Understanding Area Working and Area Profiling 

A glossary of terms

Area Committees

These are a way of bringing decision making closer to local communities.  Some decisions that were previously made by the council in the Town Hall are now made locally at Area Committee meetings.  Each of the seven Area Committees meets at community venues across Chester District at least five times a year.  All of the Council's ward councillors sit on their own local Area Committee.  Area Committees involve residents, parish councils, community & voluntary groups, other statutory bodies and business in their decision making.  Decisions are usually concerning local services and facilities, as well as major planning applications; for example large scale housing developments and industrial development.  Each Area Committee has a small budget to spend on local projects ranging from supporting local groups and events to improvements to play facilities.

Area Plan

This sets out local issues and priorities across Chester district by Area Committee area.  Area Plans will be developed in consultation with residents, councillors, partner agencies and community and voluntary groups.  Each Area Committee will use its plan to make better and fairer decisions that reflect people's priorities locally and will encourage other organisations to contribute to development and use of the area plan as a basis for its decision taking.

Area Profile

Describes the area or locality covered by its Area Committee - geography, local services, facilities, key organisations active in the area, and key facts and statistics about the residents.  Each Area Profile is based on either ward or Area Committee district.

Area Working

Working with residents and partners in response to local needs and priorities to make a difference in their communities.  Area working is supported and encouraged by Area Committees through planning and delivering improvements.

Census of Population 2001 

Produced by Office of National Statistics (external link) provides a key national statistics on topics including population, ethnicity, religion, health, qualifications, economic activity, and household characteristics.  The Census provides a comparison between the previous census of 1991. (Please refer to the Council's Chester in Context Census 2001 from Research and Intelligence).

Cohesive community

One where there is a common vision and a sense of belonging for all communities.  Where all members of the community appreciate and positively value the diversity of people's different backgrounds and circumstances.  Community cohesion aims to promote greater knowledge, respect and contact between various cultures, in order to lead a greater sense of citizenship for all.

Community engagement

Local people and groups taking part in and influencing the decision making which affects their communities.

Community leadership

Councillors and officers encouraging local communities to direct the future of their neighbourhoods.  Rather than traditional, top-down leadership, it is about supporting residents to shape the services they receive and to make a difference.

Community planning

Organisations and individuals working together to identify and solve what is important at a local level and to set clear priorities to achieve this.

Community / Voluntary Sector

The "community sector" means the groups which work to tackle issues in their own area.  A local Residents Association is an example of a community group.  The "voluntary sector" includes all charitable/not-for-profit organisations which provide services for the benefit of others.  Organisations such as Age Concern, Meals on Wheels, CVS and the RSPCA are part of the voluntary sector.

Economically active

All residents aged between 16 and 74 years who are employed fulltime or part time, or are self employed or are full time students.

Floor targets

Minimum standards for disadvantaged groups or areas; floor targets relate to public services.  For example, an area with very poor educational achievement, would have a floor target to raise examination results to national and local averages achieved by putting more resources into the schools in the area.

Joined-up working or partnership working

Organisations from the public, private and voluntary / community sectors working together to identify, prioritise and solve local problems rather than each organisation working alone.  The Government increasingly regards joined-up working as way for Councils to provide better services, become more efficient and reduce public spending - working together enables costs to be shared and reduced.

Local Action Plans

These can be developed at ward, parish or neighbourhood level.  They are a way of local people and the organisations that serve them deciding priorities and developing appropriate solutions.  In Chester, an increasing number of Parish Councils and neighbourhood groups have developed or are developing parish plans or neighbourhood action plans.  Local Action Plans will fit in with Area Plans.  (see Area Plans above)

Local Area Agreements ( LAA s)

Aim to find solutions that meet local needs, while also contributing to national priorities and the achievement of standards or floor targets set by central government (See Floor Targets above). 

LAA 's are intended to improve communication between local and central government, and make sure that public resources are used more efficiently in the areas that they cover.  The Government are introducing this mechanism of financing local government to authorities nationwide. 

Locality budgeting

Government funded agencies including the NHS and the police
coming together to work out how much they do and need to spend in specific areas or neighbourhoods and how and on what to spend it.

Milestones

Key events, with dates, marking stages in the progress of a project or programme.

Index of Multiple Deprivation ( IMD ) 2004 

A collection of statistics which measure deprivation for every local authority area and Super Output Area in England (see below).  The government uses the IMD to decide where and how to spend additional money in areas of high deprivation and disadvantage.  (See Neighbourhood Renewal below). 

