Building a Social Evidence Base for London GLA Intelligence Unit presentation to London Funders August 2018

Introduction - why a social evidence base? GLA since formation GLA Act: requirement to produce demographic projections to support London Plan Analysis to support Boroughs e.g. poverty Economic reporting / opinion research Development of London Datastore  But less coordination of wider social research No strategic overview Commissioned by individual policy areas / silos Lacking in many areas, difficult for users to find Current Mayoralty bought different focus and priorities Found existing evidence lacking. Especially for London and key groups within the city Needed conceptual development as well as collect data

Building the Social Evidence Base The three aims of the social evidence base: Filling gaps in the evidence base Using evidence to monitor and inform policy Dissemination of social evidence

Building the Social Evidence Base Filling gaps in the evidence base Using evidence to monitor and inform policy Dissemination of social evidence

1. Filling gaps in the evidence base The issue: data on a range of social policy issues affecting Londoners is patchy Issues with national surveys and administrative data Emerging priorities not being captured or evaluated Evaluation findings are not being synthesised This results in gaps around Mayoral priorities, including: Social integration Food insecurity Economic fairness Welfare reform Mental health

1. Example – social integration Qualitative: understanding identity, attitudes, relationships, networks, participation Quantitative: quantifying potential measures of integration to produce a basket of London-wide indicators Understand and model relationships: social integration and social mobility or regeneration Identifying areas for policy intervention: who is most at risk, has greatest need Evaluating what works: volunteering and integration, citizenship ceremonies

1. Filling gaps in the evidence base We aim to help fill these gaps by: Synthesising the existing evidence Conducting and commissioning research projects Commissioning a Survey of Londoners Making better use of administrative data Developing innovative data sources on society in London

1. Synthesising existing evidence Role for the social evidence base to: Bring together relevant research on social policy issues in London Highlight examples of successful interventions – what works Will focus on key areas such as social integration Your input: we would love to hear from you if publishing research or evaluating impact

1. Example – the equality, diversity and inclusion evidence base for London

1. Research projects Use our own research time or commission others to: Understand an issue in detail Generate new findings on priority issues Your input: align our research plans with other research funders Research projects underway include: Educational and residential segregation in London Social class and social mobility The impact of insecure private rented accommodation on children The drivers of neighbourhood voter registration rates

1. Example – cumulative impact assessment of welfare reform in London

1. The Survey of Londoners Why we need a survey: Monitor progress against Mayoral social policy priorities Baseline evaluations of social integration interventions Deepen our understanding of key issues such as social integration, food insecurity and economic fairness

1. The Survey of Londoners Method:

1. The Survey of Londoners What this method gives us: A robust and representative London-wide sample of around 5,000 adults (estimated) Sub-groups: Ethnicity: White British, Asian, Black Religion: Christian and Muslim Disability English not a main language Poor and food insecure households Groups of London boroughs

1. The Survey of Londoners Topics covered in the survey: Relationships and social networks Civic and cultural participation Attitudes towards the economy and diversity Material living standards Food insecurity In-depth demographic questions Questionnaire: Developed with NatCen and input from GLA policy teams Cognitive testing of new/sensitive questions Advice from expert Social Integration measurement group

1. The Survey of Londoners How the GLA will be using the survey: As a baseline for evaluating policy interventions Mayoral strategy monitoring Analysis of survey results matched to other datasets Follow-up research with key groups

1. The Survey of Londoners Your input: Making use of the data Adopting and adapting questions Borough boosts available: Boosts the sample in a particular borough by 400 Will provide headline data for the majority of questions at borough level Finalising by Monday 3rd September

1. Administrative data sources Producers of administrative data: GLA group: MOPAC, TfL and LFB Central government Boroughs Funders and civil society organisation Barriers: access, systems and quality CityDatastore: a platform for sharing data securely Your input: hear about the data you hold and opportunities for collaboration/data sharing

1. Example: Citizens Advice data for London

1. Innovative data sources The innovative methods programme: Exploring the creation of more sustainable datasets to measure social integration Opportunities presented by digital data sources: Social media usage / social media content Online review sites Data on location of places for social integration Data on participation in different activities supporting social integration e.g. culture and sport, civic action and volunteering Challenges: quality, access and ethical concerns We are currently scoping potential sources of web data

