Our next event in March 2010 will be on OAC. More people are getting interested in the Output Area Classification and we are working hard on getting more case studies to show the relevance and use of OAC. If you are interested in being a case study, or you have used OAC in your work, please contact us.

We also have several training courses planned, please email for more details or use the booking form below. Please do not forget to tell us which course you are interested in. Prices vary from £ 150 to £ 500.

Upcoming training courses and events

In addition to our regular training sessions for our users, we organise bespoke training sessions. These are usually held at our offices. Some of these sessions are open to non-subscribers too.

Our new course "How to use Local Knowledge to prepare your Local Economic Assessment" is receiving excellent feedback. We have not yet set the date yet for our next training but please let us know if you'd like to be invited, either by emailing us or filling in the online booking form.

Next Local Futures Network Seminar
Wednesday 24 March 2010: Understanding your Citizens, Customers and Communities

Chandos House, 2 Queen Anne Street, London, W1G 9LQ  Agenda

Building on our LGA/IDeA/Local Futures conference last year, the event will illustrate best practice in using the Output Area Classification (OAC) as a research tool and customer insight resource. Case studies will demonstrate how OAC has been used to improve service delivery and save money for organisations around the country. We will also be exploring emerging opportunities for OAC and demonstrating its potential to provide a unique insight into the make-up of communities across Britain. Attendance is free for subscribers (one person per organisation). Price for all others is £150.00 (excl VAT). If you would like to book your place, please use the online booking form link below or download a booking form. We hope to see you on 24th.

Thursday 22 April 2010: training session on OAC. The morning session is an introduction in how to use OAC in Local Knowledge. In the afternoon there will be an advanced session on Analysing Survey and Customer Data using the Output Area Classification System. These sessions can be booked either separately or together.

Online booking form (can be used to book training and events)

paper booking form OAC training - email, fax or post back

Click here for the terms and conditions.

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Health Barometer                                               Full report as pdf:

Tackling health inequalities has become a frontline issue across both national and local government in recent years. Yet while the Department of Health (2008) stresses that they are unacceptable, they also acknowledge that they are ‘stubborn and persistent’ and thus not easily managed.

Despite huge efforts to address socio-economic deprivation and improve the standard of healthcare, considerable health inequalities persist across the country. While the average life expectancy for the country continues to grow year-on-year, so does the gap between those living longest and those with the shortest life expectancy.

Local Futures’ latest research explores the geographic pattern of health in England and Wales, using newly released average life expectancy data from the office of national statistics as a proxy measure. The data shows that average life expectancy varies considerably across the country. Indeed, the analysis reveals an entrenched north-south divide, with individuals in districts in the south of England outliving their counterparts by up to nine years. The report shows that the lowest life expectancies are found around Merseyside, Greater Manchester and Tyneside. While at the other end of the scale, districts with the longest life expectancy are generally found on the south coast, in affluent parts of the south-east and parts of East Anglia.

Source: Local Knowledge; Life expectancy at birth

Accessing this data

 

Please email Michael Dee to receive the data annex for this barometer or for further information on this topic.

 

All of the data in our monthly barometers are also included in our Local Knowledge online system, which allows you to analyse places in Britain from regions down to neighbourhoods. It provides an easy-to-use and shared evidence base, for a range of research and policy applications.

 

Health Place Profiles

Place Profiles are electronically created reports that provide a high-level analysis of areas from sub-regional through to neighbourhood level, on a range of economic, social and environmental themes.  These themes include a health profile, which outlines the performance of your area on life expectancy and health behaviours. Please email placeprofiles@localfutures.com to request further information on this report or go to Place Profiles to see the full range of topics we produce.

 

Maptube

 

The maps from this barometer are also available on maptube here.

