Using data reporting to turn a data rich resource into useful intelligence for council employees and partner organisations

 

Hertfordshire is located just to the north of London and stands astride the key road and rail routes between London and the major cities of the Midlands and North. It also borders the counties of Buckinghamshire, Bedfordshire, Cambridgeshire and Essex. It has a population of just over 1 million. Hertfordshire County Council is committed to publishing its data to demonstrate transparency in operations and to allow access to information free of charge.

The council encourages greater use of data so that citizens are able to challenge and scrutinise what the council does. Much of this data is being made available through the Hertfordshire Local Information System (http://www.HertsLIS.org). Content includes economic statistics, community safety, socio-economic data, public health and area profiles, and demographic data. HertsLIS was developed by Community Information and Intelligence Unit (CIIU) which is managed by Bernard Thirkettle.

Read the full article here >>

OCSI Data Packs Version 2.4 gives Local Information Systems latest data

The Data Packs version 2.4 update provides users with the latest data, benchmarks and outputs available for all geographies.

Major new datasets in this version include:

• Pupil attainment by location of educational institution,
• Employment by occupation group.

Major updated datasets include:

• Mortality rates from key conditions,
• Local Alcohol Profile,
• Earnings by place of work and residence,
• Outcomes and performance measures for children in care and at risk children,
• Fuel Poverty rate.

The full lists of new and updated datasets, including details of all indicators in the Data Packs can be requested from us.

Major new datasets

Pupil attainment by location of education institution The Department for Education have published information about the GCSE and equivalent  results for pupils at the end of Key Stage 4 (KS4) in maintained schools in England. The results are for the 2010/11 academic year. Unlike previous pupil attainment results, contained

within the Data Packs, this data shows results based on location of where pupils went to school rather than their local residence. For the first time, the GCSE data also includes information on pupils taking the English Baccalaureate and on pupils making expected progress in English and Maths. Data is provided in Data Packs down to Local Authority level.

Read the full article here >>

East Riding Data Observatory – Supporting the localism agenda in the East Riding of Yorkshire through a data presentation initiative

Background

The East Riding Observatory is an online resource that provides easy access to population, economic, community safety, health and education data for local authorities, partner agencies and communities across the East Riding of Yorkshire. The East Riding Data Observatory is a member of the Humber Data Observatory Group. Other Observatories in this group are: North Lincolnshire Council, North East Lincolnshire and Kingston upon Hull.

Gareth Hughes is senior research officer at the Observatory. He explains that Regional Improvement and Efficiencies Partnership (RIEP) funding was made available and Humber Data Observatory Group members were asked to highlight areas for investment.

Read the full article >>

How the London Borough of Newham is supporting evidence-based policy-making and decision-making through data presentation

Background

Newham Info is the name given to the London Borough of Newham’s information and intelligence hub. The idea started out as a data and statistics hub with an associated website which came online in late 2003. However, the vision was to develop an observatory and create a resource where users could find data from a wide range of sources and covering a wealth of issues to support evidence-based policy-making across the public sector in the borough. 

 

Getting started

Stephen Croney is Information Manager, Improvement and Performance Service in Policy, Partnerships and Communications at the London Borough of Newham. He joined the council in 2009 with responsibility for the boroughs GIS systems and turning the existing data store into an observatory that focused more on making information easier to access and use, ‘Telling the Newham Story’.  “The idea was to have a site that could be used by anyone to improve decision-making, support partnership working and better prepare the borough, its partners and stakeholders for the future,” he says.

Read the full article

Poole Partnership | ‘Providing an information resource to help commissioners of childrens’ services address local priorities’

Background

Poole Partnership is the Local Strategic Partnership for Poole. It involves community, voluntary and faith groups, working together with businesses and the public sector. It  aims to achieve long-term improvements to the quality of life for people living in Poole.

We spoke to Sara Ireland, Senior Research Officer, about the project. “It originated from work with a children and young people’s dataset that we had been working on for a number of years. We realised we were sitting on a large amount of information and were only able to do a limited amount with it – so we wanted to find a way of getting it into the public domain in a friendly format,” she says.

Read the full article >>

Image Credit – Jim Linwood

OCSI Data packs put more insight into Nottingham

Nottingham’s Local Information System ‘Nottingham Insight’ (http://www.nottinghaminsight.org.uk) was set up in response to challenges from the Local Strategic Partnership to make better use of evidence, and support stronger local partnerships.

