Local agencies need to ensure value for money from their use of resources. Corporately, local agencies control resource allocation through budgeting and spending systems. Local agency activity is however, subject to varying degrees of control. Some agencies control, monitor and scrutinise activity more closely than others. For example, there is widespread use of activity based costing (ABC) by the police. To obtain value for money in the use of resources, local agencies should know the range and extent of activity within each neighbourhood.
This section describes how local agencies can gather information about neighbourhood level activity. Two Excel files that local agencies may wish to use as a basis for gathering and analysing neighbourhood level activity. One file is a blank activity sampling template (download below) and the other, an example of a completed template (download below) containing analysed data. The second file contains indicative information only that does not relate to the example profiles.
Activity sampling
The first step in surveying neighbourhood level information is to determine the boundary of the survey area or areas. The Commission chose electoral wards as the unit of analysis because wards are the smallest unit against which resources are allocated by councils and the police. The wards selected for survey were nominated by the council and police, as satisfying the criteria that:
- the overall rates of crime and anti-social behaviour were significantly higher than the average for the CDRP's area; and
- a substantial level of local agency intervention was underway in response.
In preparing the Commission's survey activity, most local agencies could provide detailed budget information about local initiatives to reduce crime and anti-social behaviour. However, no local agency could provide an analysis of the neighbourhood level activity funded by these budgets. Although crime and intervention rates were higher than the CDRP average, the missing information meant that the local agencies could not determine whether the investment in intervening was:
- essential to fill any gap between current and minimum provision;
- sufficient to fill any identified gap; or
- provide best value.
This information is fundamental to service planning and value for money. The example profiles contain an assessment of total neighbourhood provision. The assessments include basic and additional resources because activity sampling occurred after local agencies had invested additional resources in these wards.
Local agencies should ensure that neighbourhood profiles include an assessment of existing provision as a basic component. To derive best value from their use of resources, local agencies should consider whether reconfiguration of existing activity and resources is sufficient to address a problem. Only when reconfiguration is insufficient should additional resources be committed to address the problem.
Preparatory issues
The Audit Commission gathered data for the example profiles from local agencies. The survey period for which data was gathered for was 1 April to 30 September 2004. The scope of the survey included all local agency activity within the ten electoral wards that had a significant impact on reducing or preventing crime and anti-social behaviour. The electoral ward was set as a consistent analysis unit because most local agencies were confident in producing at this level either, exact information or satisfactory estimates of activity and costs.
When preparing to gather activity data, local agencies need to make four decisions, of which the last two are crucial.
- defining a consistent geographical unit for which data will be gathered, for example, electoral ward, Lower Level Super Output Area;
- defining the time period for which activity information is to be gathered;
- defining the basis for estimating the cost of each activity; and
- defining the data analysis outputs.
Local agencies may wish to use the example survey template, when developing their approach.
Estimating the cost of activity
A key decision for local agencies in preparing to gather activity data at a neighbourhood level is to set a consistent basis for estimating the cost of each activity.
While many local agencies were unable to calculate an exact cost for ward level activity, they did provide a satisfactory estimate. While an exact cost is the minimum acceptable standard for activity based costing, to gather such data causes a considerable impact upon agencies. In planning these surveys, the Commission balanced the need to acquire a key data set, with the impact that surveying would have on local agencies. Because the example profiles are indicative, satisfactory estimates of activity cost were acceptable.
The cost of activity contained in the example profiles comprises the cost of the activity plus the cost of supervising it. Excluded from the activity cost were all central overheads, for example:
- central support services such as human resources, information technology, legal and democratic services; and
- centrally organised specialist operations such as CID, Forensic Science Service, Special Branch.
Local agencies preparing neighbourhood profiles will need to determine a similar balance in setting a local approach to estimating the cost of activity.
