Neighbourhood Index

Introduction

Leeds City Council has worked with partner organisations to develop an enhanced area profiling system at the neighbourhood level.  The result of this work is the production of a "Neighbourhood Index" for the city, which provides us and our partners with a robust evidence base by which to plan service interventions and to begin to identify and guide resources into the areas of greatest need. It contributes to a more sophisticated understanding of the issues facing local communities and the people in those communities and provides a framework to benchmark progress in key neighbourhoods and communities.

It is driven by the need to use current resources more effectively and efficiently and recognises the need for:

  • Accurate baseline data about local neighbourhoods
  • Accurate information that can be used to measure the quality of life in local communities over a long period of time - this allows for the impact of regeneration activities and other interventions in a specific area to be evaluated
  • Informed targeting of resources
  • Greater demand by the voluntary, community and faith sectors (VCFS) for useful community level information to support their work in neighbourhoods
  • Easier access to information for community members, partner agencies, elected members and council officers

What is the Neighbourhood Index?

The Neighbourhood Index is a tool which brings together a wealth of information that paints a broad picture of an area and helps to describe local conditions.

It is a multiple domain and indicator based system which can be used to measure the general "health" and the relative success of neighbourhoods across the city. The aim has been to provide a framework for the exchange, analysis and sharing of information amongst partners / project deliverers / local communities that:

  • can consistently gather, collate, analyse and present information about neighbourhoods
  • can identify areas of need and analyse relevant data on the critical issues facing target neighbourhoods
  • provides an agreed mechanism for reporting progress in neighbourhoods and in particular in target areas, and that monitors success in meeting targets

The Index is constructed from 27 indicators that have been grouped into the following seven domains

  • Economic Activity
  • Low Income
  • Education
  • Health
  • Community Safety
  • Environment
  • Housing

Defining the neighbourhoods

Middle Super Output Areas (MSOAs) have been used as the basis for the Index. There are 108 MSOAs in Leeds with an average population of 7,000. For the purpose of constructing the Index MSOAs provided a "ready-made" set of boundaries for which a range of data was already easily available and they were recognised by all partner agencies. They also met Government guidance that a "neighbourhood" should contain between 5,000 - 10,000 people. 

How the Neighbourhood Index can be used

The Neighbourhood Index has been developed as a means of using small area data to increase the understanding of some of the key issues that impact on the city's communities and neighbourhoods.  Although it is just one tool in the "strategic intelligence tool-box" it is hoped that it will contribute to a more sophisticated understanding of the problems and issues facing local communities and the people in those communities, and provide a framework to benchmark progress in key neighbourhoods over time.

It is anticipated that the Index could be used to:

  • Provide a focus for the "Narrowing the Gap" agenda, seeking to narrow the gap between the richer and poorer parts of the city
  • Identify the critical issues facing neighbourhoods
  • Help measure the impact of interventions and to monitor the change over time in neighbourhoods
  • Help inform the commissioning of services and make the case for changes in service delivery in neighbourhoods
  • Support funding bids
  • Initiate other detailed studies and research programmes

Neighbourhood Profiles

Each neighbourhood profile contains seven different elements all designed to provide an accurate picture of local conditions and a comparison with the city averages. The following table provides a brief description of each of these components:

Domain Summary  Domain summary: Comparison of the domain scores with the city average and a measurement of the "gap" between the two.  The colouring ranges from light beige through to dark purple to indicate how statistically significantly the area score differs from the notional City score, shades of purple highlight areas that significantly under-perform (the darker the purple the most significant) while shades of beige show areas that are generally in line with or better than the city average.
Map A thumbnail map showing the location of the area.
Neighbourhood Description A narrative description of the area.
Radar Chart and Bar Chart Pictorial representation of the scores as both radar and bar charts. The bar chart just illustrates the gap for each domain - bars to the left of the centre line indicate that the area is underperforming compared to the city as a whole - bars to the right show it is doing better. On the radar diagram the scores for the MSOA are shown as the solid blue shape against the yellow line which represents the city scores. Where the blue is inside the yellow line it shows the area is underperforming.
Key Statistics Table showing the numbers and rates for all the indicators included in the Index compared to the city averages.
Pie Charts A pictogram showing the proportion of indicators falling into each band.
Equality and Diversity Equality / Diversity related information: ethnicity; faith; LLTI (as proxy for disability); age and gender; this block also includes supplementary health information on CHD prevalence and smoking prevalence and a more detailed breakdown of the Adult Social Care numbers.

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