The challenge of reversing physical, economic and social decline in our deprived urban and rural areas requires a sophisticated and integrated response. Investments must focus on stimulating stronger economic performance as well as building places where communities can thrive. Change also requires an effective partnership between government agencies, business and local government as well as communities and individual citizens themselves. It also needs strong local leadership.
SQW has extensive experience of supporting regeneration and neighbourhood renewal across the UK. We regularly work with the Homes and Communities Agency, RDAs, Local Strategic Partnerships and Local Authorities, as well as mainstream public services, RSLs and neighbourhood partnerships, to develop effective regeneration strategies, support their implementation and evaluate their effectiveness.
SQW’s expertise includes the development of integrated regeneration strategies and frameworks at regional and sub-regional levels, the appraisal and development of interventions to promote local economic development and studies on tackling worklessness and skills issues in deprived areas. We also work with clients across the public and voluntary sector supporting the improvement of mainstream services in deprived areas, promoting social mobility through human capital development, improving the management of neighbourhoods and re-engaging citizens and communities with public services and local government.
We believe that SQW is unusual in that it brings together experience of physical regeneration, public service delivery, social capital development and citizen engagement in one organisation. Together with our regular partnerships with other consultancies, universities and associates we are able to offer high quality and tailored services to our clients in this challenging area.
Examples of SQW projects
Neighbourhood Management National Evaluation
SQW led a consortium of universities and consultancies on a long-term evaluation (2002-2008) of the Neighbourhood Management Pathfinders, for the Department for Communities and Local Government. The study evaluated how public services and communities can work together in deprived areas to improve services and make them more responsive. The project involved detailed action research across more than 50 local authority areas in England in the UK’s largest study of neighbourhood management. Research in Pathfinder areas included annual reviews, action learning sets and case studies, together with a national programme of household surveys by GfK NOP and Ipsos MORI. Findings have been disseminated widely through papers, websites, workshops and conferences. Further information and copies of all of our published reports can be found on the national evaluation team’s website.
Growing Community Assets Fund Evaluation
SQW was commissioned by the Big Lottery Fund to carry out a long term evaluation of their investment in communities through the Growing Community Assets fund. The work is taking place over five years involving the preparation of a baseline and undertaking a range of surveys with households and projects to determine the economic and social benefits that the investment has brought. The research started in 2008 and used a series of indicators to assess the projects’ contributions to community and economic development goals.
National Evaluation of Participatory Budgeting
SQW is leading a national consortium in undertaking the National Evaluation of Participatory Budgeting in England on behalf of Communities and Local Government. The team, also including Cambridge Economic Associates and GFA Consulting, is delivering an initial scoping study and process evaluation of the Programme, which involves detailed fieldwork, case studies, the development of a pre-PB baseline and the development, dissemination and assessment of a model for assessing the costs, impacts and effectiveness of participatory budgeting. The study is exploring a range of models for how citizens and communities can engage with local government and other public services to influence decisions about public expenditure.
City of Nottingham Sustainable Community Strategy
SQW was appointed by Nottingham City Council to support the council and One Nottingham in preparing a new ten year Sustainable Community Strategy for the city. The commission built upon previous work that SQW had done for the council in supporting the preparation of a State of the City report and development of a long term city vision. The strategy development process involved strategic consultations, supporting research and analysis, the facilitation of work streams, the delivery of challenge workshops and the final development and drafting of the strategy document. The new strategy clearly set out the city’s twin challenge of continued economic growth and breaking the intergenerational cycle of poverty and the building blocks necessary to achieve this.
Review of Community Investment Unit
The Metropolitan Housing Trust required a review of its community investment function. SQW carried out a review of management information and comparative data, and undertook a series of interviews with national stakeholders, senior staff and operational staff in order to advise on how to carry out community investment to best effect.
Development of an Economic and Spatial Strategy for Merseyside
SQW was commissioned as a lead consultant delivering a unified economic and spatial strategy for Merseyside. The objective of the project was to provide a single unified package of interlinked work streams incorporating the production of the Merseyside Economic Strategy and Action Plan, the Liverpool City Region Development Programme submission for the Northern Way, and the development of policies to support the City Region and Sub Regional inputs into the Regional Spatial Strategy.
Economic Performance of Rural Areas Inside and Outside of City-Regions
SQW, in association with Cambridge Econometrics, was commissioned by Defra to investigate the impact of city-regions on the economic role and performance of rural areas both within – and outside – city-region boundaries. The context for this study was the growing interest attached by policy makers – at national, regional and local levels – to functionally-defined city-regions. Our study was divided into three phases. First we reviewed the academic literature and emerging policy documents to develop a set of hypotheses to test the reasons why the performance of rural areas might be affected by city-region processes and policies. Second, we tested the hypotheses using a wide range of data sources and statistical techniques, and also a number of case studies. Finally, we sought to identify the implications by considering the results of the study in discussion with key policy-makers.
Kent Thameside Regeneration Framework
Kent Thameside forms a major part of the largest regeneration project in Europe, and comprises an area of 5.5 square miles within which 30,000 new homes and 60,000 new jobs are planned over the next 25 years. A major stimulus to this growth will be at the new station at Ebbsfleet (in the centre of Kent Thameside) on the Channel Tunnel Rail Link, which will make the area just 20 minutes travel time from central London. SQW was commissioned as lead consultant in a consortium to prepare a regeneration framework for the area. This was required to provide an integrated and sustainable plan for regeneration of the whole area, identify the main priorities for investment, and ensure there are positive inter-relationships between the new development and the existing urban areas and resident population of people and businesses.
New Deal for Communities National Evaluation
SQW has worked as part of the national evaluation team undertaking the long-term evaluation of CLG’s NDC Programme. In the first phase of the evaluation, SQW had the lead responsibility for working with five NDC Partnerships in some of the most deprived neighbourhoods in London and the South East. Currently, SQW is leading some of the evaluation’s thematic studies, including studies looking at housing, population churn and worklessness. The project has involved detailed action research over a period of several years, evaluating the development, progress and impact of various NDC Partnerships.
Impact Evaluation Framework Evaluations for RDAs
As part of the national evaluation of RDAs in 2008, SQW was commissioned to undertake a major series of Impact Evaluation Framework (IEF) compliant programme evaluations for the London Development Agency, Advantage West Midlands and the East of England Development Agency as well as IEF compliant project evaluations for most other RDAs. The reports fed into PwC’s National Impact Evaluation Report to the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.