1. Example: CDRC small area ethnicity estimates

1. Summary Our work hopes to fill gaps in the social evidence base through a range of methods and sources Your input: Hearing about your research and evaluation priorities Feedback on the Survey of Londoners Your experience and challenges around administrative and innovative sources of data

Building the Social Evidence Base Filling gaps in the evidence base Using evidence to monitor and inform policy Dissemination of social evidence

2. Using evidence to monitor and inform policy Our approach: Evaluation of GLA social policy interventions Monitoring Mayoral strategies Informing policy and intervention design using the social evidence base

2. Evaluating impact Evaluation helps us to: Monitor interventions and assess their impact Provide new data/evidence to better understand social policy issues Inform future interventions by the GLA and others We support evaluation at the GLA through: Commissioning Methods Dissemination Training Delivery

2. Example: Culture Seeds £1m fund for grassroots and community-led arts, culture and heritage (ACH) projects Individual grants of between £1,000-£5,000 Prioritises groups who are less likely to participate in cultural activity: low-income Londoners and communities under-represented in arts attendance Outcomes the fund hopes to achieve: Remove barriers to participation in ACH Bring communities together through ACH Showcase and support creative ideas from groups who don’t usually engage in ACH Gives local communities chances to lead and join in ACH Increase opportunities for volunteering in ACH

2. Example: Culture Seeds The evaluation: A participant/audience survey will collect data on: Demographics Baseline participation pre-attendance Travel method Whether made any social connections A provider survey will collect data on: Whether organised events/obtained funding before Experience of applying for Culture Seeds funding Future plans Location of venues

2. Example: Culture Seeds How evaluation can contribute to the social evidence base: Monitoring: the characteristics of participants and whether they made social connections Build the evidence base: understand what features of cultural events (such as type of provision and location) attract priority audiences and foster social connections Inform social policy-making: these insights can inform future programmes

2. Monitoring Mayoral strategies Measuring London-wide progress against Mayoral objectives: Baskets of measures chosen in collaboration with policy colleagues and with expert input Updated annually where possible Used to track progress a population level along the key dimensions of a given policy area Also can be used as an approximate baseline against which impact can be measured Acknowledge that most are beyond Mayoral control, involving a range of other stakeholders to achieve sustained change

2. Example: Economic Fairness Measures

2. Example: Social Integration Measures

2. Using evidence to inform policy How we are currently supporting the design of social policy interventions at the GLA: Support to frame and define issues Analysis to inform intervention targeting Building tools to inform decision-making As the evidence base grows and generates more insights, it will: Be used to establish what interventions work in priority areas Underpin the next round of Mayoral social policy strategies

2. Example: the Workforce Integration Network

2. Example: the programme selection tool

2. Summary Our aim is for key outcome measures to be evaluated, monitored and fed back into policy-making on a consistent basis Your input: Your work on evaluating impact How we can incorporate your insights into our policy work at the GLA

Building the Social Evidence Base Filling gaps in the evidence base Using evidence to inform policy Dissemination of social evidence

3. Dissemination of social evidence Our aims: The Social Evidence Base aims to be a resource for other London-based organisations, particularly boroughs and the voluntary sector Collating and publishing evidence in an accessible way will help other organisations to design and deliver interventions Our approach: Publication strategy on the London Datastore Engagement with key users Building capacity with smaller civil society organisations

3. The London Datastore

3. The London Datastore Coming soon: Brings together the evidence into a single portal on the datastore Links to how the evidence base is being used

3. The London Datastore Coming soon: Brings together the evidence into a single portal on the datastore Links to how the evidence base is being used In the future we will add: Qualitative data Evaluation findings Evidence reviews

3. The London Datastore Coming soon: Brings together the evidence into a single portal on the datastore Links to how the evidence base is being used In the future we will add: Qualitative data Evaluation results Evidence reviews Key users: GLA policy teams London’s voluntary sector London government

3. Disseminating the value of social evidence Work with key users to understand their social evidence needs: Topics Sub-regional data Particular groups in the population Presentation of evidence Work with civil society to build capacity and demonstrate the value of their data: Refugee data project Data expeditions Publish grants information to 360 giving

We would value your input into: 3. Summary Our aim is for the social evidence base to be a widely-used resource on social policy issues in London We would value your input into: How we can best use the Datastore platform to make social evidence widely accessible Opportunities for engagement with key user groups

Our details Spencer.Thompson@London.gov.uk Barry.Fong@London.gov.uk Vivienne.Avery@London.gov.uk