On Thursday 26 October, Manchester City Council hosted a LARIA North West event to allow local shortlisted and winning entries to the 2017 LARIA Research Impact Awards showcase their work, and a session from Public Health England.

Most engaging presentation of local area research (highly commended) – Owen Richardson, Kirklees Council
Online and redefined – refreshing our approach to the JSNA

Owen Richardson talks about the Kirklees JSA

Best use of local area research 1 – (shortlisted) – Elisa Bullen, Manchester City Council
Securing a ward boundary review using a local forecasting model

Elisa Bullen talking about ward boundary reviews using the MCCFM in Manchester

Matt Hennesesey, Public Health England
Intelligent design

Matt Hennessey talks about Intelligence Design at the LARIA NW event

Best use of community safety or policing research – (winner) – Rebecca Eckersley, Lancashire County Council
Understanding complex antisocial behaviour cases

Findings from complex anti-social behaviour cases research

Best use of local area research 2 – (winner) – Paul Holme, Manchester City Council
Troubled Families Evaluation 2017

Troubled Families evaluation in Manchester

Further information from: l.frost@manchester.gov.uk

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Manchester Town Hall

LARIA NW welcomed around 60 delegates to its event in Manchester, chaired by Linda Frost, to hear from a range of speakers.  The event began with discussions in groups, covering data harmonisation, the Index of Multiple Deprivation and working with the voluntary sector.

Research into skills needs of voluntary,community and social enterprise organisations in Greater Manchester – Susanne Martikke, Greater Manchester Centre for Voluntary Organisation and Dr Noemi Sinkovics, Manchester Business School

This session shared findings from a collaborative research project into the skills needs of the voluntary sector and social enterprise organisations (VCSE) in Greater Manchester. After some the background to VCSE skills and the methodology used, the speakers explored some of the quantitative and qualitative findings to highlight the need to focus attention not only on skills, but also on capabilities.

Susanne Martikke is the research officer at the Greater Manchester Centre for Voluntary Organisation (GMCVO). She has managed and conducted a wide range of qualitative research projects on various aspects of the VCS and volunteering in Greater Manchester Susanne is also the co-founder and the coordinator for the Greater Manchester Third Sector Research Network, which brings together academics with a research interest in the voluntary sector and voluntary sector staff with a research remit for peer support and learning. Susanne is one of three associates of the UK Community Partner Network initiative, which aims to raise awareness of the mutual benefits of equal and fair partnerships between voluntary sector organisations, their communities and university researchers. She is currently working on her PhD as part of an ESRC-funded collaborative CASE Studentship between GMCVO and the Morgan Centre at the University of Manchester.

Dr. Noemi Sinkovics is Lecturer in International Business and Management at Alliance Manchester Business School. She holds a PhD in International Business and has a track record of peer-reviewed publications in a number of internationally recognised journals such as International Business Review, International Marketing Review, Journal of Business Research, etc. Her research and teaching is focused on responsible business, social value creation, as well as theoretical and practical aspects of entrepreneurship (commercial, social, and international).

 Presentation 1: Session 1 Susanne Martikke and Noemi Sinkovics

Using Open Data to map the city – Chris Pope, New Economy

The wealth of public sector open data – and open source products to analyse these – provide local authorities with a range of new and unique opportunities to better understand the local area, and improve people’s lives. To this end, Greater Manchester sought to utilise open data to better understand our social and physical infrastructure, to better support pre-planning decisions. This session explored some of the wider opportunities available for local authorities from using open data, some of our learning along the way, and the creation of our open data infrastructure map – mappinggm.org.uk.

Chris Pope has been a senior analyst for over 6 years at New Economy. He has worked in areas as wide as mental health support, skills and employment services, public service reform and planning and housing. For the past 8 months, Chris has project managed the Greater Manchester Open Data Infrastructure Map, working with colleagues in the LEP, AGMA and Salford City Council, who built the map.

Presentation 2: Session 2 Chris Pope

NVivo – Diane Armstrong, QSR International Ltd

Diane talked about a collaborative project between QSR International and Cheshire East Council in which data from a public consultation project was analysed in NVivo against the more traditional analytic methods and approaches (Man ‘V’ Machine). The aim of the project is to demonstrate the potential time and cost savings the software could bring to teams in similar local authorities.

