Kit Colliver

Profile

Biography

Dr Kit Colliver

Kit Colliver is a Research Associate in the York Law School. Their current focus is, ‘Understanding criminal landlordism in the private rented sector and co-producing solutions’, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC).

Kit joined the University of York in 2022 in the School for Business and Society, working on a series of projects including the impact of the UK's cost of living crisis on local authorities. They previously held a Research Fellowship at UWS on a Drug Death Task Force-funded project about the role of Primary Care in preventing drug-related deaths. They have also been involved in delivering an independent review of the Scottish Forensic Mental Health system and have supported a number of projects related to poverty and extreme disadvantage at I-SPHERE, Heriot Watt University.

Kit completed their doctoral studies at I-SPHERE (Heriot Watt University) in 2021, passing their viva with no corrections. Their PhD examined the treatment of different household groups in the homelessness policies of England, Scotland and Wales from a normative perspective. They also hold a MSc in Social Research Methods and a BA in Psychology and Philosophy.

Areas of expertise

• housing and homelessness policy
• local government
• qualitative and mixed method research

Research

Overview

Research interests:

• poverty, inequality and social exclusion
• philosophies of welfare
• normative perspectives in social policy
• queer experiences in social policy

Projects

• 2023-25
  • Understanding criminal landlordism in the private rented sector and co-producing solutions, funded by the Economic and Social Research Council.
• 2023-24
  • Voter ID, the impact on trans and non-binary people in the UK: multi-method (surveys, qualitative interviews) investigation of trans people’s experiences of the UK’s new photo ID laws for elections.
• 2022-24
  • Locale Authorities and the Cost of Living Emergency (LOCALE). Capturing UK local authority responses to the cost of living crisis, in order to understand local variations in support and the longer-term capacity of local authorities to respond to successive crises.

Publications

Selected publications

• Colliver, K., Hudson, J. R., Lunt, N. & Meers, J. (2024) 'Passing the buck from Whitehall to town hall: local government responses to the cost-of-living crisis in England', in Social Policy Review 36: Analysis and Debate in Social Policy. Policy Press, p. 7-26.
• Meers, J., Colliver, K., Hudson, J., & Lunt, N. (2024). Sticking plaster support: the Household Support Fund and localised assistance in the UK welfare state. Journal of Poverty and Social Justice, 32(1), 26-46. https://doi.org/10.1332/17598273Y2023D000000008
• Colliver, K. (2023) Incoherent and Indefensible? A Normative Analysis of Young People’s Position in England’s Welfare and Homelessness Systems. _Journal of Social Policy,_ 1-17. doi:10.1017/S0047279423000193
• Watts-Cobbe, B. and Colliver, K. (2022) 'Normative approaches to social welfare scholarship: Existing contributions and future potential', in Adler, M. (ed.) _A Research Agenda for Social Welfare Law, Policy and Practice_: Edward Elgar. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781800886339.00018

Policy outputs

Colliver, K., Hudson, J., Jordan, U., Lunt, N., Meers, J., and Patrick, R. (2024) The Household Support Fund: evidence from research with Local Authorities and parents and carers living on low income [Policy brief]. York: The York Policy Engine, University of York. Available at: https://www.york.ac.uk/policy-engine/cost-of-living/news-and blogs/2024/household-support-fund-spring-budget/

Colliver, K., Hudson, J., Lunt, N., Meers., J. (2024) The future of the Household Support Fund [Policy Brief]. York: The York Policy Engine, University of York. https://www.york.ac.uk/policy-engine/news-and-blogs/2023/household-support-fund-brief/

University of York Cost of Living Research Group (2023) Sticking plasters and systemic solutions: Cost of Living responses in the UK. York: The York Policy Engine. [Contributor] https://www.york.ac.uk/media/policyengine/costoflivingresearchgroup/Cost%20of%20Living %20report%20(5)%20(1).pdf 

Colliver, K., Hudson, J., and Lunt, N. (2023) Local Authorities and the Cost of Living Emergency [Policy brief]. University of York. https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.7965717 

UNICEF (2023) Too little, too late: An assessment of public spending on children by age in 84 countries. UNICEF IRC: Florence, Italy. [Contributor] https://www.unicef irc.org/publications/1747-too-little-too-late-an-assessment-of-public-spending-on-children-by age-in-84-countries.html

Blog posts

• Colliver, K., and Stokoe, A. K. 'Denied democracy? Why trans voters could lose out at the upcoming general election,' Social Sciences Birmingham blog*, 10 June 2024. https://blog.bham.ac.uk/socialsciencesbirmingham/2024/06/05/denied-democracy-why trans-voters-could-lose-out-at-the-upcoming-general-election/

• Colliver, K., Hudson, J., Lunt., N and Meers., J. 'The Household Support Fund is a lifeline for low-income families,' Transforming Society blog, 27 February 2024. https://www.transformingsociety.co.uk/2024/02/27/the-household support-fund-is-a-lifeline-for-low-income-families/ 

• Meers, J., Hudson, J., Colliver, K. and Lunt, N. 'Should the Household Support Fund stay or go?' LSE Politics and Policy blog, 09 January 2024. https://blogs.lse.ac.uk/politicsandpolicy/should-the-household-support-fund-stay-or-go/

• Colliver, K., Barnes. A., Power, M (2023) 'The cost of living crisis can’t wait for the next election: three key issues the UK government needs to tackle now', *The Conversation*, 12 October. Available at: https://theconversation.com/the-cost-of-living-crisis-cant-wait-for-the-next-election-three-key-issues-the-uk-government-needs-to-tackle-now-215379

Teaching

Undergraduate

2024/25 Teaching TBC 

2023/24 Seminar Leader, 'The Policy Think Tank', BA Social and Public Policy, School for Business and Society 

2022/23 Seminar Leader, ‘Policy Analysis in a Complex World, MPA Social and Public Policy, School for Business and Society

External activities

Overview

Kit is a member of the Housing Studies Association, the Social Policy Association, ad the SPA's Housing Policy Group. They are a peer reviewer for Ethics and Social Welfare and Housing Studies.