Policy@Manchester

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LG020, John Owens Building, The University of Manchester, Manchester, M13 9PL

https://www.policy.manchester.ac.uk/

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Policy@Manchester Events

Policy@Manchester Publications

Policy@Manchester’s publications provide thought leadership and expert analysis for researchers across The University of Manchester. The individual essays include key policy recommendations based on academic research.

Summaries of their most recent publications are listed below:

On Air Quality	On Digital Inequalities	On Primary Care
Lessons from Lockdown	On Net Zero	On Digital Trust
On Gender	On Materials	On Cohesion
Building Utopia	On Cancer	On Productivity

On Productivity

A 2019 report found that Greater Manchester’s productivity was 89% of the UK average, falling from 92.2% in 1998. In addition, for every 100 people looking for a job in the north, there are only 79 available – in London, the corresponding figure is 102. Even when in employment, the average annual earnings in the north are 10% lower than the rest of England. This regional economic underperformance is explained by various factors that influence people’s chances.

The articles in On Productivity explore the economic underperformance of the various regions in the UK by analysing different influential factors such as, health, skills, R&D and gender equality. The articles also provide clear recommendations for policymakers to level up the UK locally, regionally and nationally.

Read more in On Productivity

Building Utopia

Cities are key places. The way that we plan and develop cities needs to be improved so that we can reach carbon targets and improve the health and lives of the people that live within them. What we build now will last for at least 30 years so it is vital that we lock in sustainable features that will remain well past the 2038 and 2050 targets.

The articles in Building Utopia address key urban issues including: promoting equal access to green spaces; reducing emissions from domestic water use; decarbonising domestic heating; tackling air pollution and building high-quality homes and neighbourhoods. The contributors also put forward recommendations to policymakers on how we can address these multiple challenges while delivering health, social and environmental benefits to communities.

Read more in Building Utopia

On Cancer

1 in 2 people in the UK will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. Thanks to brilliant advancements in screening and treatment, half of these will survive their disease for ten years or more. But we still have a long way to go, with huge inequalities in outcomes between cancer patients from the most and least deprived areas.

The articles in On Cancer explore how the disease interacts with existing health and economic inequalities, especially in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. It also examines the role data and AI can play in cutting waiting times and improving outcomes, and highlights the pioneering work into new treatments and diagnostic tools being carried out in the Greater Manchester region.

Read more in On Cancer

On Air Quality

In 2019, 2.31 million global deaths could be attributed to household, or indoor air pollution. For England alone, this figure is around 64,000 deaths, with disadvantaged communities disproportionately impacted.

The articles in On Air Quality explore how air pollution affects public health, economic outcomes and acts to widen existing inequalities; they also provide recommendations for policymakers on how these impacts can be addressed.

On Digital Inequalities

The COVID-19 crisis has forced much of our daily life to shift online. Through various lockdowns, how we work, study and even socialise has moved onto a myriad of digital platforms, made possible by the coincidence of facing this pandemic in a digital age.

But the pandemic has exposed a widening gap in our society, with 9 million adults in the UK unable use the internet without help and 3.8 million people having never used the internet.

The articles in this publication put forward recommendations to policymakers on how we might be able to address and reduce the inequalities we are seeing in the digital space.

Read more about On Digital Inequalities.

On Primary Care

Our publication On Primary Care: General Practice, Pharmacy, Workforce asks leading experts in three areas of the UK primary care sector to identify the challenges and opportunities facing policymakers today.

In the articles focusing on general practice, academics discuss the transition to Integrated Care Systems and the roles of Primary Care Networks and Health and Wellbeing Boards in delivering better integration and outcomes of services across local and regional areas. Experts in pharmacy examine the role of community pharmacy in building capacity, relieving workload pressures on GPs, and ensuring consistency and quality of treatments. And contributors focusing on the workforce look at the changing skills-mix and development of new roles within general practice.

Each article summarises the state of the sector in relation to a particular topic, and makes policy suggestions for improvements that can deliver more effective services and better results for the people who depend on them.

Lessons from Lockdown

Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic our academics have written about the issues the pandemic has highlighted and suggested policy messages to address them. Our Lessons from Lockdown digital collections capture these articles at different intervals in time.

Lessons from Lockdown: Analysis and recommendations for the future, published in August 2020, collates a series of research articles from the first 100 days of lockdown, and puts forward policy solutions from leading academics to help address some of the most pressing challenges likely to be faced in a post-COVID world. Alongside the main collection, we have three themed collections, which focus on key workers, urban opportunities and digital transformations.

On Net Zero

This publication provides thought leadership and expert analysis on how to mitigate the climate crisis while driving local prosperity, jobs, resilience and equality. It addresses key climate issues including: reducing demand and improving efficiency now; the expansion of low carbon energy through nuclear and offshore wind; Jet Zero and greener maritime; homes and public buildings; and carbon capture. To accompany the publication we have also produced a COVID-19 update, reflecting on the impact of the pandemic on various sectors and what this means for the UK decarbonisation agenda.

On Net Zero includes recommendations ranging from: emissions reductions, economic incentives, new technologies and pathway priorities. The report brings together some of the country’s leading energy, policy, and climate change experts to offer their opinions and solutions for the UK’s most pressing energy issues.

On Digital Trust

This publication aims to alert us to the risks, inform us about the huge potential benefits to our health and our lives which harvesting data can bring and feed into thinking about how we can regulate so we can control our futures.

Putting humans at the centre of digital trust and security, the academic contributors focus on data, healthcare, crime prevention, and democracy in the current political climate.

They highlight where there are evidence gaps, identify policy measures which might address the challenges, and suggest key indicators of success.

On Gender

This publication aims to identify what we know – and what we need to know – about gender inequality in tackling the big policy agendas devolved to Greater Manchester and other areas with devolution deals.

The contributors summarise the ‘gender agenda’ that needs attention and what is known about inequalities nationally and locally.

They highlight where there is an evidence gap, identify policy measures which might address inequalities, and suggest what key indicators of success might look like.

On Materials

On Materials is a collection of policy recommendations aimed at the advanced materials community in Greater Manchester and across the UK.

Among other things, On Materials calls for the advanced materials sector to adopt a ‘fail fast, learn fast’ approach; an ‘internet of materials is needed to bring about a data-driven era of industry; new advanced materials are the most likely candidates for helping many of the UK’s industrial sectors become environmentally sustainable.

It also appeals for a wider adoption of the ‘Manchester Model’ for advanced materials – which features a ‘science supply chain’ that runs seamlessly across academia and commercial end users, from blue sky thinking to products on high street shelves.

On Cohesion

On Cohesion offers expert insight and research into issues surrounding extremism and community cohesion in the UK.

From a critical review of the counter-terrorism initiative Prevent to the celebration of linguistic diversity, the collection broadens the conversation on community cohesion both on a regional and national level.

With an introduction by Mayor Andy Burnham, whose recent Preventing Hateful Extremism and Promoting Social Cohesion Commission initiative seeks to challenge hateful radicalisation in Greater Manchester, this series features the latest research of nine leading academics at The University of Manchester.