Survey centre seeks to boost policy role

The National Centre for Social Research will aim to exert more influence on government policy, Guy Goodwin, its chief executive, has said.

At present, the centre focuses on providing public surveys to government and industry. However, Goodwin told Research Fortnight that policy work and its communication should have equal importance. NatCen would need to increase its policy activities by 25 per cent of current revenue to achieve this, he said.

The non-governmental organisation has had some policy exposure in the past. Its work has been presented to parliamentary select committee investigations into subjects including mental and physical health, early-years education and public attitudes to political events such as Scottish independence and Brexit.