All posts by Tony Chapman

Arts & Culture in County Durham

PRG News, PRG Recent Projects

lumiere.jpegGiven the ‘cooler climate’ in public funding, demonstrating the economic impact of the arts, culture and sports is more important than ever. Nationally the arts and culture sector pays its way, recent figures show an annual return of £2.35 billion to the Treasury – and the contribution to local economies is growing faster in the parts of the country worst affected by the recession like the North East. Employment in the sector is strong too, with the growth in jobs and skills feeding into an expanding knowledge and skills based economy – particularly important to young people entering the jobs market.

In 2015, Durham County Council commissioned PRG to develop an evaluation framework to measure the impact of the arts, cultural and sports events the Council supports. The overall aim is to establish an evaluation framework with flexible methodologies and KPIs which can be applied across all types of events and appropriate for use by different delivery organisations – large and small, public, private and third sector.

A single, standardised framework will allow meaningful comparisons, the aggregation of impacts and identification of savings; it will also produce a reliable evidence base for decision-making and strategy. And the more we understand what the sector does for us, in terms of the economy, education, health and wellbeing, and communities, the more we will be able to provide the evidence to give government and the taxpayer the confidence to invest.

During 2015 the events and festivals PRG has evaluated for County Durham have been very varied, including: Bishop Auckland Food Festival, the International Brass Festival, Durham Book Festival, culminating most recently with Lumiere Durham.

Each time we have revised and refined a range of evaluation tools, tailoring them to specific events and trying out innovative methods and approaches. For Lumiere, PRG also worked with Durham businesses to capture economic impact and help the businesses make the most of the festival’s opportunities. We also helped recruit and train more than 20 Durham University students to carry out on-street evaluation of Lumiere, helping them acquire valuable employment experience and become more involved in the life of the city.

Community Development Projects: 40 years on

Current and Recent Research Projects, Research News

Esrc_logoOver the past two years, Professor Fred Robinson has been working with colleagues on a major national research project called ‘Imagine’. This practice-based project is concerned with using research to help imagine and develop communities. It is about the ‘social, historical, cultural and democratic context of civic engagement’. Imagine is supported by the Economic and Social Research Council under the Connected Communities programme.

The whole Imagine project comprises four parts, one of which focuses on the historical context of civic engagement. This part involves revisiting the sites of three Community Development Projects (CDPs) which were implemented during the 1970s. Two of these were in Tyneside (Benwell and North Shields) and one in the West Midlands (Hillfields, Coventry). In each of these places, researchers from local universities (Durham and Warwick Universities) and community organisations are exploring the imagining, planning and impact of the CDP and are tracking subsequent regeneration programmes in those areas.

Fred’s role has been to look at the history of regeneration in Benwell and North Shields. He has been developing accounts of the implementation and impact of regeneration policies, drawing on both documentary material and interviews. He says:

“As you look at these policies over a period of 40 years, you can feel a sense of frustration that lessons often aren’t learnt and problems aren’t solved. But there has actually been some real progress in terms of health and housing, for instance, and a better understanding of the need for active community engagement in the regeneration process”.

 

Northern Rock Foundation: history and achievements

Current and Recent Research Projects, Research News

nrf-logo-lgeIn July 2015, the Northern Rock Foundation published a history of its work and the impacts it has had during 17 years of grant making. Researched and written by Professor Fred Robinson, this independent assessment, whilst sympathetic to the mission of the Foundation, takes an objective view of its history and achievements.

Funded by Northern Rock bank, the Foundation spent over £225 million on community projects and initiatives in the North East and Cumbria. Its work has ranged over many different areas of social need including support for older people, homeless young people, refugees and asylum seekers and those with mental health problems. It sought to tackle issues like financial inclusion, penal reform and domestic abuse but also invested in the development of the arts and cultural infrastructure of the region.