Resource use
For the example profiles, each activity's funding source was categorised as falling into one of the following three categories:
- funding exclusively provided from agency base budget(s); or
- funding provided from pooled budget comprising agency base budget(s) and UK or EU government special initiative grant(s); or
- funding exclusively provided from UK or EU government special initiative grant(s).
Examples of UK or EU special government initiatives identified by activity sampling included the following.
- The Home Office's BCU Fund.
- The Home Office's Streetcrime Initiative.
- The Home Office National Reassurance Policing Programme (NRRP).
- The Home Office Anti-Social Behaviour Unit's Trailblazers.
- Home Office Drugs Intervention Programme.
- The Office of the Deputy Prime Minister's (ODPM's) Single Regeneration Budget.
- The ODPM's Neighbourhood Renewal Fund.
- The ODPM and Home Office's Safer Communities Fund.
- The European Union's Objective 1 and/or 2 funds.
- The ODPM's Supporting People Fund.
- The Department for Education and Skills' (DfES) Surestart Programme.
- The DfES' School Standards Fund.
- The DfES' Education Action Zones (EAZ).
- The DfES' Behaviour Enhancement Support Teams (BEST) for schools.
- The Department of Health's (DoH) Health Action Zones (HAZ).
- The Youth Justice Board's Youth Inclusion and Support Panels (YISP) and Splash school holiday crime diversion schemes.
- The National Assembly for Wales' Communities First Programme.
- The ODPM's New Deal for Communities Fund
- The Department for Culture, Media and Sport's (DCMS) New Opportunities Fund.
Data analysis outputs
The activity data for the example profiles was analysed in a simple database. An example is provided for local agency use. This file is an example of a completed database for a notional neighbourhood and is provided to assist local agencies as they develop a local approach.
The Excel file contains a database of activity data plus a set of five pivot table and chart pages that analyse the data as follows:
- Pivot table and chart one – Total cost of activity by organisation and a key ratio, police to non-police cost of activity;
- Pivot table and chart two – Total cost of activity by category;
- Pivot table and chart three – Total cost of activity by funding source;
- Pivot table four – List of all activities; and
- Pivot table and chart five – Number of activities falling within each category. Other analyses are possible according to the needs of local agencies.
The following is a summary of the activity contained in the example profiles. A section within each example profile summarises the activities identified for each pair of electoral wards.
- Regular police and community support officer patrol, emergency response and targeted ward level investigations covering both crime and anti-social behaviour.
- Fire prevention, investigation and emergency response services.
- Accommodation placement, support and problem solving, tenancy enforcement and estate management including warden services, by councils and housing associations.
- Crime prevention services by councils to local businesses, homes and people, including closed circuit television, warden and guarding services.
- Support by various providers to vulnerable people and communities including victims of crime or anti-social behaviour, the young and the elderly.
- Supervision of young and adult offenders, parental support and diversion of people away from crime by probation, police, youth offending teams and councils.
- Behaviour management, including support to young people both in and outside mainstream education, including looked-after children, by the local education authority and schools.
- Health, wellbeing and mental health support services to vulnerable people by NHS providers.
- Support to integrate new arrivals to the area by councils.
- Safety improvements to roads and footways by councils.
- Support and treatment for substance misusers in the community and through the criminal justice system by council drug/substance misuse action teams.
- In-ward regeneration and inward investment projects by councils and social enterprises.
- Environmental protection and improvement including intensive cleaning, litter clearance, removal of graffiti, abandoned or untaxed vehicles, noise and consumer complaint investigation and enforcement by councils and social enterprises.
- Benefit fraud investigation and prosecution by Jobcentre+ and councils.
- Support to vulnerable people and communities including victims of crime or anti-social behaviour by voluntary sector organisations.
- Neighbourhood watch organisation by voluntary organisations.
In addition to the activity summary in each example profile, there is also:
- a chart ranking total activity costs for each electoral ward;
- an identification of the activity with the greatest cost; and
- an analysis of the source of funding for all identified activity.