Economic and Social Research

Bradford New Deal for Communities
Baseline Study

A project undertaken on behalf of the New Deal for Communities Management Group in Bradford through which we:

• Devised a questionnaire in partnership with local theme-based steering groups with reference to NDC guidance;
• Added value to questionnaire by providing depth to the survey in identified key areas;
• Utilised residents to undertake data collection;
• Managed a 500 face-to-face household survey via stratified random sample;
• Analysed results, incorporating statistical tests to measure the strength of similarities and differences in response by gender and location within the NDC area and ethnicity.

Kingston-upon-Hull City Council
Baselines for Local Employment and Development Pacts

For the partners in Hull we have provided research leading to the production of suitable indicators and baselines that will contribute to measuring progress in the local areas earmarked for the establishment of Local Employment and Development Pacts under Objective 2. This has been founded upon DETR guidance with reference to New Deal for Communities Baselines and community involvement in the process of establishing baseline indicators relevant and meaningful to their circumstances. The work is founded upon listening to community groups and residents about their values and meaningful measures of improvement in their quality of life. It has included analysis of access to ICT and ICT usage.

Burnley Social Inclusion Network
Routes into Employment Study

Burnley's Social Inclusion and Employment Network exists to ensure funds are spent to address employability issues based upon a comprehensive overview of needs, gaps and priorities as well as an understanding of what works. The specific aims of the study have been:

• To obtain up to date and comprehensive information on barriers to employment locally amongst the different disadvantaged groups;
• To obtain a clear and comprehensive picture of the various supported routes into employment locally;
• To review the effectiveness of these supported routes and to make recommendations on effective future provision.

Wear Valley
Community Appraisals

We have completed a major community planning exercise in Wear Valley. The community plans are of strategic importance to the local community and agency stakeholders in that they will form the basis of, or will contribute directly to, a wide range of other strategic or specific planning documents. For example:

• Community Strategy and Plan
• Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy
• The Local Plan
• Housing Strategy
• Sports Action Zone

More directly the plans will result in planning documents that will enable additional funding to be targeted at the wards to support local development - specifically from Objective 2 CED.

Weardale Community Partnership
Market Towns Healthcheck

A key component of the Market Towns Initiative is the undertaking of a comprehensive review of a community's needs, assets and capacity to deliver the aspirations of local residents in a so-called 'healthcheck'. For the WCP, supported by Wear Valley DC, we undertook a healthcheck exercise for the town of Stanhope in North East England.

The healthcheck reviewed the governance and community/voluntary sector factors impacting on the community. The project also involved an extensive consultation exercise with agencies with varying degrees of interest in the town and residents from the 'very remote' area surrounding the town.

Advantage West Midlands
Readiness for Action Review

In the light of increasing concern that community-led partnerships established to deliver the Market Towns Initiative programme lacked the capacity and skills to meet expectations, AWM commissioned a mini-review of towns seeking to secure funding through this initiative.

The review was based around the hosting of two workshops, consultations with a range of stakeholders, and analysis of a range of economic data. Core to the research was an informal evaluation of the breadth of, and support given to, local community partnership structures. The towns reviewed included Stone and Biddulph (Staffordshire), Coleshill (North Warwickshire) and Newport (Shropshire).