01 February 2023

Helping NICRE inform policy

Ulrike Hotopp

Policy Advisor

Ulrike Hotopp

Policy Advisor

18 months into role

Policy relevance and impact is one of NICRE’s objectives, writes Ulrike Hotopp, policy advisor. This means that the research conducted by NICRE into rural enterprise is connected to and helpful for those in national ministries, such as the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), as well as local decision-making bodies, such as local and regional government. Only if this happens are officials able to take evidence and research into consideration when providing advice to Ministers and it has the potential to lead to actual change.

I have now been in the role of policy advisor for NICRE for just over 18 months, having previously held various positions in Government including chief economist at Defra. While some information flow has been enabled, and we are seeing the first results of this, a lot more can be done – and patience is an important asset.

It is an understatement to say that national policy development has been busy in 2022, including the follow up to the UK’s withdrawal from the EU, the need to pull all the levers in the country to enable sustainable growth, and the wish to end dependency on fossil fuels, in most cases owned by countries on which the UK is trying to rely less. All against a backdrop of political turmoil and the rising cost of living.

London

Evidence flow

One important success for NICRE has been establishing links and evidence flow between our researchers and the Building Digital UK (BDUK) team, formerly in the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS), now an Executive Agency of DCMS. The BDUK team came to visit NICRE twice, meeting businesses in rural Northumberland to gain an understanding of the benefits a good broadband connection can bring to the economy, as well as the frustrations caused when it doesn’t work. Making these personal connections to businesses in rural areas, as facilitated by NICRE, is important for the civil servants to get a real sense of impact as well as challenges.

The relationship with Defra has developed over the years, built in particular on the strong foundations of the Centre for Rural Economy and Countryside and Community Research Institute, two of NICRE’s founding university partners. The Rural Policy Team in Defra has been an active supporter of NICRE right from the start and helped shape our work. However, continuous communication and exchange is necessary to grow mutual understanding.

Ongoing meetings and discussions with Defra teams led to a half-day workshop in London towards the end of last year. The NICRE team was able to present relevant research outputs including the findings of our rural business survey and evidence on entrepreneurship, innovation and growth in rural areas and explore with Defra’s Rural Policy Team where to take our research next. In 2023, we will need to build on this and explore new ways of working to ensure that NICRE and its founding centres can support and inform policy making where it is needed.

In addition, I brought together evidence incorporating insights from rural businesses for various consultations from All Party Parliamentary Groups and individual Government departments, including the Department for Business, Energy and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) and am looking forward to working with the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) on rural questions.

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