: What might plans for a new industrial strategy mean for local growth? |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | thoughts on Government's green paper on a new industrial strategy |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/insights/what-might-plans-for-a-new-industrial-strategy-mean-for-local-g... |
| Description | Blog: Why it's not always easy to think about local economic benefits |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Thinking on local economic impacts of non-economic interventions - social infrastructure |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/insights/why-its-not-always-easy-to-think-about-local-economic-benefits/ |
| Description | Blog: Why the new government needs to be clearheaded on local growth |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Some thoughts on local disparities, local outcomes and the challenges of the new government |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/insights/why-the-new-government-needs-to-be-clearheaded-on-local-growth/ |
| Description | Blog: With great power comes great responsibility (for evaluation?) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Reflections on the role of evaluation in the presence of devolution and increased discretion over spending for local government |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/insights/with-great-power-comes-great-responsibility-for-evaluation/ |
| Description | Connected Places Catapult- what works evidence |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Session to outline work of What Works Growth and findings from evidence reviews relevant to work of Connected Places Catapult |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Cross-Department Integrated Settlement analytical working group |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presentation on feasibility of impact evaluation of integrated settlement to a new cross-department group of analysts. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| Description | DBT Analysis and Evidence Conference - Keynote address "Building local economic resilience and promoting growth" |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Keynote address to 300 analysts and invited participants as part of an internal Department of Business and Trade Analysis and Evidence Conference. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | DWP Employment Data Lab Advisory Board |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Reviews and influences the decisions taken by the Employment Data Lab team to help ensure that the service continues to meet the wide range of stakeholders. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023,2024,2025 |
| Description | Developing good evaluation questions |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A 2 hour workshop from What Works Growth to help policy makers understand how evaluation can support their work and how to develop good evaluation questions. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/training/ |
| Description | ESRC-MHCLG research project 'Improving Public Funding Allocations to Reduce Geographical Disparities' Project Advisory Group |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Reviews research progress and provides advice on research design, findings, communications, impact and risk. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024,2025 |
| URL | https://www.birmingham.ac.uk/research/centres-institutes/city-region-economic-development-institute/... |
| Description | East West Rail evaluation steering group |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Provides scrutiny and advice on design and delivery of evaluation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023,2024,2025 |
| Description | Enterprise Research Centre State of Small Business Britain Conference 2024 'How can we better support small businesses?' |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Member of panel discussion on 'Using evidence to inform better business support at local level - what works?'; Improved understanding of importance of evaluation-based approach to understanding what works in business support. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Great British Railways Transition Team |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | 3 GBRTT staff members (plus recorded to share with wider team); Presentation on our findings on impact of rail investment on local growth to help inform work of Great British Railways Transition Team; Increased awareness and understanding of evaluation evidence on rail investment. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Green Book Network Steering Group |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Provides advice to HMT team responsible for the Green Book and the Green Book Network. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022,2023,2024,2025 |
| Description | HDRC Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council - Making use of evidence |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A 2.5 hour workshop to support the HDRC programme focused on embedding use of evidence within Rhondda Cynon Taf County Borough Council. Includes practical exercises to support using evidence in policy design and delivery |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Industrial Strategy Advisory Council |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Policymakers/politicians |
| Results and Impact | Professor Overman is one of 16 members of the council, an independent body which will inform and monitor the development and delivery of the government's industrial strategy, an emerging 10-year plan. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024,2025 |
| URL | https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-launches-industrial-strategy-advisory-council-to-boost... |
| Description | KnowledgeHub online forum for local government economic development practitioners |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | An online forum for sharing our content, getting feedback on local growth issues from LA officers across the country, as well as providing a space for peer support and sharing learning. In February 2025, 128 members from 68 local government organisations. We have made 65 posts. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024,2025 |
| URL | http://khub.net/ |
| Description | LA advice session |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Closed session for LA officers to answer their questions about local growth policy and evidence |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/training/ |
| Description | LPIP Hub advisory board |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Provides advice on capability building and knowledge mobilisation activities. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023,2024,2025 |
| Description | London Research and Policy Partnership |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Partnership aimed at promoting greater joint working between London government and the academic research community. What Works Growth provides a level of challenge on topics sought, and shares experience from other regional research policy networks. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022,2023,2024 |
| URL | https://www.london.ac.uk/research/london-research-policy-partnership/about-lrapp |
| Description | Making use of evidence |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A 2.5 hour workshop by What Works Growth with practical exercises to support using evidence in policy design and delivery |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/training/ |
| Description | Making use of evidence |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A 2.5 hour workshop by What Works Growth with practical exercises to support using evidence in policy design and delivery |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Making use of evidence |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A 2.5 hour workshop by What Works Growth with practical exercises to support using evidence in policy design and delivery |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| Description | Making use of logic models |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A 2.5-hour workshop designed to help people working in local economic growth use logic models effectively |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/training/ |
