This interdisciplinary project examines public access to justice in England over three centuries - from the 1670s to the present. Bringing together leading criminologists and crime historians, it will assemble and analyse data on over 200,000 victims involved in trials over this period in order to enhance the rights of, and resources and services available to, victims today and in the future. It will construct a new evidence base to establish who these victims were, what relationship they had with offenders, how they came to be complainants, prosecutors or witnesses, how they made use of available legal and financial resources. Since the 1980s, victims have been placed firmly on the criminological and public policy map. However, we know surprisingly little about past victims of crime. We do not know which victims were most likely to pursue which cases, or how prosecution outcomes (in terms of acquittal or conviction) map onto victims' profiles. We might imagine that servants lost out to their masters, women to men, workers to employers, poor neighbour to rich neighbour, migrant to long-term resident. But did they? What kinds of cases were brought to trial - by victims, by the police and by the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS)? How did those involved in cases not brought to trial secure access to justice? Which groups had the most effective access to justice in what circumstances and how has that changed over time? In the past, victims drove the criminal justice system in England. For much of the 18th and 19th centuries, they brought prosecutions as complainants, acted as their own prosecution lawyers, gave evidence as witnesses and put up personal rewards for the recovery of lost goods. Their active role declined dramatically in the later nineteenth century with their physical removal from court processes except as witnesses to be cross-examined and the rise of professionalised statutory policing and the creation of the CPS. From the 1980s on, efforts have been made on many fronts to re-centre victims within the justice system and to enhance their experience of, access to, justice. Securing fair and effective access to justice is a priority for many states around the world. It concerns citizens' ability to seek formal acknowledgement and redress, within a given legal system, of wrongs, harms and offences committed against them. In states facing major political or economic transitions, strengthening access to justice is as a vital means of strengthening governance, resolving conflict and reducing inequalities. In England and Wales, this agenda has been driven, since the early 1990s, by efforts to promote human rights, to reduce social harms and to improve the delivery and quality of judicial services. Given recent political dialogue and debate, now is a critical moment to re-evaluate these long-term trends. The team will draw out patterns and insights from the experiences of victims whose cases were heard in one of the nation's most important courts: the Old Bailey (London's Central Criminal Court). The results of this project will be used by national agencies working with victims, including the Victims' Commissioner, Victim Support, the National Policing Lead for Victims and Witnesses, and Witness Service leads within Citizens Advice. The research team's links with History and Policy, an organisation specialising in bringing historical evidence to bear in policy debates, will be very valuable here. The project will make a significant contribution to wider work undertaken over the past two decades to improve access to justice and, thereby, to recommend strategies for reducing or closing 'justice gaps' where these exist. We have strong connections with criminal justice practitioners, policy makers and community groups and, in addition to our academic publications and training materials, will present our unique findings in lively and accessible formats to maximise potential impact and public engagement.

The rapid growth of emergency food - particularly foodbanks - in the 2010s (re)established UK household food insecurity (HFI) as a serious social, academic and policy concern. HFI captures people's experiences of compromising the amount or quality of food they eat, anxiety about food supplies lasting, and sourcing food in socially unacceptable ways (eg: charitable food). Quantitative research has linked HFI with poor diets, physical and mental health problems, worse educational outcomes, and social exclusion. Its scale is significant: in the six months to April 2022, 15.5% of UK households reported HFI, nearly double the figure in 2019-20 (8%). The Covid-19 pandemic then both introduced and deepened financial pressures that are currently being compounded by sharply rising living costs. In parallel, practical, political, and social concerns about dietary environmental sustainability also intensified and highlighted food shortages early in the pandemic. Despite their connections, these topics have rarely been explored together. To better understand the related topics of environmental sustainability and HFI, this project will examine low-income food provisioning over three timescales: past, present, and future. Existing research is mainly cross-sectional, so we know little about how HFI changes over the short term, and the role played by environmental sustainability considerations in the everyday (present, RQ1). The influence of people's life histories, particularly childhood experiences (past, RQ2) on both the relevance of sustainability considerations and people's current HFI experiences, is also poorly understood despite its potential to explain why some low-income groups do not report HFI. In parallel, future expectations (future, RQ3) are unknown: this question will explore participants' future expectations of food provisioning, HFI, and sustainable consumption practices. These themes will be examined through a 15-month feminist qualitative study of 15 low-income mothers in 'Greywood', Sheffield. Exploring these themes over time will offer richly detailed insights into women's food provisioning over the past, present, and future while also highlighting dynamics of continuity and change. Researching with mothers reflects the responsibility typically taken by women to plan meals, shop, and cook; in parallel, women also tend to lead on environmentally-oriented domestic behaviours (eg: recycling). Feminist motivations to examine and draw attention to (often overlooked) women's experiences further reinforce this approach. To compare low-income food provisioning from a range of perspectives, male and female members of women's networks will also be interviewed, a novel approach. Local support service representatives will also be interviewed to offer their views and provide background information. Combining in-depth interviews with ethnographic elements seeks to better understand the related topics of low-income food provisioning and environmental sustainability practices, and their health, social, and wider consequences. The project's findings will be of interest and value beyond academia: among frontline services, national and local government, policy-makers, activists, journalists, and the community, including participants. The detailed understandings of food provisioning that will be generated by the project's qualitative approach means the findings will lead to improved understandings of HFI and environmental sustainability practices. Later, research applying the project's design in other geographical locations and among wider groups could guide a longer-term research agenda. The findings will be valuable to inform good practice among frontline services across settings including welfare, health, education, social inclusion, encouraging joint working between stakeholders and across services, and guiding national and local policy.

The UK is facing an energy crisis on three fronts: climate change, energy security, and affordability. This challenge requires a fundamental change in our society, to enable a deep energy demand reduction and wide use of low-carbon technologies, supported by policy, businesses and the public alike. Energy demand reduction is in fact fundamental so that we can improve energy security, reduce household energy bills and address climate change. Research has shown that reducing energy use could help meet half of the required emissions reductions we need by 2050 to become a Net Zero society. While this poses a challenge, it also provides an opportunity for the UK to become a global leader in energy demand reduction, and associated research. The Energy Demand Research Centre (EDRC) develops the next phase of energy demand research in the UK, building on previous research and working closely with academic and non-academic partners. Our work will inform and inspire energy demand reductions that support an affordable, comfortable and secure Net Zero society. Our research programme cuts across different sciences (e.g. engineering and social) and sectors (e.g. buildings, transport and industry). We study which energy demand solutions can be delivered in a flexible and equitable manner and at which locations, taking into consideration issues such as local housing stock and transport links, skills base and governance models. We aim to deliver impactful research on energy demand that produces actionable solutions for industry, policy makers, practitioners and charities.