London Borough of Lambeth

LARIA Research Impact Award 2015: Best Use of Local Area Research

Lambeth has developed a radical new approach to evidenced-based decision-making, using Randomised Controlled Trials – the ‘gold standard’ for evaluation. Lambeth is increasing revenue collection and delivering improved outcomes by using RCTs to determine the effect of interventions, coupled with behavioural insights which demonstrate that small changes can make a big difference.

Summary: Randomised Controlled Trials (RCTs) are the ‘gold standard’ for evaluation. Unlike other methods, RCTs can help to accurately determine the attribution of an intervention through the use of a randomly assigned control group.

Resource scarcity makes it essential that how we work is as effective as possible and Lambeth has developed a programme of RCTs that improve decision-making and have directly contributed to improved performance and delivery of outcomes.

The council began with an RCT designed to test how council tax revenue could be increased by altering the bill sent to residents. The trial found that simplifying the bill led to a statistically significant increase in the number of people paying their council tax on time. Building on this initial success, a further seven trials are either underway or in development. These trials aim to improve the council’s performance across key policy areas and core challenges in order to strengthen an evidence-based approach to delivering corporate outcomes.

To embed the use of RCTs across the organisation we have instigated capacity-building training on the use of RCTs and behavioural insights, dissemination of trial findings and support to officers on trial design and delivery.

Synopsis: With millions of pounds having to be taken out of the system, ensuring that revenue is maximised is crucial. Increasing council tax collection by just one percentage point generates over £1m in additional revenue, whilst debt recovery adds significantly to administrative costs. Therefore increasing council tax collection rates can provide significant additional revenue, reduce debt-recovery costs and help residents avoid incurring additional costs (and potential financial hardship).

Lambeth’s first Randomised Controlled Trial (RCT) tested ways of increasing council tax payments by varying the standard bill sent to residents. The trial was conducted across 8,000 households in three wards. The simplified version of the bill drew attention to the key information and action required, and increased the proportion of people paying on time by nine percent compared with the control group. As a result of this finding the standard council tax bill has now been redesigned to reflect the simplification treatment – a clear example of local evidence-based decision-making. A further trial is now being run, testing the use of a social norm – stating that over 95% of Lambeth residents pay their council tax.

The effect of personalisation of text messages is being tested through a trial reminding residents to pay their council tax. The RCT is still running, but interim results suggest that the use of individuals’ names helps to increase response rates. Following the completion of the trial, the council intends to roll out text message personalisation to other service areas, such as reminders of benefits entitlement.

RCTs have also helped avoid making costly but ineffective changes, as well being used to make effective changes. One trial tested Dan Ariely’s theory that moving the placement of a signature to the top of a form would reduce the incidence of fraud and error. Our trial tested the effect of signature placement on Single Person Discount renewal claims. However, unlike Ariely, we found that the variation in signature placement made no difference to response rates. As a result, the approach was not adopted, avoiding the unnecessary expense of adopting an ineffective redesign.

Our use of RCTs is not confined to revenue collection: trials are being developed across the council to strengthen evidence-based decision-making, to reduce waste, to increase volunteering, to improve internal communications and to support council programmes.

Our RCTs have been developed through collaboration with Professor Peter John, a leading academic in the use of trials in public policy. Professor John (who is a technical advisor to the Behavioural Insights Team) has worked closely with Council staff to design, deliver and review trials. Our aim has been to build internal capacity and capability in the use of RCTs and to support their widespread adoption as a core methodology within the council. Whilst we still have a way to go to achieve our objective, the progress so far has been hugely encouraging.

What should LARIA members learn from this award entry? 

RCTs are not, despite common perceptions, prohibitively expensive or complicated to use and local authorities can adopt them as a routine methodology for evaluating interventions. Lambeth has demonstrated that RCTs can be successfully employed to determine the effectiveness of particular interventions, and this in turn can be used to guide and inform decision-making. The approach can be applied to a wide range of policy areas and services in order to ensure that assumptions are properly tested and decision-making is based on robust evidence of what works.

Public bodies are facing huge financial challenges and there is widespread acknowledgement of the need to work differently. Change and innovation is the ‘new normal’ in the public sector, and yet too often these new ways of working are not evaluated in ways that determine how much of a change can be attributed to the intervention. The use of a randomly assigned control group provides the reassurance that any observed change is the result of doing things differently – and not a result of other external factors.

