Worklessness Indicators and Targets – Measuring Progress at the Local Level Using Statistics To Measure Worklessness: An Event For Partnerships

Structure  Introduction to SELD and the support provided by SELD-NE  Overview of the Worklessness Guidance Note

Introduction to SELD & Support provided by SELD-NE

Introduction - SELD  What is SELD?  Pilot Project  Funding – ODPM / NRU  Identified Need  Assessment of need – York Consulting report  Evidence being under-utilised in neighbourhood renewal  Overall Aim  Improve delivery of neighbourhood renewal  Enhance the quality and use of evidence

SELD - Nationally  Piloted in 4 regions  North East - ERS  Capacity - 21 staff in 3 offices nationwide  Experience - Large range of public sector clients  Specialisms – Regeneration; Economic Development; Community Development Research; Related Consultancy Services  North West - CLES  South West - Creating Excellence & South West Regional Observatory  West Midlands- Regen WM & Mott MacDonald

SELD – Activities  Responsive advice  Bespoke advice and analytical assignments  Disseminating NR evidence  Contributing to NR evidence networks in the regions  Linking the local perspective to NRU

SELD – Who can Benefit?  Primarily open to those partnerships funded through NRU funding streams (i.e. NRF LSPs, NDCs, NMPs)  Wider benefits for those with interest in use of evidence in local delivery  Accept smallest query to 5 day task  Guaranteed response in 2 days  Work towards resolving query in 5 days  Free to the service user

Overview of the Worklessness Guidance Note

Worklessness Guidance Note (i)  To brief neighbourhood renewal practitioners about key data they could use to measure progress against the neighbourhood renewal worklessness outcomes.  Helps identify additional/complementary data sources likely to be useful in measuring progress at the local level.  Recognises that priorities in each area will be different and it will be for LSPs and others to decide their own priorities and focus their data collection accordingly.  Sub-district level worklessness data can be difficult to obtain and requires careful interpretation. However, sub- district level data is available and can be useful.

Worklessness Guidance Note (ii) The guidance note…  …seeks to prevent practitioners from looking for data at the local level that does not necessarily exist.  …advises stakeholders on the reliability of certain data sources so that they can use them appropriately or seek further guidance, as necessary.  …is not intended to be prescriptive  …is focused on what is currently available and suggests how it may be used, without resorting to listing every possible dataset for every conceivable indicator.  …aspires to support good practice in worklessness data collection within a neighbourhood renewal context.

Worklessness Guidance Note (iii)  The guidance note is a draft at the current time.  It will be enhanced and improved and should be considered as work in progress.  It is being prepared in consultation with a variety of organisations, regionally and nationally.  It is built upon an exhaustive trawl through relevant websites and published literature.  Comments and suggestions are welcome. Contact details for SELD (and others) appear within the note.

Worklessness Floor Target  The Neighbourhood Renewal Worklessness Floor Target relates to a single Floor Target, comprising three elements, and is the responsibility of the Department of Work and Pensions (DWP). It came into effect in April 2005, following SR04. Employment (DWP PSA4)  This involves a requirement to:  demonstrate progress on increasing the employment rate;  increase the employment rates of disadvantaged groups (lone parents, BME groups, people aged 50 and over, those with the lowest qualifications and those living in the local authority wards with the poorest initial labour market position); and  significantly reduce the difference between the employment rates of the disadvantaged groups and the overall rate.

Key Performance Indicators Overall Employment Rate - describes the percentage of people who are of working age (i.e. those aged 16 to 64 for men or 16 to 59 for women) actually in employment. Employment Rates of Disadvantaged Groups - describes the percentage of people who are of working age within each group (People Aged 50+, Lone Parents, BME Adult Population and People With No Qualifications) actually in employment.  However, small survey samples mean that data for a high proportion of local authority districts is not available in respect of many disadvantaged groups.  Also, data from the Annual Local Area Labour Force Survey (ALALFS) reported at local authority level are not directly comparable to PSA target data at the national level (because the former have a denominator of all people of working age in employment, while the latter have a denominator of all people of working age).

Key Performance Indicators  Practitioners should seek sub-district data in order to assess outcomes within Neighbourhood Renewal Areas. For example, ward level unemployment rates can be  Extracted from NOMIS  Derived by dividing the numbers of unemployed people within a ward by the economically active population within that ward taken from the 2001 Population Census (or more recent population estimates, where available).  Performance can then be monitored by:  Comparing changes in data over time (most helpful in respect of SOAs which, unlike wards, are not subject to re-definition).  Comparisons can also be made between the most disadvantaged neighbourhoods and other areas to determine the extent to which gaps in employment rates are closing.

