LOCAL GOVERNMENT AND THE RESEARCH COMMUNITY Monday 23 June 2014 Jonathan Breckon, Head of Alliance for Useful Evidence 1

Overview 1.What’s going on in the UK? 2.What evidence institutions work? 3.What is good evidence? 2

What’s going on in UK? 3

What’s best approach? Protect independence Leadership key Diversify funding Budget size not crucial Effective comms Transparency Open to methods mix 4

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What is good (enough) evidence? One insiders view of a hierarchy 1.Expert evidence (e.g. consultants) 2.Opinion-based evidence (e.g. pressure groups) 3.Ideological evidence (e.g. manifestos) 4.Media evidence 5.Internet evidence 6.Lay evidence (e.g. constituents) 7.Street evidence (e.g. urban myths) 8.Cabbies’ evidence 9.Research evidence Source: Phil Davies, former Deputy Chief Social Research, 2007 in What Counts as Good Evidence, Alliance for Useful Evidence

What is good (enough) evidence? The NICE evidence hierarchy Systematic reviews RCTs Cohort studies Case control studies Case series Expert opinion Randomised controlled trials (RCTs), long regarded at the 'gold standard' of evidence, have been put on an undeserved pedestal. Their appearance at the top of "hierarchies" of evidence is inappropriate; and hierarchies, themselves, are illusory tools for assessing evidence. They should be replaced by a diversity of approaches that involve analysing the totality of the evidence-base. Sir Michael Rawlins, Harveian Oration 2008, former Chair of NICE

Standards of evidence

“There is nothing a politician likes so little as to be well-informed. It makes decision making so complex and difficult.” (John Maynard Keynes) “For me, politics shouldn’t be some mind-bending exercise. It’s about what you feel in your gut” (David Cameron, April 2011) Finally… politics

Evidence DeliveryPolitics Successful policy Absorptive capacity of your audience – policymakers skills Reference: Policy Profession Skills Framework, UK Civil Service

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