Project aims
The aim of this strand is to develop tools for measuring wellbeing that will enable local agencies to quantify the impact on wellbeing of their activities.

This will focus on two stages:

• developing options for a local wellbeing indicator, or a cluster of indicators, which will be compatible with the Audit Commission’s evolving Comprehensive Area Assessment framework
• testing proposals with partner local authorities over the lifetime of the project to refine the practical understanding of how an indicator can be developed, and to feed these results into the Audit Commission and government

Robust measurement of wellbeing at the local level will be key to embedding activities that promote wellbeing in the mainstream of local authority activity. Without this, local authorities will struggle to construct a rationale for developing a focus on wellbeing and will find it difficult to embed this in multi-agency activity. It will also mean that their wellbeing activities will be invisible to government and the Audit Commission and will not count towards the overall assessment of local authority performance.

A Young Foundation seminar in November 2006 found that:

• people tend to take seriously those things that can be measured
• different local authorities will take different approaches to measuring wellbeing which will have an impact on outcomes
• subjective wellbeing is a useful measurement but needs to be enhanced by more sensitive indicators looking at the psychological aspects of wellbeing, and how people feel and function
• any local indicator will inevitably be a proxy, but it is important to select carefully from the available options
• there is a substantial amount of existing survey data, for example from the local authority Best Value regime, but this is currently under-utilised

The Local Wellbeing Project has secure funding from the Audit Commission to take this work forward. The first stage will construct options for measurement of wellbeing at the local level. This started in April 2007 and will report by the end of June 2007, feeding into the Audit Commission’s consultation on their new performance management framework. The new economics foundation (nef) are delivering key elements of this work, building on their substantial experience of developing wellbeing indicators and working with local authorities at the very local level.

This initial work will include a survey of existing measures of wellbeing at a local level, both in the UK and internationally and consider the options for developing these, as well as new options.

A second stage will pilot new indicators within the three local authorities, and will work closely with performance specialists within local authority partners to assess how these options are implemented and to enable partners to share experiences and learn from each other. This will offer CLG and the Audit Commission a test site for the new approach.

As part of the development of the measurement underpinnning theme the Young Foundation hosted a meeting of experts in November 2006. Some initial thoughts for the potential development of practical initiatives were presented to the group. The presentation can be downloaded here. 

Publications

Local Wellbeing: Can we Measure It?

How can wellbeing be measured at the local level in ways which are both robust and useful to local authorities and its strategic partners?

This report was developed by the Local Wellbeing Project in collaboration with the new economics foundation, with the support of the Audit Commission.

To download a copy of the report please click here.

To link to Society Guardian article please click here.

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