Online worklessness information sources…  Office for National Statistics – offers spreadsheets for a range of indicators at district levelhttp://  Floor Targets Interactive - offers spreadsheets for a range of indicators at district and NR area levelhttp://  Neighbourhood Statistics - provides profiles of Districts and neighbourhoods, with data available at Lower Layer Super Output Areas (LSOAs) and above, albeit on a limited basis in respect of smaller geographies.  Department for Work and Pensions which now offers the facility to configure your own geographical area of interest.  NOMIS – provides a variety of labour market data (supply and demand) at local authority and ward levelshttp://  As from January 2006, Job Centre + has been able to offer more local data, subject to data protection requirements.

Worklessness – Employment Floor Target Core Indicators Employment Rate – Overall  Data - Employment rate of adults of working age  Source (a) - Department for Work and Pensions/Annual Local Area Labour Force Survey  Web address  Update frequency – Annually, most recent, 2004/05  Lowest Level - LA  Data - Employment rate of adults of working age  Source (b) - Population Census  Web address -  Update frequency – Every 10 years, most recent 2001  Lowest level - SOA

Worklessness – Employment Floor Target Core Indicators Employment Rate – Disadvantaged Groups  Data - Employment rate of…  Over 50 year olds (to age 59/64)  Lone parents  Individuals who identify with ‘non-white’ ethnicity (aged 16+)  Those with no qualifications  Source - Department for Work and Pensions/Annual Local Area Labour Force Survey  Web address  Update frequency – Annually, most recent, 2004/05  Lowest Level - LA

Worklessness – Employment Floor Target Non Core Indicators Employment Score  Data - Involuntary exclusion of the working age population from work  Source - IMD 2004  Web address -  Update frequency – Every 4 years (not confirmed), most recent 2004  Lowest Level – SOA Disengaged Young People (NEET Group)  Data - % of young people (16-18) not in education, employment or training  Source – Connexions  Web address %20NEET.xls 18%20NEET.xls  Update frequency – Every 2 years, most recent 2004  Lowest Level – LA

Worklessness – Employment Floor Target Non Core Indicators Rate of Self Employment  Data - Self-employment rates  Source (a) – Department for Work and Pensions  Web address –  Update frequency – Annually. Most recent, 2003/04  Lowest Level – LA  Data - Self-employment rates  Source (b) –Population Census  Web address –  Update frequency – Every 10 years, most recent 2001  Lowest Level – SOA Employment Rate –Young People  Data - Employment rate of young people aged and  Source – NOMIS  Web address –  Update frequency – Annually. Most recent, 2004/05  Lowest Level – LA

Worklessness – Employment Floor Target Non Core Indicators Unemployment Rate  Data - Jobseekers Allowance Claimants  Source (a) – NOMIS  Web address –  Update frequency – Monthly. Most recent, December 2005  Lowest Level – Ward  Data - Jobseekers Allowance Claimants  Source (b) – DWP Information Directorate  Web address – nd_Wales.xls nd_Wales.xls  Update frequency – Annually. Most recent, August 2004  Lowest Level – SOA  Long Term Unemployment Rate  Data - Jobseekers Allowance Claimants (> 6 months)  Source – NOMIS  Web address –  Update frequency – Monthly. Most recent, December 2005  Lowest Level – Ward

Worklessness – Employment Floor Target Non Core Indicators Proportion of Adult Population Unable To Work  Data - Incapacity Benefit Claimants and Severe Disablement Allowance  Source – Department for Work and Pensions  Web address – 4_England_and_Wales.xls 4_England_and_Wales.xls  Update frequency – Annually. Most recent, August 2004  Lowest Level – SOA Vacancy Rates  Data - Number of vacancies relative to number of jobless  Source – NOMIS  Web address –  Update frequency – Quarterly. Most recent, December 2005  Lowest Level – SOA

Worklessness indicators – Who can help?  Should neighbourhood renewal practitioners require further assistance, they can contact: SELD-NE c/o ERS Generator Studios Trafalgar Street Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 2LA T: F: Neighbourhood Renewal Advisers c/o GO-NE Citygate Gallowgate Newcastle upon Tyne NE1 4WH T: F: NERIP Stella House Goldcrest Way Newburn Riverside Newcastle upon Tyne NE15 8NY T:

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