Piloting new approaches is commonplace but doesn’t tell us if the approach will have the same effect if it is rolled out. Using RCTs significantly increases the quality of evidence and the confidence we can have in decision-making.

Photo credit: ‘The London Eye @ Night’ by Mostaque Chowdhury

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Click here to download LARIA News (edition 96) which summarises each winning, commended and shortlisted entry along with judges comments.

Best use of local area research – Sponsored by the Local Government Association (LGA)

To win this award the successful entrant will show how their research has led to a greater understanding of a local area or an issue that is locally important. This could be based on primary or secondary data analysis. Not only that, but they must also show that this has led to evidence-based decision-making within at least one public sector body. Judges will be looking for submissions that show a well argued methodology, clear reporting of the findings and impact. Ideally the winner will also show strong partnership working, citizen/user involvement/engagement, innovation, and the outcomes that have been achieved locally.

• WINNER: London Borough of Lambeth: Using Randomised Control Trials to Improve Public Service Outcomes
• COMMENDED: Manchester City Council: Welfare Reform Research
• SHORTLISTED: Birmingham City Council: Birmingham Active Parks
• SHORTLISTED: Oxfordshire County Council: Research and Intelligence Team PopExTrACT: Oxfordshire’s Population Forecasting Tool

Best use of social care or health research

To win this award the successful entrant will show how their research has led to a greater understanding of a social care or health issue. This could be based on primary or secondary data analysis. Not only that, but they must also show that this has led to evidence-based decision-making within the social care or health sectors. Our definition of social care and health sectors is in the broadest sense and includes public health. We would welcome entries that cover more than one sector. Judges will be looking for submissions that show a well argued methodology, clear reporting of the findings and impact. Ideally the winner will also show strong partnership working, citizen/user involvement/engagement, innovation, and the outcomes that have been achieved locally.

• WINNER: Public Health Intelligence, Kirklees Council: From Conception to Delivery and Beyond: Lessons Learned through Evaluation of the Auntie Pam’s Pregnancy Advisory Service
• COMMENDED: Lancashire County Council and Lancashire Constabulary: Lancashire Drugs Threat Assessment
• SHORTLISTED: Healthwatch Dudley: A Strong Voice for Local People in Decisions about Urgent Care Services in Dudley Borough

Best use of community safety or policing research

To win this award the successful entrant will show how their research has led to a greater understanding of a community safety or policing issue. This could be based on primary or secondary data analysis. Not only that, but they must also show that this has led to evidence-based decision-making within the community safety and policing sectors. Judges will be looking for submissions that show a well argued methodology, clear reporting of the findings and impact. Ideally the winner will also show strong partnership working, citizen/user involvement/engagement, innovation, and the outcomes that have been achieved locally.

• WINNER: Luton Borough Council and Bedfordshire Police: soLUTioNs Community Safety Partnership Gang Profile
• COMMENDED: Cambridgeshire Research Group, Cambridgeshire County Council: The Use of Continuous Strategic Assessments in Planning Partnership Interventions
• SHORTLISTED: Kent Fire and Rescue Service: Human Behaviour: The Kent Study
• SHORTLISTED: Lancashire County Council and Lancashire Constabulary: Optimal Forager: A Partnership Approach to Targeting Burglary Risk Areas and Vulnerability

Most engaging presentation of local area research

To win this award the successful entrant will show how they have successfully presented local area research to aid understanding of a local area, community or health issue. The audience for this presentation could include senior decision-makers, staff, the media and the public. The format of the presentation could include (but is not limited to) a written report, conference presentation, event/seminar, videos, infographics, an online portal/website or use of media. Judges will be looking for submissions that show a creative approach that understands the needs of the audience receiving the information. There should be evidence that research findings have been reported clearly and are fairly represented by the presentation of it. Ideally the winner will also show strong partnership working, citizen/user involvement/engagement, innovation and the outcomes that have been achieved locally.

