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Research into more accurate methods for measuring deprivation and `need' at the neighbourhood, `small area level', has led to older methods being abandoned. This has shaped government policy and practice, leading to the UK, local and central government changing where, geographically, to focus millions of pounds of spend. Our methods (Index of Multiple Deprivation (IMD) and Health Poverty Index (HPI)) are now used extensively in public, political and media discourses as the main reference point for any discussion of the distribution of need across the UK. The IMD has now also been adopted by the governments of South Africa, Nambia and Oman.
Coombes' research to advance spatial-analysis methodology has re-defined Travel-to-Work Areas (TTWAs) — the only official UK boundaries defined by academics — and produced three distinct strands of impact.
Since 1999, researchers at the Department of Social Policy and Intervention (DSPI) have undertaken a programme of research to produce small area level indices of deprivation, in the UK and South Africa. These indices are widely used in these nations by central and local government, regional bodies, civil society, academics and others, to analyse patterns of deprivation, to identify areas that would benefit from special initiatives or programmes, and as a tool to determine eligibility for specific funding, enabling governments and other bodies to target their resources more effectively. The methodology developed for England was subsequently used to produce indices for the other countries in the UK, as well as South Africa, and is increasingly being applied elsewhere in Africa and Asia.
Southampton statisticians have made a valuable contribution to government policy formulation across the UK and further afield to areas of North America and Europe. Novel methods for delivering more accurate estimates of socio-economic indicators at neighbourhood level have given local authorities, national government agencies and MPs the tools to implement more effective policies designed to assist the poorest communities and strengthen community cohesion. The UK's Office for National Statistics (ONS) has described Southampton's contribution as `a breakthrough', while the Mexican government agency, CONEVAL, regards this work as `the most prestigious' of its kind.
Alliance research has been used by the UK and Scottish governments to direct more of the £10bn p.a. public investment in affordable and social housing towards higher demand growth regions. It has produced a range of affordability-based housing needs models which have been commended as exemplars of good practice guidance for local authorities and adopted by industry consultancies. One tool, used to assess policy options in the context of HM Treasury's 2010 Spending Review, has been described by the Department for Communities and Local Government as "invaluable" and stimulated the development of an equivalent model for New Zealand, influencing investment by the state housing agency, Housing New Zealand, in assets worth $15bn. The research has also led to the cost-effective targeting of low cost and shared home ownership programmes and stronger use of planning powers to deliver affordable housing across the UK and Ireland.
For almost 50 years UK governments have designated area-based initiatives (ABIs) to moderate social, economic and environmental problems in disadvantaged urban areas. A research team from the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research (CRESR) has been assessing and explaining changes associated with ABIs for more than 20 years. Insights from two long-standing and inter-related research themes impacted on regeneration policy and practice in the post 2007 period: developing innovative methodologies through which to monetise benefits of ABIs; and research scoping the scale and nature of longer-term outcomes associated with ABIs, including those related to the engagement of communities. Impact has been achieved through the dissemination of findings and the provision of advice and guidance to government policy makers, committees and politicians. Beneficiaries from this research include central government regeneration policy makers, lobbying organisations and think tanks.
Research by the University of Southampton has led to an entirely new approach to the creation and management of small geographical areas for the publication of official statistics, including those from the 2001 and 2011 UK Censuses and the Neighbourhood Statistics Service. The software at the heart of this transformation is now used in 10 countries, while the academics responsible for it have helped inform government decisions, are integral to the policy and practice of the Office of National Statistics and have presented evidence to various influential committees. The research continues to deliver benefits to a large user community.
In the mid-2000s the Ministry of Justice (MoJ) devised a new measure to compare area variations in reconviction rates across the Probation Service in England and Wales so that these differences could be taken into account when allocating resources. A number of Probation Trust Chief Executives have used Hedderman's research successfully to argue for revisions to the reconviction 'performance measure'. Her findings also influenced the Justice Select Committee's recommendation that the original measure should be replaced, as she showed that it led to unfair comparisons, was easy to manipulate, and failed to provide information which could be used by areas to improve their impact on reoffending. She has since worked directly with Kent, London and Hertfordshire Probation Trusts to address this last point.
Housing and regeneration programmes both in the UK and internationally have struggled to have lasting impacts upon the places where they are enacted. The University of Glasgow's research and learning programme, GoWell, has worked across a wide range of policy sectors together to improve the circumstances of deprived communities. Specifically, GoWell has: supported the framing of strategy and policy objectives around social regeneration and health outcomes; assisted the definition and understanding of policy problems, such as around the link between `overprovision' of alcohol outlets and local crime rates; proposed the design of new policy instruments such as the Scottish Neighbourhood Quality Standard; and contributed to the monitoring and evaluation of policy implementation by showing how health and wellbeing indicators could be used to measure responsiveness to residential change.
Statistical techniques developed at the University of Southampton have transformed the accuracy with which Census data can estimate the UK population's size and characteristics, delivering far-reaching socio-economic impact. The methodologies developed by Southampton have increased the accuracy and availability of the 2011 UK Census data, not only for the Office for National Statistics but for central government, local authorities, the NHS and the private sector, who all use the data as a basis for policy decisions. Preserving the privacy of the UK population, Southampton's work allowed, for the first time, the release of highly localised data, which is used by local authorities to target resources efficiently and meet the demands imposed by the Localism and Equality Acts.