The University of Wales Swansea established a National Centre for Public Policy in 1999. This Centre now undertakes research in many areas of public policy including housing, health, education, social policy, political change, governance, inter-organizational working, economic and employment policy. In particular, it:

• Contributes to the development and reshaping of public policy in Wales, the UK and Europe.
• Draws together academics, practitioners and politicians in the public, private and voluntary sectors.
• Develops partnerships with public sector agencies in Wales, particularly Local Authorities, Health Authorities and Health Trusts, and undertakes research with these organizations.
• Collaborates with the National Assembly for Wales and its related public bodies such as the Welsh Development Agency.
• Contributes to the continuing debate on the impact of devolution and other changes in local governance in Wales, and their impact on the nature and process of public policy making.
• Publishes and broadcasts research findings through the popular as well as the academic media.

The Centre is directed by Professor Mike Sullivan and assembles public policy experts from a wide range of University departments who already have a recognised expertise and reputation in public policy in Wales in both a British and European context. These University Fellows are drawn from the Departments of Economics, Education, Politics, Geography, History, Adult and Continuing Education and from the School of Social Sciences and International Development and the School of Health Sciences.

The Centre employs a core staff of Research Fellows and Research Associates to undertake both longer-term strategic research, and shorter-term practical research on contemporary and emerging issues of public policy in Wales.

The Centre is accountable to a Management Board consisting of a cross-section of representatives from the University and from the public and private sectors in Wales. Its current Board includes a Health Authority Chairman, a Chief Executive of a large unitary authority, the Secretary of the Welsh Local Government Association and a prominent member of the National Assembly for Wales.

The Centre awards Fellowships to key policy makers and membership to academic experts in other Welsh, U.K. and European institutions.

• The Centre provides a unique facility in Wales. One that specialises in public policy research and provides a forum for professionals, academics, practitioners, politicians and senior figures in the public, private and voluntary sectors to influence and shape public policy. The formation of the National Assembly for Wales makes this an exiting and important challenge. The Centre, together with its partners, occupies a pivotal position in the critical analysis, development and evaluation of policy.

• Devolution is transforming the relationship between Wales and the remainder of the U.K. The Centre contributes significantly to issues of public policy making in the context of the inter-relationships between the National Assembly for Wales, the U.K.Parliament and the European Union.

• The public policy landscape in Wales is being radically influenced and reconfigured through a plethora of partnerships between the public, private and voluntary sectors. The Centre is helping to establish theoretical and practical frameworks to enable this inter-agency working to be evaluated and developed.

The Centre co-ordinates a new Masters in Public Administration on behalf of the University. This is designed to contribute to the needs of developing and implementing public policy in a changing and turbulent environment, and raising the quality of public servants in Wales. It is organised on a modular basis and is flexible to the needs of the participants. The modules include:

• The New Public Policy: Towards Joined-Up Governance
• The New Social Policy: Developments in Welfare State Services
• Public Policy in Wales and Europe
• Managing Change in Public Services
• Strategic and Project Management
• Research Skills and Commissioning Research
• Organizational Behaviour and Human Resource Management
• Community Development, Policy Making and Policy Implementation

….As well as a dissertation in an area of the student’s own interests.

The Centre offers an academic home to managers, practitioners and professionals seconded by their agencies to undertake policy-related research. Staff at the Centre act as mentors for these secondees and all University facilities are made available to them. The Centre will work on a short or long-term basis with public bodies in Wales, to assess and meet their particular organizational needs in this area.

Staff at the Centre is currently engaged in research on a wide range of topics including the following:

Devolution and Social Policy; the effects of Devolution on Political Parties; the Politics of Social Policy; the development of Mental Health Services; the effectiveness of Professional Education; Youth and Citizenship; Family, Kinship and Social Change; Inter-Organizational working and collaborative competencies.

