Our latest thinking on the issues that matter most in economic and social development through our Viewpoint series, and our latest published reports. Our older Viewpoint ‘thought piece’ publications are available from the archive.
February 2023
The UK Government launched the British Patient Capital programme in 2018: a £2.5 billion Venture Capital Investment Fund set up as a subsidiary of the British Business Bank with both policy and commercial objectives. Our interim process, impact, and economic evaluation has now been published.
February 2023
Individual training accounts (ITAs) support people in Scotland with up to £200 per year to access training to gain an industry recognised certificate. The programme provides up to 18,500 funded places annually, at a cost of £3.5m per annum. Our impact evaluation of the ITA programme has been published by the Scottish Government.
January 2023
National attention was directed towards the challenges faced by people who used, commissioned or delivered social care services during the Covid-19 pandemic. Within this context, the Health Foundation launched the Strengthening Social Care Analytics Programme in 2021. Our qualitative evaluation of whether (and how) the programme supported project teams to improve the use of data analytics within social care has been published.
December 2022
Our report details the organisation of short-term workplace placements for secondary school pupils, enablers and challenges for effective work experience and the impact that participation in such programmes delivers
November 2022
There is a reasonable understanding of the links between investment in research and innovation and national economic growth, but outcomes at a local level are variable and complicated. Our report for UKRI examines how and why the characteristics of areas affect the success of UKRI’s levers in supporting and stimulating research and innovation, and vice versa.
August 2022
The Future Growth Loan Scheme (FGLS) was announced in March 2019 to address gaps in long-term lending to Irish SMEs. Initially making available €300m in lending, the scheme was expanded in July 2020 with a further €500m, following rapid uptake by businesses. SQW was commissioned by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment to undertake an independent Review of the FGLS.