07.03.13
What Works centres to support evidence-based policy
The Government is to launch four new centres of policy advice, modelled on the National Institute for Health and Clinical Expertise (NICE).
The ‘What Works’ centres will cover local economic growth, ageing, early intervention and crime reduction. The idea, adopted in the civil service plan, is to provide an independent resource for endorsing and measuring policy and to support evidence-based policymaking.
The centres will be launched on Monday by Treasury secretary Danny Alexander and minister for government policy, Oliver Letwin. What Works will produce and disseminate research across national and local government, funded mainly from the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) and the Big Lottery Fund.
Each will have a sector-specific focus and will rank interventions on the basis of effectiveness, show where interventions are applicable, their relative cost and the strength of evidence behind them.
Letwin said: “The What Works network will support commissioners and decision-makers at every level of government – from head teachers and local police chiefs, to ministers and civil servants. A decade from now, we will wonder how we ever did without it.”
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