Dave Hawkey

Senior research fellow, IPPR Scotland

Dave is a senior research fellow at IPPR Scotland.

Dave's experience spans government, regulation and academia, with particular expertise in energy and climate policy. Before joining IPPR, Dave worked at the Scottish government in the heat in buildings division, coordinating heat and energy efficiency policies with wider climate, welfare, economic and energy policies. Dave has also worked at Ofgem, developing rules for gas distribution network companies to operate under, with a focus on environmental sustainability.

Earlier in his career, Dave was senior research fellow at the University of Edinburgh, playing a central role in the Heat in the City research group. His work explored policy and practice on zero emissions heat and energy efficiency, traversing scales from the lived experience of a heat network being installed on a housing estate, to the formation of national energy policies.

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  1. An illustration of an ideal public transport system: a smiling family cross a road near a green bus with houses and trees in the background

    The transport challenge for low-income households

    Many people living on low incomes in the UK are limited in their ability to access the building blocks of a good life because of poor transport provision.

  2. Filling the funding gap: at what cost to Scotland’s public services?

    Last week the Scottish government published its delayed Medium Term Financial Strategy (MTFS) which ‘provides the economic, funding and spending outlooks for the financial years 2025/26 to 2029/30’ and ‘the Government’s fiscal strategy to…
  3. The Scottish parlimant is a white modernist building

    Programme for Government 2025/26: An IPPR Scotland briefing

    On 6 March, first minister John Swinney will announce his Programme for Government for 2025/26. He will highlight his four ‘core priorities’ of eradicating child poverty, growing the economy, tackling climate change, and ensuring high…
  4. A mother and child walking in a field with hills in the distance

    Achieving the 2030 child poverty target: The distance left to travel

    On 27 March, the Scottish government will announce whether Scotland’s 2023 child poverty target – no more than 18 per cent of children in poverty – was achieved. 
  5. Wind turbines near the Scottish borders on a sunny day

    Everything everywhere, all at once: The need for a four nations approach to accelerate wind deployment in the UK

    The UK is a world leader in wind deployment and has some of the most ambitious future wind capacity targets in the world, aiming for clean power by 2030.

  6. Scotland’s new climate legislation risks repeating mistakes of the past

    A bold alternative is needed that asks decision makers to be explicit about the changes they will support, not just a headline target figure