Evidence Sources

Neighbourhood Statistics (NeSS) is for anyone who wants local information. You may be involved in neighbourhood regeneration and looking for statistics on topics such as employment or crime, or you may want to know more about where you live or work. Simply enter the postcode of the area you are interested in and you can review and compare data across a range of topics.

The ID2004 are the government's standard measure of deprivation in England. They provide a snapshot of deprivation in the year 2001/02 and separate indices are provided for each of the seven domains of deprivation, including: Income, Employment, Health and Disability, Education Skills and Training, Barriers to Housing and Services, Crime and the Living Environment. The Indices enable you to compare your local area (of around 1,500 population) with another 32,481 areas of this size across England. The next index is expected to be published in 2008. Summaries for the region, including maps, can be found on the South West Observatory (SWO) website. Alternatively, enter your area's postcode into the Neighbourhood Statistics (NeSS) website.

The Census is the most comprehensive survey carried out in the UK. It provides masses of information down to a very small geography and is excellent for providing a baseline to work from. One of the main drawbacks with the is that it is only carried out once every 10 years so becomes dated quite quickly. The Census website site provides useful guidance to understanding and using the data and includes an increasing number of easy to use interactive maps which bring the information to life. Key statistics from the Census can also be found in Neighbourhood Statistics (NeSS). The next Census is not due to be published until around 2014.

Floor Targets Interactive (FTI) is a web-based system for monitoring progress towards Public Service Agreement Floor Targets. FTI enables users to examine and compare performance at the national, regional and local levels. The data underpinning the system has been brought together from across Government to provide a single resource for users. FTI allows users to interrogate the data to produce a range of analyses and illustrative maps.

Our site gives you access to the most detailed and up-to-date labour market statistics from official sources for local areas throughout the UK. The page will help you get started with our site and give you a better understanding about the types of information you will find here.

Area Profiles provide a wide ranging picture of the quality of life and public services in a local area. They bring together data, information and assessments for every local authority area in England.

SouthWestID is a growing on-line library of information about South West England. It has been set up by the South West Observatory to help promote the use of evidence in the region's policy making, and is also a resource for businesses, schools, students and the general public. It contains both narrative and numerical data.

The RURU database is a fully searchable library of references on the use of research by policy makers and practitioners. It includes papers from four key sectors: education, health care, criminal justice and social care.

So you've used Google™ for years but have you tried Google scholar™? It works in the same way as Google but searches for just research - on pretty much any topic you can think of. Simply enter your search term eg. 'Youth Crime' and you get access to thousands of research reports related to that topic, from across the planet! Great way of exploring ideas related to your area of work, identifying new approaches and supporting your delivery approach with research evidence from across the world!