In Chester there are urban areas with high levels of deprivation amongst the top 20% nationally and across the district in urban, suburban and rural areas there are neighbourhoods and groups of individuals affected by deprivation and the inequalities it creates.  The IMD is made up of seven "domains" or different categories of deprivation, to give a "deprivation score" and rank for both local authority areas and super output areas:

• Income deprivation addressed by having enough money to live comfortably
• Employment deprivation by being able to have a decent job
• Health deprivation and disability by staying healthy and having access to healthcare services
• Education, skills and training deprivation by being able to get the qualifications and skills to get on in life as a child / young person and an adult
• Barriers to housing and services by having somewhere decent and affordable to live
• Living environment deprivation by how satisfied people feel with their neighbourhood and built environment
• Crime and lack of community safety deprivation by making people and places safe and feel safe

Neighbourhood Action Plan

See Local Action Plans above

Neighbourhood management

A way of encouraging stakeholders to work with service providers to help improve the quality of services delivered in deprived neighbourhoods.  Neighbourhood management is being piloted in two areas of Chester Blacon Neighbourhood Management programme which is running from 2001 until 2008, and Lache Safer Stronger Communities which will run from 2006 until 2010.  Additional funding is awarded from government for a time limited period to support the development of this approach.

Neighbourhood renewal

The name given to Government plans to narrow the gap between rich and poor communities countrywide, with the aim that within 10 to 20 years no one should be disadvantaged by where they live.  In Chester, the Council, the Local Strategic Partnership and its partners are seeking to address deprivation, disadvantage and inequalities where communities lack access to services and facilities through the development of the Chester Neighbourhood Renewal Strategy (NRS).  The NRS will set out the actions that the council in partnership with other organisations are planning to take to address this important issue.

Outputs and outcomes

An output is something concrete / definite that can be counted which come from public spending.  An outcome is a long term change brought about by public investment.  For example, the number of new nurses trained as a result of a government drive might be an output of public spending; but a cut in hospital waiting times would be the outcome.  Or, in Chester, a new department store will be one of the outputs of the redevelopment of the Northgate area but one outcome might be that more people come to Chester to shop.

Partners / key stakeholders

Individuals or organisations with an interest, or 'stake', in an area or in an issue needing action.  This includes residents and representatives from public, private, voluntary & community organisations.

Public sector

The organisations that run government services, such as district councils, county councils, parish councils, health authorities, job centres, government departments, education authorities, schools and colleges, on a not for profit basis where income or return on public investment is ploughed back into the cost of future service delivery.

Private sector

Refers mainly to business usually generating an income for profit where this is usually paid out to shareholders. It also includes "social enterprise": businesses that choose to re-invest their profits into the business to help achieve social goals

Quality of life themes

These are themes which affect all communities to a greater of lesser degree across the country; the Audit Commission has developed a range of indicators or measures so that quality of life in each local authority area can be assessed against each other. The ten themes will be used in development of area and ward profiles and are:

• community cohesion and involvement
• community safety
• culture and leisure
• economic well-being
• education and life-long learning
• environment
• health and social well-being
• housing
• people and place
• transport and access

Social exclusion

The Government has defined social exclusion a shorthand label for what can happen when individuals or families suffer from a combination of linked problems of deprivation and disadvantage.  These could be unemployment, poor skills, low income, poor housing, high crime environments, bad health or family breakdown.

Super Output Areas ( SAO ) 

A geographical unit used by the government for collecting statistical information.  Each SOA covers around 1,500 people, so a City or County Council ward will contain several SOA s.  The information collected through SOA s are known as small area statistics and are categorised into three levels lower, middle and upper (For more information refer to Office of National Statistics (external link)

Sustainable development

Improving social, economic and environmental quality of life without compromising the needs of future generations.  It is a process of planning in local authorities, which integrates social, economic, and environmental perspectives, and must include significant discussion with the communities involved.

Ward characteristics

Easy to understand and locally relevant pen pictures of each ward, which set out statistical facts, a description of the area and its amenities as well as local residents' views about main improvements needed and their priorities for action.  Each ward characteristic is based around quality of life themes to ensure consistency and comparison between all of the characteristics.

Ward profiles

Consist of two parts: ward statistics and ward characteristics.Ward statistics - are made up from census of population 2001 statistics and other relevant data presented in an easy to understand format.  The information given about each ward can be compared to the situation across the whole of Chester district.