We talked to Mick Dunn, the GIS, Data and Information Business Manager and Wendy Conibear, the Senior Mapping Officer at Nottingham City Council to find out more about the LIS and how they have been using Data Packs to keep up with ever-growing local needs for in-depth information on neighbourhoods and trends over time.

Background

Nottingham Insight was initially built from an in-house GIS system, which supported data and maps at a neighbourhood level. As local need grew for reliable, up-to-date and easy-to-use data, the system was initially extended by integrating the existing system into Instant Atlas Desktop (www.instantatlas.com). This served Nottingham’s needs well for some time, but as the required volume of data continued to increase further, it was necessary to upgrade the system to Instant Atlas Server.

In order to meet the demand for a comprehensive range of public domain data, the Nottingham team decided to enhance the content of the system by integrating the OCSI Data Packs. Combined with locally collected data and the extensive documents hub already in place, this made the whole range of required information instantly available to users.

“We decided on Data Packs because the demand for National Data was increasingly burdensome for us to meet – people are increasingly needing historic and in depth national data”

Benefits of Data Packs

Meeting local need for national data

Faced with the demand for reliable and usable national data, Mick explained how it made sense to populate Nottingham Insight with the OCSI Data Packs content. As well the city of Nottingham, the packs provide content for all districts across the county, with the system providing different home-pages for the different local authority areas. In addition, the team continue to collect and input their own locally collected data – enabling them to meet data needs for all users:

“Data Packs were particularly appealing as they strongly relate to the
JSNA and Community Strategy requirements”

Read the full article

Havering Data Intelligence Hub | Ensuring strategic partners are able to access data and get a better understanding of local need

Background

The Havering Data Intelligence Hub provides data, information and research about the London Borough of Havering. The Hub was set up to benefit the local authority, its partners and the public by helping them understand key information about the borough through data, analysis, surveys and reports.

Getting started

Rebecca Booker is Area Intelligence Business Analyst at the council. She says one of the key drivers for the hub was the need for all the partners to have access to the same data.“You often find that people obtain data from different places and this can be confusing as there is little consistency. We wanted to make sure all the data was in one place where everyone can access it,” says Rebecca.

Read the full article

Staffordshire Observatory – Giving local strategic partners data in a customisable format to help them make better commissioning decisions

Background

Staffordshire Observatory provides research and analytical support to Staffordshire Strategic Partnership. Its overall aim is to offer a robust, comprehensive evidence base which informs decision making, commissioning and service delivery, leading to better outcomes for the residents of Staffordshire.

The Observatory has developed a website to provide a one-stop-shop for access to a wide range of data, information and intelligence on Staffordshire and its communities. We spoke to Senior Research and Information Officer Duncan Smith about the Observatory and how it is currently using data visualisation to meet its objectives.

Getting started

Duncan says four years ago they began to consider a data hub that could be used for sharing intelligence between strategic partners. It was felt that the partnership needed a web-based system that would promote evidence-based commissioning decisions and ensure easy access to a shared intelligence.

Read the full article

Want to try InstantAtlas Desktop?

Free 30 Day Trial

Waiting for Census

(This is a guest blog from Tom Smith at OCSI. The original was posted at http://www.ocsi.co.uk/news/2011/08/25/waiting-for-census/).

I’m going to take a punt that the Census 2001 is still the most widely used data-source in the UK when it comes to targeting local services and allocating resources (if you ignore underpinning datasets such as Ordnance Survey geographic stuff), despite being 10 years out of date. I’m yet to come across a Local Authority or other public sector organisation that hasn’t heavily used the Census for assessing ‘need’, and it’s also a major part in the way that public sector cash is targeted at different areas and communities (not least the formula used for local government funding).

And if you’re looking for commercial applications of open (freely available) data, census data is one of the biggest successes. Lots of commercial datasets and services rely heavily on census data, including the ACORN and MOSAIC user segmentations.

Which is why I’m excited about the arrival of Census 2011 datasets next year. The latest news is that the raw data has arrived from Lockheed Martin (presumably in big shiny steel briefcases padlocked to the wrists of very burly statisticians), and ONS are hard at work validating it all – with Census Director Glen Watson identifying coverage of 94% of the UK population (although some local authorities may reach as low as 80%, which suggests that coverage for particular groups will again be well below average).

