IES Annual Review 2011

 | Institute for Employment Studies | Sep 2011

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The financial year 2010/11 was a turbulent and challenging one for IES, as it was for many other organisations in our field.

During the year, the Institute responded and adapted to the impact of major policy changes and spending reductions in the UK, while the economy continued to struggle to return to sustained growth.

While a change in the nature and volume of public policy work had been predicted and planned for, it is probably true to say that the speed and extent of that change, following the election of the coalition government in the UK, exceeded expectations.

Whatever view is taken of the need for ‘austerity’ and public spending reductions on this scale, it is clear that the impact on organisations such as IES, which had previously and successfully responded to a continued growth in demand from government and its agencies for ‘evidence-based policy-making’, has been dramatic.