• WINNER: Northumbria University (Department of Social Sciences and Languages), supported by Newcastle City Council: Imaging Homelessness in a City of Care (Newcastle upon Tyne)
• SHORTLISTED: Brent Council: Diversity in Brent: Knowing Your Communities
• SHORTLISTED: Cambridgeshire Research Group, Cambridgeshire County Council: Cambridgeshire Atlas: Victim and Offender Pyramids

New researcher of the year
This award is given to a researcher with under five years of experience in a research field who has made an impact. This could be a person of any age. The entry could be based on a particular project they have led, an innovation they have pioneered or a particularly strong skill set. Their career to date should show a researcher who is able to conduct research that provides insightful analysis, promotes citizen/user involvement/engagement, presents information well, and helps develop evidence-based decision-making in the public sector. We will accept entrants who have had a longer career in research than five years, but have moved into a new research field of which they have under five years of experience. The researcher cannot nominate themselves for this award.

• WINNER: Zonni Auburn, Cambridgeshire County Council

Volunteer of the Year

This award is in the gift of the LARIA Council and recognises the work of a volunteer who has progressed the work of LARIA but does not sit on the LARIA Council. The winner this year has contributed throughout the year in terms of local networking events in Yorkshire and the Humber, promoting greater links with partnership organisations and supporting the 2015 LARIA Conference and Local Area Research Fortnight.

• WINNER: Alison Monkhouse, Kirklees Council

This year the judges decided not to shortlist or award for the “best community engagement or consultation” category.

Photo credit: London fireworks by @citywestminster

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Maintaining and improving the quality of local area research

• Continuous professional development of local area researchers
• Health and social care issues
• Data management
• Online research and community engagement
• LARIA will have some exciting announcements throughout the fortnight as well as providing the opportunity to network and share ideas at the LARIA Conference

Improving the confidence of local area researchers

• Partnership working
• Innovation in reporting
• LARIA will announce the winners of the Research Impact Awards

Increasing the influence of local area research

• Driving change through evidence based decision making
• LARIA is launching a new Partnership Group to set a clearer agenda for local area research

What can you do now to help?

1 – The simplest commitment is to talk about and support the fortnight and the activities we are undertaking. This will help encourage other people to take part and learn from the content shared. We want to create a buzz and hope that you will find the fortnight a positive experience that you can advocate to others. There are events planned throughout the fortnight as well a wide variety of blog posts.

2 – You can follow us (@laria) and our hashtag (#LARIA2015) on Twitter and engage with the content shared. You can recommend that people in your network also follow us and the other organisations and individuals taking part. We would ask that you check Twitter each day for the latest updates and retweet and contribute where you feel appropriate. You can also join in discussions on the Knowledge Hub.

3 – Join our insight community. This is an exciting new research project that is being run by LARIA in partnership with ResearchBods. It will be carried out entirely online using the ResearchBods insight community platform. It is a great opportunity not only to let us know your views but also to see how this technology can be used for research purposes. The findings of the research will guide LARIA throughout the year and will be shared with key decision makers in the public sector through our new Partnership Group.

4 – What could you contribute? We will accept content to put on our website or will promote content on yours. What research could you publish during the fortnight? Could you write a couple of hundred words on why local area research is important? Could you tweet or contribute to our Knowledge Hub and Linkedin pages? Could you issue a press release on some of the work you do? Is there some announcement you could make during the fortnight? The focus on local area research should help increase the profile of the work you do and we are open to your ideas on what we should publicise. More ideas can be found here.

We hope you are able to support us and look forward to anything you can contribute. If you want to discuss any aspect of the Local Area Research Fortnight please contact me.

Neil Wholey
Chair, LARIA

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The AGM is a great opportunity to hear about how LARIA is run and to take part in the discussions. The agenda is below, but we would highlight in particular the opportunity to stand for election. The Chair and Vice Chair positions are at the end of their elected term. Both existing post holders are eligible to stand again. The Secretary and a Council member post are currently vacant. We have provided more details about the Secretary role if you are interested in applying. We are also willing to consider individuals who would like to be co-opted onto the LARIA Council. If you wish to stand for election please email admin@laria.gov.uk. Any member of the LARIA Council would be very happy to discuss the level of commitment required.

AGM Agenda

1. Apologies
2. Minutes of the previous AGM
3. Matters arising
4. Chair’s report (issued at AGM)
5. Treasurer’s report (issued at AGM)
6. Auditing (verbal)
7. Elections: Chair (end of elected term), Vice Chair (end of elected term), Secretary (vacancy), Council member (vacancy)
8. Activity group chairs updates (verbal)
9. Any other business

Photo credit: University of York

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