Diane Armstrong is employed as a Business Development Manager at QSR International Ltd who are the developers of NVivo, an award winning qualitative research software. However, her background is in public sector, working for 23 years in NHS around the North West. In later years, Diane was employed as a Stakeholder Engagement Manager at Liverpool Primary Care Trust and was responsible for successfully project managing a number of large-scale public consultation projects resulting in the creation of 10 new neighbourhood health and wellbeing centres across the city and the development of the new Royal Liverpool and Alder Hey Hospitals.

Presentation 3: Session 3 Diane Armstrong

Efficient frontline service planning using RouteSmart and OS ITN data – the Newcastle-upon-Tyne perspective – Clive Melleney, Ordnance Survey and Mark Mohun, Newcastle City Council

This session heard about the possible savings to Local Authorities through the use of PSMA data in support, not only of savings in Waste Management, but many other areas of the business, as shown on the OS Case Study finder.

Clive Melleney is a GI Consultant with the Ordnance Survey.  He supports over 100 PSMA customers within the North West and West Midlands Regions.  He also works with energy and infrastructure companies across GB.

Mark Mohun is a Business Analyst with Newcastle City Council.

Presentations 4a and 4:
Session 4a Clive Melleney
Session 4 Mark Mohun

DemograFire – creating a national geo-demographic profile of fire and rescue incidents – Philip Usher, Cheshire Fire and Rescue

This session heard about the DemograFire project, which aims to produce a robust, geo-demographic profile of fire and rescue incident data to assist in the creation of social marketing campaigns.

Philip Usher has worked in analytical roles within the emergency services for 12 years and he is currently Business Intelligence Manager at Cheshire Fire & Rescue Service. In 2015 Philip took on the role of lead for Social marketing and Analysis in the Chief Fire Officer’s Association (CFOA) Integrated Data Group which led him to create DemograFire.  Philip is also in the final stages of an MSc in GIS at University of Leeds where he is modelling a regional approach to Fire & Rescue in the North-West.

Presentation 5: Session 5 Philip Usher

Projecting populations by ethnic group for local authorities, 2001 to 2051 – Dr Paul Norman, Leeds University

Data on future populations by ethnic group are needed for a variety of purposes. This presentation showed: how population projections are constructed, how choices made affect outputs and why differences in observed population change (what actually happened) and expected (what has been projected) might (will!) occur.

Paul Norman is a population and health geographer with wide experience of estimating and projecting populations.

Presentation 6:  Session 6 Paul Norman

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• Session 1: Commissioning for outcomes in Leeds – CareTrak and Community Beds

Their presentation included a live demo of the system and was followed by a lively Q&A.

Next up was a focus on effective presentation and visualisation of data, inspired by the new LARIA Research Impact Awards category, ‘Most engaging presentation of local area research’. Malachi Rangecroft (Leeds City Council) introduced this session with a look at what data visualisation is, highlighted some good (and not so good…!) examples and shared a useful ‘aide memoire’:

• Session 2: Data visualisation – effective presentation of local area research (You may need to try a different browser if you have problems loading this)

We then broke into smaller groups for more detailed discussions around the examples people had brought along and some of the practical issues, challenges and successes locally. There was a real buzz in the room with lots of info sharing, including:

• Visual.ONS (see also blogpost on the launch of this site)
• 100 years of the census
• Information is Beautiful
• The Guardian – data visualisation examples
• The Guardian – worst ever infographic?
• Graphic Detail – charts, maps and infographics (The Economist)
• The Best Stats You’ve Ever Seen (Hans Rosling TED Talk)
• Government Digital Service – Infographics Guide
• Norfolk Council JSNA infographics
• The Kings Fund quarterly monitoring reports
• Kirklees Council – Our Budget Challenge
• The data viz design process – 7 steps for beginners
• Is data visualisation just style over substance?

Finally, we spent the last session discussing ideas for how we could support the first LARIA Local Area Research fortnight (16-29 March 2015):

• Session 3: Local Area Research Fortnight
• Feedback from group discussions

I’m hoping that colleagues across our region will be able to play a part – however big or small – in helping to raise the profile of local area research, its value and its impact.

Once again, we’ve had really positive feedback about the Y&H event – people have found the sessions useful and there certainly seems to be the appetite to keep going. I’ll keep you posted about future dates, and if anyone would like to share something, either at an event or via the website, then please do let me know!

