H&P research and policy

In addition to the History & Policy papers, we now provide a range of other useful resources for historians, policymakers and media. On this page you can find details of our:

For further information about these examples, or to discuss commissioning historical research, contact Mel Porter (mel.porter@sas.ac.uk).

Policy-related research

Policy-related research carried out by historians in the History & Policy network:

H&P seminar on the 'Big Society' for the Strategy Unit

Kate Bradley, Jose Harris, Matthew Hilton, John Mohan, Simon Szreter, Pat Thane, Karl Wilding
June 2010

H&P was invited by the Cabinet Office Strategy Unit to convene a group of expert historians to inform their work on the government's 'Big Society' agenda. The seminar took place on 15 June and explored changes in the relationship between the state and the voluntary sector and in people's engagement with civic society. Papers from this meeting are available below, along with links to other useful resources. Further papers will be added shortly.

See also:

The normalisation of binge-drinking? An historical and cross cultural investigation with implications for action

Virginia Berridge, Betsy Thom and Rachel Herring
September 2007

History & Policy co-founder Virginia Berridge and colleagues carried out a historical and cross-cultural investigation of binge-drinking [pdf file, 570KB]. Their findings are published on the Alcohol Education Research Council website.

See also: Peter Borsay, Binge drinking and moral panics: historical parallels? and Virginia Berridge, Current and future alcohol policy: the relevance of history.

History Matters? History's role in health policymaking

Virginia Berridge
June 2007

History & Policy funded research by Virginia Berridge of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine to explore the way in which history and historians are currently involved in health policymaking. This report reveals how health policymakers rely on historical clichés and NHS 'folk histories' to interpret the past and inform the present. Professor Berridge concluded that historians must do more to communicate their work to policy audiences. Read the report [pdf file, 201KB].

See also: Virginia Berridge's article for Guardian Society, and the History & Policy news release, Health policy dominated by historical clichés and folk histories [pdf file, 76KB].

Equalities in Great Britain, 1946-2006

Edited by Pat Thane
March 2007

This report was published as part of the Equalities Review, which was commissioned by the Prime Minister and chaired by Trevor Phillips. The report was written by a team led by Pat Thane at the Centre for Contemporary British History. Read the report [pdf file, 839KB]. The final report of the Equalities Review, Fairness and Freedom is also available on the Equalities Review website.

See also: Pat Thane's article A nicer country than Attlee's Britain, but not as nice as we could be' [pdf file, 30KB], originally published in Parliamentary Brief magazine.

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H&P Policy submissions

We regularly work with historians to provide historical evidence to parliamentary select committee inquiries:

Working with select committees

History & Policy
July 2010

As part of a secondment with H&P, Dr David Turner, Committee Specialist at the Health Select Committee, has prepared a guide for historians on working with select committees. This is now available to download from our resources section and will be of use to any historian wanting to get involved in the work of select committees. Since 2006, H&P has worked with historians to provide written evidence to seven select committee inquiries and has facilitated oral evidence by a historian to one further inquiry.

Download Dr Turner's paper here [pdf file, 66kb].

Research Excellence Framework

History & Policy
December 2009

History & Policy submitted a response to the consultation by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) on the new Research Excellence Framework, which will govern the assessment and funding of academic research from 2012. We support the introduction of a new strand to assess research impacts, which will incentivise historians to engage with policymakers and reward those who are actively involved in H&P. But we have concerns about the proposed criteria and methods for assessing impacts and would like to see the weighting of this strand reduced to 15 per cent of the overall assessment.

You can read H&P's submission here [pdf file, 148KB].

You can read the HEFCE consultation on their website: HEFCE

For further information about the H&P response, contact: Mel Porter

Social Care

Pat Thane
December 2009

In evidence submitted to the House of Commons' Health Committee inquiry into social care, H&P co-founder Professor Pat Thane explains the history of financing health and social care and argues that the post-1948 separation of health from social care continues to cause problems.

Read Pat Thane's memorandum. [pdf file, 109KB]

For more information about the committee's inquiry, see the UK parliament website.

Abortion Act 1967

Lesley A. Hall
August 2007

Lesley A. Hall of the Wellcome Library submitted a historical memorandum to the Science and Technology Committee inquiry into the Abortion Act 1967 [pdf file, 58KB]. For further information about the inquiry see the parliament website.

