Better information for regeneration

Topics: data and information, regeneration, DCLG

Yesterday, I attended a workshop on Local Regeneration Information Systems. This was part of Department for Communities and Local Government Neighbourhood Renewal Unit sponsored project which focused on finding local information systems, understanding their features and needs and promoting best practice about the systems themselves, but more importantly about how decision-makers can use this information to support regeneration and economic development in their areas. The workshop brought together council officers who manage and support this information.

I came down with a stonking, nasty cold this weekend and really shouldn't have been attending this workshop (I've probably wiped out half the regeneration information resources of England - just call me Typhoid Ingrid). But I really wanted to go, partly because I'm on the steering group and partly because using information across partners to achieve better complex outcomes is something that really fascinates me - and I guess I thought I'd feel better as the day went on. (I didn't). Although I didn't get as much out of it as I might have, there were lots of great tips and I learned a lot.

The project focuses on regeneration issues, but really the information resources that colleagues are developing are supporting a whole range of activities within the council and in the community with partners. The full findings should be published later this summer, but I'll be able to share some good practice tips by the end of this week.

In the meantime, I'd like to share a couple of things I picked up yesterday:

The Office of National Statistics relaunched its Neighbourhood statistics site last week, making it easier to navigate. There's a version for pros and a neighbourhood profile version which- though still focused on professional information users - is meant to be usable by the general public - with profiles generated from entering a postcode. I'm not sure it quite achieves the general usability standard (as opposed to the health profiles I highlighted earlier - which do), but officers could certainly use the info to support ward councillors. I did find out that my ward is chock full of foreigners - according to 2001 census data 30% of residents were born "elsewhere" - including 44 of my fellow Americans.

I also had a chat with Nick Harrison, Senior Analyst for the SELD project- Supporting Evidence for Local Delivery, with his work focused on the South West. Their website has a host of resources for neighbourhoods, including case studies focusing on regeneration and renewal and on use of data - like this one on mapping liveability in Bristol. I hope we'll be able to share more of their work through the PM Partner project.



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