“From education to employment, housing to trust in the police, politicians from all parties must understand the different issues affecting individual communities.”

Rt Hon Rishi Sunak MP, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom

We live in a time where collaboration and communication are evermore essential for improving understanding in public policy making.

This quarter, through our public policy conference series, the Institute of Government & Public Policy has explored critical topics across education and employment, justice and home affairs, local communities, energy and sustainability, and more.

Understanding is the first step toward effective collaboration and discussion, and therefore we highlight below the research and solutions shared by our speakers and delegates in a selection of our events.

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The Second Annual Advancing Women in the Workplace Event

Each year, Equal Pay Day marks the day where, on average, women effectively stop earning relative to men because of the gender pay gap. This year, Equal Pay Day took place on the 20 November, equivalent to an 11.3% pay gap.

At our Advancing Women in the Workplace online conference, representatives considered the barriers and opportunities for progressing women and promoting greater participation in all sectors of work.

The event found that avoiding tokenism and delivering meaningful change requires allyship and accountability through measuring outcomes and system changes. It uncovered how flexible working patterns must consider equal access to progression opportunities and training, prioritise wellbeing, and deliver practical adjustments so that no woman is left out.

A recurring message was that the best efforts to create change are intentional, involve active listening and action, and take an intersectional approach to transforming the workplace.

We will continue this discussion at our Progressing Women into Leadership 2023 conference.

The Second Annual Tackling Domestic Violence And Abuse Event

This November, our Tackling Domestic Violence and Abuse conference focused on the need to support victims, deal with perpetrators, and create transformative changes across the country from government policy to education and housing services.

The key priorities discussed include driving system-wide change through uplifting women in positions of power, acknowledging how policies may disproportionately impact women and continue the cycles of domestic abuse.

Services must meet the needs of victims and survivors, with tailored support provided for older victims, refugees, and racially minoritised communities. They must address the unique experiences of abuse and strengthen the quality of help at the first point of contact.

Given the cost-of-living crisis and long-lasting impacts of the pandemic, it is essential to address regional inequalities of access to responses.

We will continue this discussion at our Tackling Domestic Violence and Abuse 2023 conference in April 2023.

Disability Inclusion in the Workplace

One in five people of working age have a disability or chronic illness, according to the Office of National Statistics. Not every characteristic of a disability is visible, and as a result, many invisible disabilities go undiagnosed.

Regardless of disability, there should be a higher level of protection to ensure the respect and equality of groups with protected characteristics. However, a wide pay gap still exists, where, on average, disabled employees earn 15% less per year than their non-disabled counterparts do.

This Disability Inclusion conference brought together a diverse set of voices across academia, the airline industry, disability networks, and workforce specialists to discuss accessibility and inclusiveness at work.

In the Chartered Management Institute’s Delivering the Everyone Economy report, merely 22% of respondents reported there are plans to take action to increase the representation of disabled people in their organisations.

Reshaping organisational culture requires senior leadership to create a psychologically safe environment and working culture so individuals feel “seen, heard, accepted, and valued,” in the words of Dr Lucy Reynolds. Language and terminology also help transform the workplace (i.e. using ‘neuro inclusive’ environments when referring to the support for the neurodivergent employees).

We will continue this discussion at our next Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion at Workplace conference.

The Second Annual Combatting Public Sector Fraud Event 2022

The Cross-Government Fraud Landscape Bulletin estimates that around £29-£52 billion from the public sector is lost to fraud activity. This can cause increasing public service costs and reduced government efficiency, which consequently negatively impacts citizens. The current period of societal uncertainty and instability is exacerbating this issue.

This conference highlighted the importance of collaboration in successfully combatting public sector fraud. It found that collaboration is necessary, especially in current times where there is rapid societal change and the nature of fraud is swiftly evolving at the same time. The event looked at the morphing nature of fraud and highlighted two aspects: the role of technologies in fraud and how adverse societal occurrences, such as wars or increasing poverty, can change who takes part in fraud. There is also a need to focus on both the novel forms of fraud, which stem from societal uncertainty, and to continue to combat the more troublesome cases of fraud arising from organised crime.

We will continue this discussion at our Combatting Public Sector Fraud 2023 Conference in March 2023.

Tackling Child Poverty

An estimated 4.3 million children live in poverty in the UK. These figures are likely to surge given the increasing cost of living, driven by the fuel crisis, and housing shortages.

The Government’s inaction has put children who live under the poverty line at risk of being further marginalised and exposed to potential violence. The Tackling Child Poverty conference explored the current strategies and necessary action plans from the perspectives of teaching, social inequality, food poverty, and local policy and collaboration projects.

Leading child poverty charity, Buttle UK, reports that there has been a worrying increase of adverse childhood experiences because of mental illness, neglect, or abuse. Joseph Howes, the Chief Executive of Buttle UK, spoke at our conference and complained about little meaningful political changes to address this. Sir Stephen Timms MP echoed this in his speech, calling on the UK Government to act.

The role of local projects remains vital for working to support the everyday lives of children and young people – from resolving food poverty and working with school kitchens, to providing research tools for poverty and youth violence and developing the anti-poverty strategy for health and social care departments. 

We will continue the discussion at our Tackling Child Poverty conference in May 2023.

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At the Institute of Government & Public Policy, we provide CPD-accredited events for continuous professional development. By providing the latest policy updates and sharing the best practices, we strive to be the leading voice for driving positive changes in society.

Attend one of our future events, or join our network today to speak at one of our conferences.

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