Agenda item

To receive an update about the purpose of the Social Progress Index in Leeds and the way in which it can be used to measure the impact of delivering Inclusive Growth in the city.  

The report of the Director of City Development was to inform the Board about the purpose of the Social Progress Index for Leeds and how it would be used to measure the impact of delivering Inclusive Growth in the city.

Present at the meeting for this item were:

·  Cllr Pryor – Executive Member for Economy, Culture and Education

·  Eve Roodhouse – Chief Officer, Culture and Economy

·  Graham Ponton – Senior Economic Development Officer

The Board were shown a presentation which highlighted the following points:

·  How and why this model had been selected as a tool to inform policy making to deliver economic growth in Leeds.

·  The Social Progress Index (SPI) design principles allows an exclusive analysis of social progress using only social and environmental indicators, measuring outputs, not inputs, it is holistic and relevant to all communities and is a practical tool to implement policies and programs to drive faster progress.

·  Barking and Dagenham Council have been using this model for three years to change policy

·  The SPI has 3 elements which are based around human needs, foundation of wellbeing and opportunity. Indicators must link to social and environment factors, be output based and actionable and be available at ward level over a period of three years. Initially there had been 310 indicators but this has been whittled down to 48 usable indicators. It was noted that these indicators can be changed or supplemented over time.

·  Maps will be produced to show the progress of the indicators and a dashboard will be available to the demographics across the city.

·  There are challenges in how data is collected and used in specific services and there is a need to look at how data can be used more widely across the council ensuring people know how we will use the data.

·  The next steps are to propose that a small group of members who work with Cllr Pryor on Inclusive Growth and a number of cross-party members test this product over the next 6-8 weeks. This proposal would also test the suitability of the ward level data.

·  Analysis on the information will continue and the team plan to look at how they can pull out a relevant exception report type changes for further work.

·  Determine how best to maintain and make use of the SPI model for it to be represented alongside updated demographic data and some relevant economic data.

·  The final product to be included on the new Inclusive Growth website later in the year.

Member’s discussions included:

·  Looking at a role in which the Community Committees could be involved

·  To look at people’s perception as well as hard data

·  The flexibility of the indicators so that they remain fit for purpose and provide a full picture

·  Members were of the view that the information would be useful for ward members and Community Committees

·  The need for the gathering of data to be consistent, robust and of good quality

·  Members were of the view that this type of information would be useful at postcode level as well as ward level. It was noted that ward level data needed to be tested first but for future development the team could look at postcode level data.

·  Members also suggested that information on funding for wards alongside the data would be useful to them when looking at spending within wards.

It was recognised that the information gathered would produce some quick wins whereas there would be areas that would take much longer to measure success.

It was intended that the dashboard would be made public so that external partners could use the information.

RESOLVED – To note the narrative on the potential uses of the Leeds SPI model to support key decisions and projects.