Westminster Explained

Policy

A great amount of time and effort has been spent over the last few years in the United Kingdom looking at how policy can be designed more effectively.

Analysis and use of evidence, communications and marketing as integral elements of policy design, evaluation of what works best, and delivery focused thinking have all been introduced or highlighted as constituting best practice in this field. Practical streaming into the development process of statistical information from government, along with expert advice from practitioners are also key components of good policy.

Our experts can take delegates through a substantial body of practical, hands-on methods for improving policy formulation, which can be incorporated into their own thinking and national context.

An Introduction to Policy Design and Formulation

This day-long seminar will look at the environment in which policy is created, how it is shaped and some of the key characteristics of good policy such as outcome-focused, innovative and joined-up policy making. It will also provide practical workshop-based training to look at the essential skills for policy development.

Keys to Successful Policy Development

This one-day seminar provides an in-depth analysis of the key components of successful policy making. It will look at the consultation process, risk analysis, the role of evidence-based policymaking, as well as policy evaluation. Through workshop-based exercises it will develop the skills acquired throughout the day.

Policy Communication and Implementation

This one-day seminar will present some of the practicalities of implementing policy, and look at the obstacles to overcome, such as financial, resource, time and structural issues. It will also examine how to prepare and convey core messages, build communications into formulation, and will look at the communication skills involved, including handling the media.

Evidence-Based Policy Making: Principles and Practice

This one-day seminar will look in depth at evidence-based policy making, including why it has been identified as the preferred form of policy making used by most government departments in the United Kingdom. This practical workshop-based seminar will help delegates identify different types of evidence, and how and when to use them.

It will also look in depth at the issues thrown up by using this policy making method and how best to overcome problems. Equipping delegates to return to their country of origin confident that they can use the correct tools to create evidence-based policy successfully, the day will conclude by examining the integral place that evaluation has in the process.

Policy Performance: Measurement and Evaluation

This one-day seminar will look at key concepts in evaluation, different methods, defining criteria and scope, objectivity and validity of data collection and presentation, communicating facts and figures correctly, recognising success, adjusting policy in the light of evaluation, knowledge transfer and learning from past performance. The day will include workshops and case studies and facilitated discussion on incorporation of the principles in the delegates’ home country.

Policy Skills Workshop

This one-day seminar focuses on delivering a toolkit of policy techniques that can be taken back to the office and used by participants. Focusing on areas identified through the United Kingdom’s professional skills for government agenda, primarily on policy analysis, the day will expand participants’ knowledge and use of the tools available to help them ‘get the job done’. Practical, participative and fully engaging throughout, the session will leave participants better equipped to meet the policy aims of their department or organisation.

The Role of Leadership in Policy Development and Delivery

"We can’t solve problems by using the same kind of thinking we used when we created them." (Albert Einstein)

This one-day seminar is designed to help delegates to make a difference in policy development and delivery through the impact of personal leadership, to change attitudes, culture and behaviours in the policy area’s target group, and to meet policy objectives and targets and generate investment. It will also help the organisation to develop people who have strategic leadership skills and help create a culture of strategic leadership, and design and deliver policies that achieves sustained change, and long-term goals, as well as short-term results.

It will look at key leadership questions, effective strategic policy development in theory and practice, definitions, theories, approaches and context in effective leadership, and applying leadership in policy work.

Policy and Decision Making

The last few years have witnessed many changes in the structure and function of the government policy-making machine in the United Kingdom, with far-reaching implications for the civil service, other public services and beyond. As the government pursues its modernisation agenda, this one-day seminar will focus on the changing roles of, and interaction between Downing Street, the Treasury and the civil service, in the attempt to improve policy making and delivery. A facilitated discussion will enable delegates to think about how lessons learnt here can be incorporated most effectively and appropriately back home.

Professionals and Policy Makers Working Together

This day will focus on developing a common understanding of the policy process, including assumptions, constraints and objectives. It will work through how placements and secondments of specialists often initially heighten problems of collaboration, and how policymakers can become “intelligent customers” of professional input.

Ways in which professionals and specialists can adapt to the constraints and pressures of delivering policies to ministers will be examined, as will what makes multi-disciplinary policy teams successful.

Learning will be reinforced through case material and examples. Participants will work through how to make sense of policy using a rigorous framework that has implications for how specialists can best be involved in the process, and learn the principles underpinning the formation of effective and creative multi-disciplinary policy project teams.

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