Key achievements identified in the report include:

  • Focusing attention on disadvantaged people and communities, including difficult and unpopular causes, like child sexual exploitation.
  • Using research to influence national and regional policy in areas such as dementia and domestic and sexual violence.
  • Helping the voluntary and community sector to develop their skills and capacity and fostering collaboration and enterprise.

Important lessons from the history and work of the Foundation are:

  • A regionally based foundation can know its area in a way that a nationally based foundation, based elsewhere, almost certainly cannot.
  • There is a value in concentrating some grant making on particular organisations that will develop and grow through long term support.
  • Expert and dedicated Trustees and staff help to ensure good and effective grant-making
  • Reliance on one corporate benefactor has both strengths and weaknesses.

The financial crisis that hit the Northern Rock bank had a profound impact on the Foundation, which is now expected to close down in 2016. Professor Robinson said:

“The Foundation made an important contribution to the well-being of the North East and Cumbria. It helped to enrich the lives of many people. For some organisations its funding has been beneficial, but not crucial; for others it may have been transformative, a really important input that helped them to survive or grow or become what they are today. It was very much an organisation rooted in the region which was prepared to fund unpopular things at times, but things which made a real difference”.

The full report can be downloaded here.

Impact of the Changing Funding Environment on the Voluntary and Community Sector

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Professor Tony Chapman

Tony Chapman led a study, funded by Government Office North East to support the work of the Voluntary and Community Sector Task Force in 2006.

The study involved a survey of third sector organisations across North East England and informed the work of the task force which was attempting to assess the potential impact of a predicted loss of up to £50m in resources following the European Union regional development and social funding.

A final report was published in 2006. Subsequently an academic article developed the analysis and was published in Policy Studies.

Researching the Impact of Major Skills Issues in the Tees Valley

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Professor Tony Chapman

This was a wide-ranging study, funded by the European Social Fund for the Learning and Skills Council to explore changing skills needs across Tees Valley.

The results demonstrated that Tees Valley faces significant challenges over the next 10 years and made specific proposals for developments at a sub-regional and industrial sector strategic levels.

A final report was published in 2006. Subsequently, the theoretical implications of the work were published in Urban Studies: http://usj.sagepub.com/content/48/5/1037.refs.

Japanese Inward Investment Journeys to North East England: is North East England ready to make a new journey too?

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A seminar jointly organised by the Institute for Local Governance and Council for Local Authorities for International Relations (CLAIR) will take place at Teikyo University, Durham, Friday 10th July, 2015, 9.30 – 1.00.

clairiflgteikyo

Details of the seminar can be found here.

In 2013, construction of a major new manufacturing plant began in Newton Aycliffe, County Durham, giving an immediate initial boost to the local labour market. The new train manufacturing plant will be handed over to Hitachi in September, and in the months that follow 700 new jobs will come to the area.

Hitachi’s arrival represents just one amongst many welcome journeys that Japanese companies have made to North East England, including Nissan, Nifco, Komatsu and NSK Bearings, amongst many others. These companies, alongside the supply chains they have built with UK companies, play a major role in providing an economic boost to the region.

Undoubtedly, the North East wants Japanese companies to stay here and would welcome more if they choose to come our way. But what, precisely, do we have on offer to encourage this to happen? Has the North East gone the extra mile fully to welcome such investment? But perhaps most importantly of all, what are we learning from the companies that have come to the region and how well is the region responding to the massive economic contribution they make in business terms?

This seminar looks at the contribution Japanese business has made to the enterprise culture in North East England. But the debate should not be an historical one. What we need to ask is what can be done to build stronger links with existing and new companies? The conference also aims to think about ways to increase levels of enterprising activity in the region in the localities where major new Japanese firms are operating and identify reasons why such opportunities might be grasped, missed or stifled.

This conference provides an opportunity to tackle such questions in a constructive way from many different standpoints in order to inform policy makers and industrialists in the region about the contribution of Japanese inward investment to the local economy. The conference will be opened by Professor Ray Hudson, Vice Chancellor of Durham University and will be closed by Professor Masao Imaseki, Principal of Teikyo University, Durham.