 

July/Aug 2009 newsletter

Total Places Event 

Thursday 24th September

The Government announced the 'Total Place' Initiative as part of the Operational Efficieny Programme.  Backed by £5 million, it will map flows of public spending in local areas and make links between services, to identify where public money can be spent more effectively. The initiative looks at how a joined-up 'whole area' approach to public services in a local area can lead to better services at a lower cost. Beginning with work in 13 pilot areas, the focus for the overall project is to identify opportunities for greater innovative collaborative working, sevice improvement and efficiency savings.   

All of the presentations from the day are now available below, alongside a brief summary of the event's content. For further information please contact events@localfutures.com.

 Summary of speaker presentations

Presentations:

 The 'Total Place' initiative - a national perspective - Lesley Courcouf, Head of Strategy, Communities and Local Government

 Delivering 'Total Place' - challenges for local government - Joe Simpson, Director of Politics and Parnerships, Leadership Centre

 Understanding your 'Total Place' - John Fisher, Director, Local Futures

 Case Study One: Birmingham - Jason Lowther, Director of Policy and Delivery, Birmingham City Council

 Case Study Two: Lewisham - Kevin Sheehan, Head of Strategy, London Borough of Lewisham

In collaboration with the LGA, IDeA and Customer Insight Forum, we organised a conference on 10^th July on ‘Understanding your citizens, customers and communities using OAC’. Attended by over 70 local authority representatives OAC was promoted as a national language for understanding communities, with discussion focusing on the need for practical case studies and the support required to exploit this powerful resource. For further information on access to OAC and available support please contact oac@localfutures.com.

Understanding your citizens, customers and communities using OAC 10 July 2009

The event aimed to raise the profile of the Output Area Classification (OAC) and demonstrate its potential applications within local government. Peter Sloman, in his role as Acting Chair of the Local Government Customer Insight Forum, introduced the workshop. He outlined the work of the Forum and placed the event in the national context of delivering better services within the squeeze of public sector finances. Making the most of what is a freely available resource in order to improve efficiency was a recurring theme of the workshop, with Tim Allen, Programme Director at LGAR raising this in his presentation. The creator of OAC, Dr Dan Vickers of Sheffield University, discussed the analysis behind the classification and how OAC compared favourably to the other commercial systems.

Prof. Martin Callingham demonstrated the power of OAC and geodemographics for improving the understanding of customers and for providing a vehicle for strategic partners to work together better. John Fisher, Director of the Local Futures Group, outlined how OAC could be visualised within Local Knowledge and how understanding communities using OAC could be used for place-shaping, customer insight and improving efficiency. John also introduced two case studies using OAC for Wakefield and King’s Lynn and West Norfolk and representatives from both Councils outlined how they had started to use the results for informing staff and stimulating discussion on improving service delivery.

Keith Dugmore, Director of Demographic Decisions spoke about the wealth of OAC-coded data becoming available from national surveys, with examples of household expenditure and income from the Expenditure and Food Survey. Michael Wilmott of the Trajectory Partnership, outlined the use of OAC in Social Research and how it had been used to add local colour to a recent project using data matched to the British Household Panel Survey. In the concluding session, there was a discussion on how best to promote OAC and its benefits, where it was felt that OAC should be promoted more and more case studies were required to show how OAC could benefit local authorities. The workshop closed with a series of informal discussions with participants and the expert speakers to provide more detail on the work that is being done using OAC.

As a result of the event we are discussing with LGA and others how best to raise the profile of OAC and how to support local authorities in utilising this resource. We will also be developing more case studies and interested local authorities are encouraged to contact us at oac@localfutures.com.

    Introduction to the OAC Classification system, Dr Dan Vickers, University of Sheffield

    Using OAC for customer segmentation, Prof Martin Callingham, University of London

    Analysing your communities and citizens using OAC, John Fisher, Director, Local Futures Group

    Local Authority case studies

    Using OAC and national surveys to generate new data, Keith Dugmore, Director, Demographic Decisions

    The future of OAC in social research, Michael Willmott, Partner, Trajectory Partnership

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