Publications

A summary of our seminar on health and social care On March 22nd 2018, the University of Winchester and Southern Policy Centre co-hosted a seminar to explore the impact on the Central South of England of the changing make-up of our society. The event was chaired by Professor John Denham, […]

Next-door neighbours – collaborative working across the London boundary Local government obsesses about boundaries: we think they’re always wrong.  We spend hours, and pounds, looking at options for council reorganisation or Combined Authorities, and rarely agree where lines on maps should be drawn.  We seem intent on imposing our own […]

Devo South: Getting back on track This report records the issues and ideas discussed at the Southern Policy Centre’s Devo South conference and suggests how matters might be moved forward. Download a copy of the report here

The Impact of Business Rate Revaluation This paper from 2017 sets out the background to Business Rate revaluation in Hampshire, Southampton, Portsmouth and the Isle of Wight, and presents the data for different business sectors. It also considers the impact of revaluation in neighbouring Counties. Download a copy of the […]

Winchester BID: Business Rates This paper from 2017 sets out the background to Business Rate revaluation in Winchester and presents the data for different business sectors, examines the impact of transitional arrangements and looks at competing business centres. Download a copy of the report here

What do Hampshire businesses want from local government? Hampshire businesses have had their say in what they want to see from local government and from any devolution deal done with central government: Hampshire businesses want to see a single, simple to engage with local authority, with a more ‘can-do’ approach […]

Widening participation in Higher Education New study sheds light on why Southern students miss out on university Over 50 young people every year are missing out on university from just five local government wards in Poole, Hampshire, Southampton, Isle of Wight and Portsmouth. And over 100 more should be going […]

Assembly South report Introduction Assembly South was part of an important new experiment in how to organise democracy effectively. It consisted of a group of 23 citizens and 6 councillors from the Solent and Isle of Wight area who met in Southampton over two weekends in October and November 2015 […]

Devo-South: a report on devolution and business What are the challenges facing southern England, how can devolution empower local leadership to tackle them, and what do business leaders make of the opportunities offered by the government’s decentralisation agenda? Download the full report here BUSINESS is backing the idea of devolution […]

Using data reported nationally, and drawn from council and administrative systems, the briefing identifies a major drop in the number of adults being cared for by local authorities suggesting that those who are old or face disabilities will encounter increasing challenges in the coming 5 years. Notably, SPC observes that […]