The South-West Coastal Local Policy Innovation Partnership (SWC-LPIP)

The aim of the South West Coastal Local Policy Innovation Partnership (SWC LPIP) is to bring cross-sector and cross-boundary partners together to co-design solutions to address the complex and interlinked problems facing coastal communities.

There is growing awareness of coastal disadvantage. Evidence presented in the 2021 Chief Medical Officer's annual report shows that coastal areas have some of the worst health outcomes in England. The 2022 Levelling up White Paper similarly notes that seaside towns have among the highest levels of community need and poor opportunities for the people who grow up there.

While policy attention is starting to be directed towards the needs of coastal communities, there several barriers to developing effective (and cost-effective) policy solutions. We know, for example, that the decline of traditional industries and strong reliance on hospitality is related to low incomes and seasonal jobs. Economic opportunities are likely to impact on detrimental patterns of in- and out-migration which, in turn, affect educational capital and the skills base. These, in turn may explain the fact that higher productivity sectors such as the digital, creative and blue economies have not emerged in many coastal areas, reinforcing the low wage economy. The lack of such opportunities will also impact on migration patterns, as will unaffordable housing and poor transport links.

In other words, all these factors are highly interconnected. This (a) raises questions about the most appropriate 'entry points' for intervention and (b) requires a diverse range of stakeholders - from the public, business and voluntary and community sectors as well as citizens themselves - to work together in understanding problems and co-designing (rather than duplicating) policy solutions. A key focus of the LPIP is to ensure that partners who are spending scarce resources on improving the lives of coastal citizens are making the best use of those resources.

Embedding research and evaluation is a key part of effective policy design which should draw on existing evidence of good practice or, as is usually the case with respect to coastal disadvantage, address knowledge gaps where evidence does not exist. Part of this requires a better (and more joined-up) use of existing data, promoting a shift from 'business' to 'strategic' intelligence. It also demands meaningful engagement with citizens to ensure that those responsible for designing and implementing projects are asking the ask the right questions and identifying the right solutions. Any innovations that are designed and implemented should be piloted and evaluated, with a willingness to learn what works - but also what doesn't work, with findings shared with other communities facing coastal challenges.

The aim of Phase One of this project is to support the establishment of partnerships of people and organisations in Cornwall, Devon and West Somerset with the aim of building a consensus around what the key economic, community and environmental problems are in this region and how best solutions can be developed. As well as facilitating practice-policy exchange and the design and delivery of new ways of working, the South-West Coastal LPIP will establish an evidence repository so that new coastal datasets (linked and at a greater level of granularity) and evidence of good practice can be shared across the region and to coastal areas beyond.