To lead the debate, a number of speakers have agreed to present their ideas and talk about their experiences.

  • Phil Wilson, Member of Parliament for Sedgefield, County Durham
  • David Coppock & Tasleem Baqir, North East Region, UKTI
  • Simon Goon, Managing Director, Business Durham
  • Kazuya Shima, Director, Japan Local Government Centre (CLAIR London)
  • Andrew Stevens, Chief Researcher, Japan Local Government Centre (CLAIR London)
  • Professor Tony Chapman, St Chad’s College, Durham University

The seminar will also provide an opportunity to network with industrialists in key Japanese firms in the region, including the new Hitachi plant in Newton Aycliffe.

The seminar is free to attend. Please register your attendance via: Janet Atkinson, Institute for Local Governance, Durham University janet.atkinson@durham.ac.uk. Please note that we have limited places for this seminar so allocation will be made on a first-come first-served basis.

The Institute for Local Governance is a North East Research and Knowledge Exchange Partnership established in 2009 comprising the regions Universities, Local Authorities, Police and Fire and Rescue Services. Further information about the content of the event can be obtained by contacting:-

 

Assets or liabilities: the transfer of assets to community organisations in County Durham

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fredrobinsonAssets or Liabilities DCC paper (FINAL 15 May 2015)Local councils, especially in the North East, are having a tough time. Funding from central government has been cut—and there are more cuts to come—and demand for services keeps rising. As a result, they have had to find ways to keep services going by being creative and doing things differently.

Over the past three years we’ve been working closely with Durham County Council on theAssets or Liabilities DCC paper (FINAL 15 May 2015ir asset transfer programme. The council has many community buildings, such as community centres, that it has been struggling to maintain. The council felt that the only way to ensure that they have a long term future is to encourage local groups to take on full responsibility for repairs and maintenance as well as management. These groups are able to access funding that the council can’t—and they are best placed to respond to local needs. But it is asking a lot of them.

Our job has been to work with council officers and other agencies to strengthen these local groups, help them think through what asset transfer would mean, and find ways of generating more income. Actually, our role has been to serve as go-betweens, building trust between these organisations and the council.

It’s been fascinating and it’s worked well. We’ve done a report on the whole experience—that’s available here. We came to the conclusion that asset transfer has really been about relationships, not just buildings. Building confidence and capacity takes a lot of time and careful negotiation. But we got there and we are hopeful that these centres will now have a long term future as a key local resource.

Durham County Council is now developing this approach further. Local communities are being asked to take on the running of other services in order to keep them going. We are working with the council on that, and will be evaluating the process and the results over the next two years. A Briefing paper on the process can be found here: Assets or Liabilities DCC paper (FINAL 15 May 2015)

Keeping things simple: Improving working arrangements between local authorities and the third sector in a tightening budgetary environment

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keepingthingssimpleIn recent decades financial pressures on local authorities (LAs) has resulted in significant changes in the ways their services are provided through, for example, contracting out services, co-production, asset transfer, volunteering and establishing new types of organisation (such as social enterprises and mutuals).

Such developments have presented internal and external organisational, cultural and operational challenges for LAs when forging new relationships between commissioner, producer, and customer/citizen. Building on evidence-based hypotheses from previous academic and action research, this project will help LAs produce new solutions to increase the impact of social policy interventions.

The new two-year project, beginning in September 2015, will work with six local authorities in North East England to do this work, including: Darlington Borough Council, Durham County Council, Gateshead Council,, Northumberland County Council, Stockton-on-Tees Borough Council and Sunderland City Council.

The project, jointly funded by the ESRC and Institute for Local Governance will be undertaken by Professors John Mawson (ILG), Tony Chapman and Fred Robinson of St Chad’s College, Durham University.

