Professor Dan Bristow has been appointed as Director of the Wales Centre of Public Policy.
Dan has played a critical role in shaping WCPP as a leading knowledge brokering organisation that supports local and national policy makers in Wales by connecting them with the best available, independent evidence and expertise to help tackle major policy challenges.
He said, “It’s a real honour to take on the role of Director at such an exciting time for WCPP. Over the past 12 years, we have shown that we can play a pivotal role in supporting Welsh decision makers to access and use evidence to improve policy making and implementation practices.
We have established ourselves at the forefront of best practice when it comes to connecting evidence, expertise and policy making, and despite the current challenges faced by public services and Universities, we are keen to ensure evidence retains an important place in policy making in Wales.
“I’d like to particularly thank Steve Martin, along with James Downe and my other colleagues at WCPP for the part they’ve played in WCPP’s development so far and I am determined to continue the hard work we have all put into establishing the Centre as one of the most respected academic-policy evidence centres in the UK.”
Professor James Downe has been Acting WCPP Director since Steve Martin stepped back from the role last autumn but decided not to apply for the permanent role and return to his position as Director of Research.
He said, “Although I enjoyed my time directing the Centre, I’ve chosen to focus my efforts on leading WCPP’s academic research team. We have many interesting on-going projects which examine the processes and impact of knowledge brokering organisations I look forward to working with colleagues to publish new insights in these areas as well as helping to improve how the Centre works with policy makers.”