Local Authority Research Systems: developing Doncaster Council's road map to building greater organisational research capacity

Research question: What mechanisms do we have to increase organisational capacity to undertake research? Background: This study is set in Doncaster Council the largest geographical metropolitan borough in the UK, with a population of around 305,000 people. Doncaster has an industrial past and this presents a significant challenge in connecting people, places and businesses to economic and social opportunities. Despite being relatively flat with many easily accessible green and blue spaces the borough has high levels of inactivity, low levels of participation in physical activity and high levels of deprivation. The 20/30 PHR call recognises that investment is needed to support the development of research capacity within local government. In Doncaster we have had opportunities to develop some capacity using local NIHR infrastructure. We are in a position to be lead organisation within this application. However, we are clear that much of this work has relied on relationships and the ability to spot opportunities. It has not, as yet, let to broader use of research findings within council decision-making. Moreover, although our research questions have arisen from practice the research has often been conducted in isolation and has not addressed policy or organisational research questions or needs. To date then we have not been able to bridge the gap between what is known and what is done. Our collective response to COVID19 brings these issues into sharp relief as there has been an increased urgency to access, use and understand evidence derived from research on the part of local government officers. There is an opportunity to do more as we learn to live in the time of COVID and an organisational recognition of the need to build better research capacity. In Doncaster we have pockets of research but not a research system; this then is the focus of our application. Aims: The study will address four aims: to identify what steps are needed to move from our existing ad hoc research projects to a research system designed to inform and support decision-making at Doncaster council; to establish what appetite is there amongst officers and elected members across the local authority to increase our organisational capacity to undertake research; to understand what types of people would be needed, in the local authority and elsewhere, to enable the authority to access research funding and successfully undertake high quality research and to identify what resources are needed to create a sustainable research system at Doncaster Council. Methods: The qualitative study will use individual interviews, observations and framework analysis techniques. A researcher embedded within the Doncaster Council will lead the data collection and analysis. Anticipated impact and dissemination: Outputs for the study will be those predefined by the funding call. Dissemination will benefit from a regional research infrastructure of academic and practice networks and include an actionable tool /guide for local authorities which will set out our learning and act as a signpost for others. Locally, this work will produce a vision for research, supported by a research capacity development framework, to inform decision-making and enable Doncaster Council to fulfil its ambition for the health and well-being of citizens.