1. Evidencing rural need www.rural-evidence.org.uk ACRE Regional Coordinators Network 27 th April 2010 Tom Smith, OCSI

2. To cover 1.Background - why? 2.The reports 3.The website 4.Next steps

3. Background – why?

4. The challenge “ Government policies need to become better at reflecting the scattered and hidden nature of rural disadvantage. Policies and funding mechanisms should be rurally proofed to make sure they are capable of targeting people in need, rather than places ” Report of the Rural Advocate (March 2008)

5. Project aims Strengthen the evidence base on rural deprivation for local partners across England Provide rural partners with the summary information to effectively represent rural issues in local and regional programme strategy, planning and prioritisation Provide local communities with quantitative evidence to support community and parish planning Develop a website interface to allow local partners to quickly find the information for their area

6. Building on previous work Norfolk Rural Community Council Suffolk County Council South-East Rural Community Councils Commission for Rural Communities South-West Acre Network Herefordshire and Worcestershire RCC

7. The reports

8. Reports developed for the project 1.Rural share of deprivation 2.Most deprived rural areas 3.Rural place profiles 4.Who’s there: Workplace and daytime profiles Provided for LAs and rural places across England More than 10,000 reports … Word and PDF format

9. Reports developed for the project

10. Some background What is ‘rural’? Countryside Agency/ ONS definition –Based on ‘Settlement size’ and ‘Sparsity ‘ –Urban; Rural (Town & fringe, Villages, Hamlets & Isolated) Not looked at whether ‘rural’ deprivation is different from ‘urban’ deprivation – we are using datasets that apply in both rural and urban areas Should not be seen as downplaying urban deprivation levels, but providing additional rural evidence

11. Reports developed for the project (1) 1.Rural share of deprivation –Strategic influencing tool – highlight the volume of rural deprivation locally –Developed for: LAs (district, unitary, county), regions and England, Parliamentary Constituencies 2.Most deprived rural areas 3.Rural place profiles 4.Who’s there: Workplace and daytime profiles

12. Rural areas are less likely to be deprived than urban areas But … levels of social exclusion in rural areas under-estimate level of exclusion for people (this is in the South West) People and places – deprivation levels At SOA level, few of the deprived areas are rural (4%)

13. Finer grain detail People and places – deprivation levels At more detailed OA level, more of the deprived areas are rural (7.5%)

14. Finer grain detail People and places – deprivation levels At individual level, 25% of all people of working-age receiving DWP benefits in the South-West live in rural areas

15. Rural areas are (usually) substantially more deprived based on the location of deprived people than based on the location of deprived areas Key message 1

16. Reports developed for the project (2) 1.Rural share of deprivation 2.Most deprived rural areas –Strategic influencing and operational tool – highlighting the level, location and characteristics of deprived rural areas –Based on government IMD measure, and the finer-grained estimates developed by OCSI (with Norfolk RCC) –Developed for: LAs (district, unitary, county), regions and England, Parliamentary Constituencies 3.Rural place profiles 4.Who’s there: Workplace and daytime profiles

17. Norfolk – hotspots at SOA level

18. Norfolk – hotspots at smaller OA level

19. Cumbria – SOA

20. Cumbria – OA

21. % of rural areas in Cumbria among the most deprived 30% in England

22. The most deprived LSOAs are (usually) overwhelmingly urban But … analysis at Output Area level uncovers many pockets of deprivation in rural areas Key message 2

23. Deprived rural areas look much like deprived urban areas on key indicators –High levels of unemployment –High levels of lone parents –Relatively high levels of children –Very high levels of social housing –High levels of limiting long-term illness –Very high levels of adults with no qualifications Key message 3

24. Reports developed for the project (3) 1.Rural share of deprivation 2.Most deprived rural areas 3.Rural place profiles –Support for community and parish planning – quantitative evidence for smaller rural communities –Developed for: “settlements” (definition from Office for National Statistics), parishes coming soon 4.Who’s there: Workplace and daytime profiles

25. Rural place profiles

26. Reports developed for the project (4) 1.Rural share of deprivation 2.Most deprived rural areas 3.Rural place profiles 4.Who’s there: Workplace and daytime profiles –Data report for targeting services to groups who are actually present in the day (rather than the usual emphasis on residential populations, many of whom are out-commuters) –Developed for: LAs (district, unitary, county)

27. Who’s there: Workplace and daytime

28. Recap - reports developed for the project 1.Rural share of deprivation 2.Most deprived rural areas 3.Rural place profiles 4.Who’s there: Workplace and daytime profiles Provided for LAs and rural places across England More than 10,000 reports … Word and PDF format

29. The website

30. What does the website need to do? Interface to allow local partners to quickly find the information for their area Ability to search for reports by area name, location, RCC Search and locate reports using Google maps Easy-to-use interface, using familiar functionality Robust for multiple users – large downloads, backed- up data, 24/7 support

41. Recap – the website Interface to allow local partners to quickly find the information for their area Ability to search for reports by area name, location, RCC Search and locate reports using Google maps Easy-to-use interface, using familiar functionality Robust for multiple users – large downloads, backed- up data, 24/7 support

42. Next steps

43. Next steps – some thoughts Project completion –Parish profiles –Comments and amends to the reports How do we use the data to strengthen rural working? –Case studies –Supporting resources, including presentations Phase 2 –Additional reports, eg Economic trends in rural areas –Summary analysis Use the reports and analysis!

44. Thank you www.rural-evidence.org.uk Tom Smith Oxford Consultants for Social Inclusion (OCSI) e: Tom.Smith@ocsi.co.uk t: 01273 201 345 w: www.ocsi.co.uk