Review of evaluations of area-based initiatives JON CARLING Head of NERIP NERIP CONFERENCE 6 SEPTEMBER 2006

The review of ABI evaluations aimed to answer two questions: 1. Collectively, what can they tell us? 2. What happens to evaluation reports? It was also thought that this information could inform the region’s response to the Comprehensive Spending Review

The project operated under a multi- agency steering group… I-Dox ‘won’ the tendering exercise Steering Group: NERIP One NorthEast Government Office IGNITE Project took place January-March 2006

We asked I-Dox to review 50 evaluation reports and draw cross-cutting conclusions 29 SRB 4 New Deal for Communities 4 City Challenge 4 Neighbourhood Management Pathfinder 3 Market Towns Initiative 1 Neighbourhood Renewal Fund 2 Urban Development Corporations 1 Community Cohesion 1 Employment Zones 1 Housing Market Renewal Pathfinder

There was a mix of full-term and mid-term evaluations… Full, end of term : 32 County Durham : 20% Full, annual : 5Northumberland : 13% Partial : 5Tees Valley : 31% Full, mid-term : 4Tyne/Wear : 36% Internal : 1 National : 3 And a spread of issues dealt with: Crime, education, health, housing / environment, local economy, neighbourhood renewal, worklessness Also: Governance and funding issues

Findings : governance - Effective partnerships include rep’s from public, private, and voluntary sectors, and the community - Communities should be represented on partnerships but shouldn’t own them - Boards which think strategically are more effective - Dynamic individuals can make a difference - High turnover of staff or board members is problematic - Public agency commitment can lead to eventual mainstreaming

Findings : funding - Funders have different motives and expectations - Schemes need to be flexible in their search for funding - Clear priorities must be set, with timescales - Don’t spread resources too thinly - Larger physical regeneration schemes can attract strong private sector leverage - Funding generally attracts funding

Findings : crime -Effective interventions in crime necessitate partnership working, with the Police the key player - There can be a tension between what the community want and what seems to work - Fear of crime is harder to tackle than crime - Greater success achieved through schemes addressing anti-social behaviour, drug/alcohol misuse, reducing racial harassment. - Less success achieved through schemes addressing fear of crime

Findings : education - addressing school-age issues was more successful than lifelong learning - Projects closely linked with mainstream provision in schools worked well - Schemes aimed at boosting school attendance worked well

Findings : health - Health is the least common theme in ABIs - Tangible health outcomes are hardest to achieve and take most time - Identify and fill gaps in health provision, working with primary and secondary health providers

Findings : housing / environment - Tend to be the largest element of an ABI - Physical projects have been relatively easy to implement but must be linked to ‘softer’ projects to achieve lasting social and economic outcomes - There can be a need to manage tension between residents wanting to improve their area, and the desirability of creating a balanced, mixed community

Findings : local economies - the hardest theme in which to achieve success - deprived areas characterised by small, low-profit firms with few employees and little culture of entrepreneurialism - Advice centres, support funds and more managed workspace have tended not to lead to significant local economic improvements

Findings : neighbourhood renewal - Community involvement is essential – building capacity takes time and resources - Neighbourhood management initiatives have displayed some success, engaging service providers and local communities - Building a community centre is a hard output which can have an immediate benefit

Findings: worklessness - Intermediate Labour Markets can be very effective - Job brokerage initiatives can be successful, especially with people with few qualifications - Tailored outreach measures may be needed for those who have been out of the Labour Market for a long time - Support is often needed even after people have entered work

Conclusions - 1 I-Dox offered the following advice: Themes relating to housing, urban environment and neighbourhood renewal tend to show immediate results and more easily demonstrable value for money; physical measures to reduce crime can also achieve useful benefits in the short-term School-based Education measures can often be successful; measures aimed at increasing the level of qualifications in the adult workforce have tended to be less successful

Conclusions 2 I-Dox offered the following advice: Worklessness initiative have tended to benefit those on the fringe of the labour market more than the longer-term unemployed More intractable issues such as Health and economic development tend to take longer to deal with; standard ABI success measures tend not to pick up long-term benefits

On evaluation reports: This is a challenging exercise as the quality and typology of evaluation reports varies greatly

Good practice points: 1. Value in quick wins – visible benefits at an early stage 2. Effective project management is essential to deliver change 3. Good publicity and dissemination is essential 4. Links with mainstream providers are key from the outset, to encourage long-term ‘mainstreaming’ 5. SLAs can be valuable 6. Set up a succession strategy

Find out more at: Full report: Precis of each evaluation report:

Review of evaluations of area-based initiatives JON CARLING Head of NERIP NERIP CONFERENCE 6 SEPTEMBER 2006