Hull Policy Engagement Network (H-PEN) seminar: Devolution, Research, and Policy Engagement
Byron Conference Room, Canham Turner, Cottingham Road, HU6 7RX
Tuesday 14th April 2026
The Hull Policy Engagement Network (H-PEN) invites you to an engaging session exploring the evolving devolution landscape and the role researchers can play in shaping policy across different levels of government.
This event will bring together academics and policy professionals to reflect on how policy is developed, how devolution is reshaping decision-making, and how researchers can meaningfully contribute to policy processes.
The session will be informal and open to all. Refreshments will be provided, and there will be plenty of opportunity to engage with the speakers and connect with the wider research community.
Speakers:
Dr Mark Bennister is an experienced policy‑engagement consultant and researcher. He is a Visiting Reader at Queen Mary, University of London, and an Affiliate Researcher at the Bennett School of Public Policy, University of Cambridge. He has previously served as Associate Professor in Politics at the University of Lincoln, where he directed both the Lincoln Policy Hub and the Lincoln Parliamentary Research Centre. His experience includes serving as a House of Commons Academic Fellow (2016–19) and as an Executive Officer at the Australian High Commission. He is also the author of Prime Ministers in Power: Political Leadership in Britain and Australia (Palgrave, 2012) and co‑author of The Leadership Capital Index: New Perspectives on Political Leadership (Oxford, 2017).
Dr Andrew Mycock is the cross-cutting academic lead for Place at UPEN. His research focuses on youth democratic education and participation, devolution and public policy, British identity and citizenship, and the British Empire and Anglosphere. Through his involvement in various government commissions, he developed a strong interest in applied, policy-focused research. During the Covid-19 pandemic, he contributed to the creation of the West Yorkshire Policy Engagement and Research Network (the precursor to Y-PERN). He now works in a hybrid role, combining academic research with leadership across the university’s policy engagement activities.
Mark will open the session by providing a comprehensive overview of devolution in England, outlining its historical development, key policy milestones, and the evolving governance landscape. This will establish the broader national context within which current devolution arrangements operate.
Andy will then turn to the local and regional perspective, drawing on newly published Y-PERN research, ‘Devo-pragmatism’ and ‘Devo-anxiety’: Devolution and Multi-Level Government in Yorkshire and the Humber (Devolution report 090326). His contribution will explore how devolution is being experienced and implemented across the region, highlighting both the practical adaptations (‘devo-pragmatism’) and the uncertainties or challenges (‘devo-anxiety’) associated with multi-level governance.
This event will bring together academics and policy professionals to reflect on how policy is developed, how devolution is reshaping decision-making, and how researchers can meaningfully contribute to policy processes.
The session will be informal and open to all. Refreshments will be provided, and there will be plenty of opportunity to engage with the speakers and connect with the wider research community.
Speakers:
Dr Mark Bennister is an experienced policy‑engagement consultant and researcher. He is a Visiting Reader at Queen Mary, University of London, and an Affiliate Researcher at the Bennett School of Public Policy, University of Cambridge. He has previously served as Associate Professor in Politics at the University of Lincoln, where he directed both the Lincoln Policy Hub and the Lincoln Parliamentary Research Centre. His experience includes serving as a House of Commons Academic Fellow (2016–19) and as an Executive Officer at the Australian High Commission. He is also the author of Prime Ministers in Power: Political Leadership in Britain and Australia (Palgrave, 2012) and co‑author of The Leadership Capital Index: New Perspectives on Political Leadership (Oxford, 2017).
Dr Andrew Mycock is the cross-cutting academic lead for Place at UPEN. His research focuses on youth democratic education and participation, devolution and public policy, British identity and citizenship, and the British Empire and Anglosphere. Through his involvement in various government commissions, he developed a strong interest in applied, policy-focused research. During the Covid-19 pandemic, he contributed to the creation of the West Yorkshire Policy Engagement and Research Network (the precursor to Y-PERN). He now works in a hybrid role, combining academic research with leadership across the university’s policy engagement activities.
Mark will open the session by providing a comprehensive overview of devolution in England, outlining its historical development, key policy milestones, and the evolving governance landscape. This will establish the broader national context within which current devolution arrangements operate.
Andy will then turn to the local and regional perspective, drawing on newly published Y-PERN research, ‘Devo-pragmatism’ and ‘Devo-anxiety’: Devolution and Multi-Level Government in Yorkshire and the Humber (Devolution report 090326). His contribution will explore how devolution is being experienced and implemented across the region, highlighting both the practical adaptations (‘devo-pragmatism’) and the uncertainties or challenges (‘devo-anxiety’) associated with multi-level governance.