| Description | Making use of logic models |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A 2.5-hour workshop designed to help people working in local economic growth use logic models effectively |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/training/ |
| Description | Making use of logic models |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A 2.5-hour workshop designed to help people working in local economic growth use logic models effectively |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/training/ |
| Description | Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government - Levelling Up Fund (LUF) M&E Steering Group |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Provides scrutiny and advice on design and delivery of Towns Fund evaluation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022,2023,2024,2025 |
| Description | Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government - Towns Fund M&E Steering Group |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Provides scrutiny and advice on design and delivery of Towns Fund evaluation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022,2023,2024,2025 |
| Description | Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government - UKSPF Evaluation Steering Committee |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Purpose of the working group is to provide scrutiny and advice on design and delivery of UKSPF evaluation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022,2023,2024,2025 |
| Description | National Wealth Fund - Evidence session |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Presented our resources, and discussed additional evidence for their new focus sectors (ports, green hydrogen). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | National Wealth Fund - Theory of change session |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Topics: Economic growth, NWF's role in economic growth. Logic models. We created logic models for a couple of their projects and then compared them with their general logic model. We provided some insights on what they had been working on. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | ONS Local presents: Identifying local economic growth priorities with What Works Growth |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Guest webinar on ONS Local series to explore how data can help policymakers better understand their local economy and where best to intervene; |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://vimeo.com/user99857619/review/1019858316/dd53999952 |
| Description | ONS Local subnational data conference |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Panel discussion on economic growth at ONS Local conference; |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://www.ons.gov.uk/aboutus/whatwedo/programmesandprojects/economicstatisticstransformation/engag... |
| Description | ONS Local webinar - Identifying local economic growth priorities |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Guest webinar on ONS Local series to explore how data can help policymakers better understand their local economy and where best to intervene. Presentation and Q&A |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://vimeo.com/user99857619/review/1019858316/dd53999952 |
| Description | Roundtable - Local gov't capacity and capability to use evidence in local growth |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Cross-dept roundtable around capability and capacity in local government to implement evidence-based local growth policy. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | SIPHER Systems Science in Public Health and Health Economics Research |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | Provides a level of challenge to the researchers and policymakers developing the work programmes. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2022,2023,2024 |
| URL | https://www.gla.ac.uk/research/az/sipher/ |
| Description | Understanding how local economies work |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A 2.5 hour practical workshop designed to help people working in local economic growth to understand key economic concepts and how they play out in their local areas. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/training/ |
| Description | Understanding how local economies work |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A 2.5 hour practical workshop designed to help people working in local economic growth to understand key economic concepts and how they play out in their local areas. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/training/ |
| Description | Understanding impact evaluation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A 2-hour workshop designed to help policy makers working in local economic growth understand impact evaluation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/training/ |
| Description | Understanding impact evaluation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A 2-hour workshop designed to help policy makers working in local economic growth understand impact evaluation. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2023 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/training/ |
| Description | WMCA Industry clusters - Making use of logic - part 1 and 2 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Industry/Business |
| Results and Impact | Two sessions on developing logic models and being clear about outcomes and their link with project interventions. Designed to support WMCA industrial sector clusters and WMCA staff to have a consistent approach to programme development. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| Description | Webinar - Effective devolution: lessons learned over ten years |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A short 45-minute session sharing reflections on the limitations and opportunities for improved use of data and evidence and more robust impact evaluation of local growth policies that arise with devolution, and the lessons we have learned from ten years of working with partners to evaluate 'what works' |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/events/effective-devolution/ |
| Description | Webinar - Thinking through boosting local investment |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A short 45- minute session sharing recent research as part of the Economy 2030 project on low business investment, and an overview on how our existing evidence resources can help think through local policy levers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/events/thinking-through-boosting-local-investment/ |
| Description | Webinar - Thinking through local green growth |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A short 45- minute session sharing findings on on green growth to shed light on the opportunities and challenges in different parts of the UK, how policymakers can most effectively navigate them and how our existing evidence resources can help think through local policy levers. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/events/thinking-through-local-green-growth/ |
| Description | Webinar - Thinking through multipliers: Learning from BBC relocation |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A short 45- minute session sharing findings on multipliers arising from the relocation of the BBC to Salford and the way this differed across economic sectors. Also, an overview of the evidence behind income multipliers in advance of a new evidence briefing. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2025 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/events/thinking-through-multipliers/ |
| Description | Webinar - What works in enterprise zones |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A short 45- minute session sharing findings on what new evidence on EZ shows and the implications for local growth policy |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |
| URL | https://whatworksgrowth.org/events/breafast-briefing-enterprise-zones/ |
| Description | York and North Yorkshire CA - Making use of logic models |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Local |
| Primary Audience | Professional Practitioners |
| Results and Impact | A 2.5-hour workshop designed to help people working in local economic growth use logic models effectively |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2024 |