Expert Panel
The UK Commission for Employment and Skills takes its research very seriously from conception to dissemination. We strive to achieve rigorous, robust and authoritative research that informs policy. To this end we have engaged the services of a Panel of Experts to act as independent critical friends and to support the Research and Policy Directorate's work. The Panel consists of academics from across the UK, each of them recognised nationally and internationally for their experience and knowledge of employment and skills systems in the UK and abroad.
Activities
The Panel meets three times a year and is managed by Dr Vicki Belt. The Panel also engages in a range of other activities including:
- Project focused meetings concerning specific items/activities as and when required
- Presenting at Panel meetings
- Producing evidence reviews and issues papers
- Peer reviewing the UK Commission's research outputs or helping to shape potential research projects
- Providing expert analysis of specific topics
- Supporting or delivering highly specific pieces of work and analysis
- Speaking at internal and external facing Commission events
- Engaging with the various functions of the UK Commission as necessary e.g. Research, Policy, Strategy and Performance, and Communications directorates
- Contribute to policy debates either through commenting on written documents or policy debates
- Updating the Commission on the latest developments and thinking in the field of employment and skills, research practice and data availability in the UK or abroad
- Contribute to the Commission's Research and Policy strategy and work plan by identifying research gaps and questions for further research
- Input into projects across the Commission as required
Expert Panel Members
- A Senior Research Fellow at the National Institute for Economic and Social Research, Geoff has conducted extensive research and economic analysis for Government including studies of the factors contributing to the productivity gap between the UK and its competitors, the role of skills in sectoral productivity variations in the UK and other countries and the response of local training providers to sector skills needs.
- Nigel is Director of the Institute for Employment Studies. His research interests are focused on employment but within this they are wide ranging. He therefore offers an unusual breadth of knowledge and experience of research into employment issues.
- Professor Alison Fuller is Professor of Education and Work at the university of Southampton.
- Until recently Andy was based at the Warwick Institute for Employment Research from where he undertook a wide range of policy-relevant research projects for a variety of government departments and agencies.
- Professor Claire Callendar is Professor of Higher Education at Birkbeck, University of London.
- David Ashton is currently a Honorary Professor at Cardiff University, Emeritus Professor at Leicester University and an Associate the Centre for Skills Knowledge and Organisational Performance (SKOPE).
- Professor Helen Rainbird is professor of HRM at the University of Birmingham.
- Professor Jenny Bimrose is Research Professor at the University of Warwick (IER).
- Professor of Comparative Employment Systems at Mancheser Business School, University of Manchester, Jill studied economics at Cambridge but her research is interdisciplinary in character, with a focus on the role of institutions in shaping labour markets.
- Katie Truss is Professor of Management and Head of Kent Business School at Medway, Kent University.
- Lorna is Professor of Vocational Education in the Department of Lifelong Learning and Comparative Education at the Institute of Education, University of London. She is also Deputy Director of a new ESRC-funded research centre, LLAKES (Learning and Life Chances in Knowledge Economies and Societies) based at the IOE.
- Phil is a sociologist based at the University of Cardiff's School of Social Sciences and is also a member of SKOPE. The focus of his work is very much at the international level, global trends and cross national comparisons.
- Rob is a Professorial Fellow and Deputy Director of the Institute for Employment Research at Warwick University. He is an economist specialising in national economic and labour market assessment and forecasting, focussing on the drivers of changes in the patterns of demand for and the supply of skills at national and international levels.
- Anne Green is a Principal Research Fellow at the Institute for Employment Research, University of Warwick. With a background in geography applied to the employment and skills research Anne stands to provide a valuable resource and brings a unique perspective to the work of the UK Commission.
- Francis Green is Professor of Economics at the University of Kent and a member of the Academy of Social Sciences. He is an Associate of the Centre for Skills Knowledge and Organisational Performance (SKOPE) and of the Centre for Economic Performance (CEP).