The Centre is developing a programme of work based around a number of research streams that will help to inform, shape and evaluate public policy particularly in Wales. These are:

• Managing Interdependencies and Building Collaborative Competence

This addresses the focus of organizations working in partnership – on different models and forms of collaborative activity; on the factors that determine effective joint working; the skills and competencies required to undertake successful inter-agency working; and performance management frameworks at an inter-organizational level.

• Changing Patterns of Governance

The framework and processes of governance in Wales have undergone a radical re-structuring in recent years – in particular, the creation of the new Assembly and significant changes in local government and health. This research stream will track these changes in governance and both examine and evaluate their implementation and effectiveness at different levels and across different spaces. It will encompass an exploration of Community Leadership and examine the impact of devolution on local government.

• Engaging with People as Customers, Users, Citizens and in Communities

There is an increased recognition and commitment on the part of politicians and policy makers to place ‘people’ at the centre of the design and delivery of public services – in their role as customers, users, citizens or in their communities. This area of research focuses on understanding the appropriateness and effectiveness of different models and mechanisms for engaging the public; on the tensions between participatory and representative forms of government and on community capacity building.

• Managing Strategic and Organizational Change

The challenges presented by complex and interrelated problems, a volatile environment and a constantly shifting framework of governance place particular pressures on the management of strategic change – in terms of the structures, processes and mechanisms used by organizations, and in relation to the competency demands expected of managers and practitioners. Work around these issues will include an examination of the nature and form of policy making, performance management, Community Planning and Public Service Agreements, and the management of strategic change

The Centre can provide contract research, training and consultancy services to public, private and voluntary bodies in Wales and beyond. Recent and current commissions include:

An analysis of Customer Views in a Social Services Department; a study of Health and Social Needs in a Welsh Council; the changing roles of Health Authorities; the development of models of Capacity Building and Public Engagement (for the National Assembly for Wales); the relationship between Objective 1 and Health Policy; the development and improvement of Mental Health Services; an evaluation of a voluntary service provision agency; an appraisal of Health Impact Assessment Methodologies; Public Engagement in Health Policy; the re-configuration of Health Services; Health Authorities as Learning Organizations.

The changing nature of the policy environment demands new types of skills and competencies by policy makers to be effective in addressing complex problems and issues. The Centre offers skills training and development opportunities in these new competency arenas such as networking, facilitation, influencing and political skills. These can be tailor-made to suit individual the needs of individual organizations or sectors, or delivered on an inter-organizational and multi-sector basis.

The Centre is instrumental in the organization of a programme of relevant conferences, workshops and seminars. Forthcoming topics will include Community Planning; creating new forms of policy making in Wales; developing a new type of Public Servant; and governance in Wales.

The Centre’s core staff, together with their contact details and research specialisms, is as follows:

Director of the Centre and Professor of Social Policy

Tel: 01792-295334

E-mail: m.sullivan@swansea.ac.uk

Centre Secretary and Personal Assistant to the Director

Tel: 01792-295059

E-mail: l.glover@swansea.ac.uk

Senior Research Fellow

Tel: 01792-295134

E-mail: Paul.M.Williams@swansea.ac.uk

Research Fellow

Tel: 01792-295058

E-mail: s.a.clutton@swansea.ac.uk

Alison Elliott BA (Leeds), MSc (Wales), DIPSW

Research and Development Fellow

Tel: 01792-295093

E-mail: a.j.elliott@swansea.ac.uk

Research Associate

Tel: 01792-295056

E-mail: a.j.sandry@swansea.ac.uk

Research Associate

Tel: 01792-295056

E-mail: solatrei@swansea.ac.uk

CONTACTING THE CENTRE

If you would like to contact the Centre to discuss our services, then

• Phone the Centre on 01792-295059

• Phone the Director on 01792-295334

• E-mail the Centre at: ncpp@swansea.ac.uk

• Fax the Centre on 01792-513031

Professor Mike Sullivan

Director of the National Centre for Public Policy

University of Wales Swansea

Singleton Park

Swansea, SA2 8PP

Wales, U.K.