Senior Consultant Jamie Thunder shortlisted for the inaugural Bennett Prospect Public Policy Prize

WPI Economics Senior Consultant Jamie Thunder has been shortlisted for the inaugural Bennett Prospect Public Policy Prize, run by the Bennett Institute for Public Policy at the University of Cambridge.

The prize, for early career researchers and public policy professionals, asked for proposals to help enable left-behind places to catch up.

Jamie’s entry focused on the varied challenges facing these places. He conducted new analysis of GVA per head in English local authorities to identify places that have been persistent poor performers, and combined this with analysis of Indices of Multiple Deprivation to illustrate the range of barriers that left-behind places face. As a result of this variation, there is no ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to helping left-behind places to catch up; it needs to be rooted in the particular challenges local areas must tackle to achieve their potential.

To resolve this, he proposed a ‘Place Premium’, modelled on the Pupil Premium in English schools, to be provided to local authorities to allow them break out of the cycle of deprivation by addressing the main issues in each area. Importantly, it would be a long-term commitment that did not demand instant results, recognising the entrenched nature of many of the factors that hold places back.

Details of the winning entry and other shortlisted entries can be found here.