So what is coming out and when? The provisional running order (download from the Census output page) is:

• Data table definitions: September 2011
• Final timetable for outputs: March 2012
• First data release (July 2012): UK, region and LA population totals by age and gender.
• Second release (not dated): Key Statistics and Univariate Tables from the smallest area (Output Areas) upwards. These correspond to the 2001 KS and UV outputs. [UPDATE: Rumours are that KS and UV tables will start to surface around October 2012]
• Third release (not dated): Multivariate data from Output Area upwards. These correspond to the 2001 CS and CT outputs. [UPDATE: Rumours are that CS and CT tables will not appear until 2013]
• Fourth release (not dated): Multivariate Standard Tables from ward level upwards. These correspond to the 2001 ST outputs.
• Subsequent releases: Migration tables,  workplace tables (ie data based on workplace rather than residential), detailed ethnic/ religious group outputs.

In other words, second half of 2012 is when it all gets going (I’ll update the dates when these are published) – just in time for the Olympics.

Supporting Somerset’s Partnership Intelligence Unit

Supporting InstantAtlas takes us into lots of different areas such as customer training, software testing and technical documentation. Probably the most rewarding part of the job, however, is being instrumental in a customer’s successful InstantAtlas solution. This might simply be through troubleshooting an installation problem or by giving advice on where to download suitable map data. But often we are commissioned to play a more substantial role and actually deliver part of or sometimes even the whole working solution.

This work can be very varied. For example, we might be asked to manipulate a customer’s raw statistical indicators into a suitable InstantAtlas format in Excel or asked to create a personalised design for a dynamic report.  Above all it requires good communication between the support team and the customer and careful planning from the outset. The support team draw on their in-depth knowledge of the InstantAtlas product but also on their experience in areas as diverse as data visualisation, web design, statistics, digital cartography, accessibility, IT infrastructure and even security. The aim is to combine the best ideas of both the support team and customer to deliver an InstantAtlas solution that best meets the end users’ requirements.

Local & Community Information Systems based on our InstantAtlas Server product present the greatest challenge due to the depth of the product and endless configuration possibilities. On the blog last week we featured INFORM Somerset, a web site that provides an overview to the county of Somerset (UK) on a range of themes. The initial setup of this site was a collaborative effort between Mike Smith’s Partnership Intelligence Unit (PIU) team based at Somerset Council and our support team, with the work ranging from data loading to user interface customisation. The highly pragmatic approach taken by Mike’s team made them a joy to work with and allowed for rapid turnaround times. With local & community information systems, which are built to hold lots of data, it can be tempting to go for “quantity over quality” where voluminous datasets are loaded with scant attention paid to how these are consumed by the end user. With INFORM Somerset a phased approach has been taken to ensure that data and viewing options are added in a controlled matter and always with the end user in mind. The thematic icons on the homepage take the user to dynamic lists of data views and profiles (Mike’s team simplified these terms to Information by Topic and Information by Area) – these do not come “out-of-the-box” but it was decided that this relatively-straightforward customisation would give users an easier route into the data.

Read the full story on INFORM Somerset and link to the site – it features a feedback link at the bottom of the page if you wish to leave your comments!

Pierre Jenkins, Head of InstantAtlas Support

St Helens Metropolitan Borough Council – ‘Helping non-expert and professional users understand a wide range of data for neighbourhood needs assessment’

Background

St. Helens Together is the Local Strategic Partnership (LSP) for St. Helens Metropolitan Borough Council. The LSP is a voluntary body that provides a forum where the needs of the local community can be highlighted and services designed accordingly. The LSP is currently focusing on five key themes: children and young people; communities and neighbourhoods; economic development and enterprise; healthier communities and older people and safer communities.

We spoke to Catherine Fletcher, Intelligence and Partnerships Manager, Policy and Partnerships, St. Helens Council, about the LSP’s information needs and how they are being met.

Catherine explains that the Local Area Agreement was a catalyst for sharing information between LSP partners and the next step was to gain a better understanding of neighbourhood needs. The partners therefore started looking at a way of presenting data that could work alongside the existing systems they had in place. “Our next step was geographical data presentation because we had got to the point where we were good at sharing information but we then needed to understand it,” says Catherine.

Read the full article