Waste Strategy for England

Tim Cooper
December 2007

We publish historical evidence on the government's Waste Strategy for England, by Tim Cooper of Exeter University. Read Tim Cooper's memorandum [pdf file, 89KB]. This was submitted to the current Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Select Committee Inquiry. For more information see the Committee's website.

Personal carbon allowances

Mark Roodhouse
August 2007

Mark Roodhouse of the University of York submitted a memorandum [pdf file, 77KB] to the Environmental Audit Select Committee inquiry into personal carbon allowances. For further information about the inquiry see the parliament website.

See also: Mark Roodhouse, Rationing returns: a solution to global warming?; History & Policy news release, Rekindle Blitz spirit to combat climate change [pdf file, 32KB]; and Mark Roodhouse's article for the Financial Times [pdf file, 22KB].

Public and patient involvement in the NHS

Martin Gorsky
January 2007

Martin Gorsky of the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine submitted a memorandum [pdf file, 113KB] to the House of Commons Health Committee inquiry into Patient and Public Involvement in the NHS. For further information about the inquiry see the parliament website.

See also: Martin Gorsky, Hospital governance and community involvement in Britain: evidence from before the National Health Service.

The Monetary Policy Committee of the Bank of England: ten years on

Forrest Capie and Geoffrey Wood
January 2007

Forrest Capie and Geoffrey Wood of the Cass Business School at City University submitted a History & Policy memorandum [pdf file, 92KB] to this House of Commons Treasury Committee inquiry. For further information about the inquiry see the Parliament website.

Pension Reform

Hugh Pemberton, Pat Thane and Noel Whiteside
June 2006

History & Policy contributors Hugh Pemberton, Pat Thane and Noel Whiteside submitted a historical memorandum [pdf file, 136KB] to the House of Commons Work and Pensions Select Committee inquiry on pension reform. Their evidence was mentioned in the committee's final report.

See also: History & Policy news release, Government's 'smoke and mirrors' conceals pensions cut [pdf file, 30KB]; Pat Thane's article in the Financial Times [pdf file, 25KB]; History & Policy news release Historians warn government against more fudged pensions 'reforms' [pdf file, 25KB]; Hugh Pemberton, Politics and pensions in post-war Britain; Pat Thane, The 'scandal' of women's pensions in Britain: how did it come about?; and Noel Whiteside, In search of security: earnings-related pensions in Britain and Europe .

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History & policy in action

Case studies of historians' involvement in public policy and debate with lessons for the future:

War crimes, Holocaust memorial and antisemitism

David Cesarani

David Cesarani explains his role in the investigation of war crimes and antisemitism, the campaign for a Holocaust Memorial Day and the creation of a Holocaust exhibition at the Imperial War Museum.

Read David's case study [pdf file, 47KB]

Carbon rationing

Mark Roodhouse

Mark Roodhouse discusses how the publication of his History & Policy paper enabled him to engage in the policy debate around carbon rationing.

Read Mark's case study [pdf file, 62KB]

See also: Mark Roodhouse, Rationing returns: a solution to global warming?

Foot and Mouth Disease

Abigail Woods

Abigail Woods describes how she became caught in a media storm around the government's slaughter policy during the 2001 Foot and Mouth Disease outbreak and how she hopes her current research will result in greater policy engagement.

Read Abigail's case study [pdf file, 64KB]

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Witness seminars

Witness seminars explore events or developments that took place within living memory, bringing together key participants from the time to discuss their recollections. The results are transcribed for use by researchers and provide a unique window onto the recent past. The Centre for Contemporary British History has been organising witness seminars since its foundation in 1986 and is a centre of expertise. You can find out more about the programme on the Centre for Contemporary British History website.

There is also an archive of witness seminar transcripts available. Please contact Michael Kandiah (michael.kandiah@sas.ac.uk) for more information about:

  • Forthcoming witness seminars
  • Accessing and interpreting transcripts of past seminars
  • Organising a witness seminar at your institution

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Other useful material

History and the public

Mel Porter April 2007

History & Policy External Relations Manager, Mel Porter , gave a presentation about History & Policy [pdf file, 375KB] at the History and the Public Conference at Swansea University. Keynote speakers included Lord Morgan and Tristram Hunt and audio and word files are available to download on the History and the Public website.

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