Alison Monkhouse – Kirklees Council, LARIA Y&H Co-Ordinator

(Photo Credit: The Carriageworks, Leeds)

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£45 to £85 for SRA Members, £105 for non-members – 10% early bird discount

This conference will bring together researchers from a range of disciplines and sectors to share experiences and learning.

We are delighted that Professor David Gauntlett from the University of Westminster, author of several books including Creative Explorations and Making is Connecting, has agreed to give the keynote speech.

Four subject experts have agreed to chair workshop streams and form a final panel

● Dr Kitrina Douglas, champion golfer, broadcaster, sports researcher at Leeds Beckett University (formerly Leeds Met), poet and songwriter, will chair the arts-based research workshop stream

● Jamie Bartlett, Director of the Centre for the Analysis of Social Media at Demos, will chair the research using technology workshop stream

● Matt Barnard, Head of Evaluation at NSPCC, will chair the mixed method research workshop stream

● Dr Molly Warrington, Senior Lecturer in Human Geography at Cambridge University, will chair the transformative research frameworks stream

To download the event flyer, click here

Press ‘Register‘ for more information and to book your place.

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Wednesday, 5th November 2014

The next CGG seminar will focus mainly on how users have been applying census and other open data, with an emphasis on ‘how to’ case studies and useful lessons learnt.

Topics to be covered will include:

• Techniques for visualising population change
• Predicting retail performance using data on home and workplace populations
• Using census migration and commuting data to analyse who moves where
• Geodemographics of use/engagement with the Internet
• Open data – suppliers’ update and user experiences
• Applications and use cases for samples of anonymised raw data from the census
• Social and cultural influences in the digital age – the balance between individual and area data

More details and booking

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See more details on the project website 

LARIA NW IER – M Henn

 
Prof Matt Henn (Nottingham Trent University) talks about why young people don’t vote

John Bradley spoke about mis-matches in the ‘dry-run’ of matching Electoral Registration and DWP data and how this related to issues of ethnicity, household tenure and student areas.

LARIA NW IER – J Bradley

John Bradley (Manchester CC) explains the issues of targeting hard to reach communities in Manchester

Charlotte Snelling explained the issues found in the UK Electoral Commission’s research on under-registration and the proposed areas of activity to encourage engagement and maximise registration.

 • Confirmation dry run (looks at match rates and areas where more green/more red matches etc., and also survey results from the electoral services staff going through the process.

• Data matching pilots

• Analysis of under-registered groups and drivers of LA registration rates

 • Under-registered groups

N.B.  Cabinet Office also commissioned some research looking at barriers to registrations amongst URGs and also the transition to IER

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Charlotte Snelling (Cabinet Office) speaks about maximising registration for IER

The challenges facing Manchester City Council were described by Lesley Spencer while Peter Richards detailed how the Council is using communications to promote proposed activities in the IER process.

LARIA NW IER – L Spencer

Lesley Spencer (Manchester CC) describes the IER experience in Manchester

Peter Richards (Manchester CC) reports on how Manchester is using communications in the IER process

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This includes the upcoming LARIA Conference (13th/14th May 2014) and to recognise this we have extended our early bird discount off conference bookings to Thursday 17th April (just before Easter). Book your place now as they are going fast! A place is worth 12 hours accreditation.

The new MRS CPD programme provides all MRS members a framework to demonstrate their achievements, gain recognition for their professionalism and take control planning their careers. We would encourage all LARIA members to consider the wide range of CPD activities that the MRS and other accredited organisations provide.

LARIA itself has developed the National Occupational Standards (NOS) for local researchers, which is incorporated into our conference programme and we will be developing further this year. We are looking to ensure that all local researchers, and the organisations they work for, are able to undertake CPD activities.

We would like to thank the MRS for the accreditation as it is a validation of the training opportunities provided by our conference and other events. We look forward to continued close working relationship with the MRS, who have been very supportive of LARIA over the years, and welcoming their members to our conference.

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The main priorities/themes for the conference:

• sharing best practice across the local authority and public sector research industry

• how to raise the profile of the research industry

• how to improve engagement between academic research, and local government

• how to evidence what difference your work makes to local communities

Key websites, projects and tips:

• Stats Users Net: This online forum launched (with involvement from LARIA) last year. You can find out more, become a member and participate in discussions, here.

