Research%20Governance%20-%20the%20Local%20Authority%20context

1
Research Governance - the Local Authority context

• Chris Russell, Independent Consultant
• Research Governance
• Development Project (DH/KCL)

2
How many Local Authorities?

• 150 Councils with Social Services
  Responsibilities (CSSR) in England
• Most are unitary authorities (single-tier)
  remainder are County Councils (two-tier)
• Councils vary significantly in terms of
  population size, service configuration and
  resources (, staff, skills)

3
How many RGF systems? (1)

• Each council is an autonomous political body, so
• This means 150 separate RGF systems
• It also means potentially over 150 different
  RGF systems
• In practice, many RGF systems are similar, having
  been built on shared experience

4
How many RGF systems? (2)

• Feedback from 88 Councils in 2009-10 indicates
  that
• 68 have RGF arrangements 17 have never had
  RGF
• 15 will have, or have had, RGF (ie. systems
  in a state of development or on hold)

5
What has helped? (1)

• In-house research capacity - staff, skills,
  knowledge and enthusiasm - plus the willingness
  to share experience
• DH Start-up grants small but effective!
• DH supported Resource Pack
• DH funded training workshops 2005-2008

6
What has helped? (2)

• National and regional organisations
• ADASS (Association of Directors of Adult Social
  Services)
• SSRG (Social Services Research Group)
• RiP RiPfA (Research in Practice children and
  adults)
• MRC (Making Research Count)

7
What has helped? (3)

• Informal sharing and formal alliances
• Regional groups and consortia, eg
• Midlands
• South East Authorities (SEARIG)
• London Alliance
• Greater Manchester
• Yorkshire
• South West London
• Teeswide

8
Finally

• To help cash-strapped councils keep RGF on the
  agenda, the development of web-based resources
  will be ever more important
• RGF know-how online Resource Pack
• Bigger picture online access to skills
  knowledge to build research capacity
• Networking with peers online community of
  practice