The aim of the proposed programme of work is to assist LAs in navigating change in a complex political, social and economic environment which may demand fundamental change in the way that service delivery is conceptualised and effected.

To do this, LAs need to consider and embed new ‘ways of thinking’ about their working relationships with external organisations. Their ultimate purpose is to reduce the costs and improve the quality of services through new approaches to delivery whilst at the same time engaging more directly community organisations and citizens in the process.

The work will address six areas of policy and service delivery where impact can be achieved by 2019:

  • Transfer of community assets (achieving impact by increasing the number and quality of asset transfers of community centres, libraries, leisure centres, etc. so maintaining the continuity of service and facility in communities).
  • Commissioning and procurement (achieving impact by working with local government in designing processes which are more responsive to innovative delivery solutions thereby increasing the quality and outcomes arising from out sourcing decisions and thereby producing stronger social impact and best value for money investment in service delivery).
  • Mutualisation of council services (facilitating effective approaches to mutualisation by shared knowledge and experience amongst local authority participants and access to professional advice; impact to be measured by the number and economic value of ventures established and sustained).
  • Employee supported volunteering (raising awareness of the potential of ESVs for achieving community objectives in each LA; through co-production and collaborative working increasing levels and quality of ESV activity; and, exploring joint LA ventures in this domain. Impact can be measured by growth in ESV activity and proxy measures for economic value of such activity).
  • Assessing the impact of interventions (making good decisions on where measures of impact assessment should be employed: increasing the quality of economic and service quality impact assessment where needed and adopting other mechanisms to make good judgements on the social value of less measurable small-scale interventions)
  • Partnership working between LAs (impact to be assessed by showing where LAs have developed effective joint-working models as a result of the programme; co-produced economical shared innovation on service delivery and appraisal; where shared learning developed as a part of the programme has been implemented in practice).

The complete report and summary reports can be found here: Keeping it Simple (Summary Report) October 2014;

Building connections with Teikyo University in Durham and Tokyo

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teikyoProfessor Tony Chapman and Dr Margaret Masson, Vice Principal of St Chad’s College, met up with Dr Itsuki Kitani who is visiting Durham’s Teikyo University campus this month.   Dr Kitani, an alumni of St Chad’s College and now a lecturer in the Department of Education and Culture, is helping to build links with academics in the University’s Department of Economics which is based in central Tokyo.

Professor Chapman will be making a return visit to Tokyo and Yamagata in March to continue research on social enterprise which has been running for several years with colleagues from Tohuko and Sanno Universities. A second purpose of the trip is to explore patterns of investment in the UK from Japan and consequent return investment of British firms in Japan. This will include meetings with academics at Teikyo University and with senior officials at the British Chamber of Commerce in Japan and the UKTI team at the British Embassy in Tokyo.

A seminar for the Institute for Local Governance on inward investment of Japanese firms in North East England, which will be held at Teikyo University here in Durham in July, will be informed by the study visit together with a scoping study in North East England with local authorities, Japanese and UK businesses.

Researchers interested in young people’s issues to meet at St Chad’s

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durhamlogoDurham University has an international reputation in many fields of study. But in one area, at least, it seems to have been hiding its light under a bushel. There are well over 50 academics and doctoral students at the University studying the situation of young people.

These researchers explore a huge range of applied issues from the evaluation of government youth engagement programmes to corporate social responsibility initiatives. There are many other pure research projects being undertaken too which can inform applied research – but only if the researchers all know each other and are aware of what they’re doing.

Policy&Practice at St Chad’s College are bringing together researchers from across the university on 12th March to open dialogue so that people can learn from each other and also promote the impact of findings from Durham University more widely. Academics are attending from departments and schools of Applied Social Science, Health, Geography, Anthropology, Education, Psychology and the Business School.

Everyone will present a five minute snap shot of what they’ve found out that they feel other people should know. After the event, a briefing will be produced to show the range and depth of work across the institution.