• The Alliance for Useful Evidence have produced a report “Squaring the Circle: Evidence at the Local Level”. The report looks at how local authorities and their partners are making use of evidence in the current climate of cuts in funding and a sluggish economy. Some of the findings from this work have been used to inform the development of the What Works Centres.

• There was some discussion of the emerging What Works Centres. The four centres (for Local Economic Growth, Ageing Better, Crime Reduction, Early Intervention) are intended to act as a ‘NICE’ for social policy. The centres will not generate evidence, but will work to synthesise and rank available evidence. The format/interface is likely to be similar to the Education Endowment Fund website (the Teaching and Learning toolkit), but will vary between the centres according to the nature of the evidence. The Centres have funding for 3 years in the first instance, and a National Advisor will lead the network and advise ministers. This post will be appointed in the next two weeks.

• Skills for Justice presented on the new Local Authority National Occupational Standards. These present an outcomes-based perspective on the key skills required for the following roles: Economic Development, Communications Officer, and Researcher. Find out more about the skills required by clicking  here.  The Skills for Justice’s local government page is available here.

• Sheffield Hallam University have produced a report on how communities will be hit by welfare reform, and what the associated impact(s) on local economies might be. Find out more about welfare reform and labour markets here.

• The ONS Beyond 2011 Programme is continuing. There will be a further consultation on the programme shortly, and a final decision on the future of the Census will be taken by end March next year. There was some discussion about the importance of responding to this consultation, as this will be the last opportunity to input into the process. It will be important to put an economic value on the Census data in any response.

• John Newton, Chief Knowledge Officer for Public Health England, noted a couple of points about the data that PHE will continue to make available through their eight Knowledge and Intelligence Teams. This will include key products such as the Local Health Profiles, mortality dashboard, public health outcomes framework, GP profiles, NHS Atlas of Healthcare Variation. Also noted that a mapped version of the local health profiles are available at MSOA level, as well as local authority. These are accessible here.

• One of the workshops showcased the work of Kirklees Council’s Joint Surveys Project Board, led by NHS Kirklees and Kirklees Council. The Board has run a joint programme of surveys, with findings used to inform the JSNA and other key strategic documents. More information on the surveys and approach is available from here.

• RTPI held a conference on Planning and Ageing, in September 2013. Details and agenda here.

Case Study: Preparing for the impacts of Welfare Reform, Surrey County Council

One of the most original presentations over the two days concerned a research project carried out at Surrey County Council, looking at preparing for the impacts of Welfare Reform. The council opted for a qualitative, ethnographic approach which was commissioned to ESRO. The research involved ESRO spending time with a number of families and individuals in Surrey who are likely to be impacted by the reforms. It looked at the perceived changes and responses by those individuals. As well as a comprehensive literature review, the research comprised 12 semi-structured in-depth interviews within 3 boroughs of the county.

The research was designed to test a range of hypotheses, including:

“As a result of the reforms…

• Some individuals will be incentivized to work

• Some will find it difficult to meet household expenses due to a reduction in welfare payments.”

The research found that, with or without welfare reform, low-income benefits recipients often already struggle to make ends meet on a week-by-week basis and draw on an array of practical coping strategies when facing routine financial difficulties or unexpected expenses. The changes were therefore likely to lead to more severe, although familiar, financial problems for these low income families. Practical coping measures include things like:

Money:

• Spend or borrow according to cycles of “good weeks” (benefits received) and “bad weeks” (smaller payments)

• Increase in payday/door to door loans

• Extended loan repayments

Food:

• Cut back on fresh food

• Skip meals

• Ask family members to feed children

Spending:

• Fewer gifts

• Cut back on family events

Although manageable in the short term, one of the report findings was that long term use of some of these coping strategies may pose significant risks to housing security, physical and mental health, and outcomes for children.

Amongst other outputs, the research produced detailed budget sheets from the field data. These budget sheets helped to identify the finances and key issues of concern for the families who are likely to be significantly out of pocket.

Issues and outcomes which the research raised were split into “high”, “medium” and “low” relevance. Infographic case studies drawn from the interviews have driven discussions across the Council, and led to much senior level buy-in to the potential issues.

The work has been complemented by a quantitative analysis programme.

You can find out more about the report here.

Sarah Hardwick, South West Observatory 21/05/13

Photo credit: Eden Project. LARIA photo.

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