Trafford Council: Empowering communities using open data Open data in Trafford Trafford Council is using open data to inform, assist and engage with the voluntary and community sector. Locality profiles are being used to identify need, and the council is collaborating with voluntary and community groups to target resources to these areas. InfoTrafford is the council’s ‘data observatory’ which contains open data about Trafford and its communities in one datastore (www.infotrafford.org.uk). The site includes interactive features designed to encourage people and organisations to explore and use the data. This can be done through a series of pre-set reports and area profiles or by creating new maps, graphs, reports and profiles (the site uses GeoWise InstantAtlas software). Data can be transferred onto colour-coded maps, showing at a glance issues such as child poverty, crime, childhood obesity or benefit claims.
Getting to know your community InfoTrafford includes information on communities, crime, the economy, education, environment and health. It has been used to create ward profiles which elected members have found useful in providing up-to-date information on the assets and issues within wards. As the information is linked to data source technology it is updated in real time. Another group that has benefited from InfoTrafford is the voluntary and community sector, which uses the information when making bids to organisations such as Big Lottery. These groups report that it is useful to have reliable, up-to-date information that can help to validate their applications.
Locality working Trafford Council has recently moved to locality working and created four new locality partnerships. InfoTrafford is being used to develop locality profiles and identify key areas of need. Prior to the launch of the locality partnerships, Trafford piloted participatory budgeting for the allocation of its 2012 voluntary sector grants fund. The locality profile data was used to identify priority needs within each area. The council then invited funding applications for innovative projects that would address these needs. A voluntary and community sector grant pot of ÂŁ50,000 was allocated to each of the four areas. At participatory budgeting events in each locality, the shortlisted organisations were invited to make a short presentation. Local residents then voted for the project that would best meet the local needs. This approach proved very popular: over ÂŁ500,000 worth of applications were received against a pot of ÂŁ200,000, and about 100 people attended each event.
Local residents taking part in budgeting events.
Feedback from communities was that the exercise gave them an opportunity to make decisions about their own localities. It is also helping to improve the quality of life for residents by ensuring that resources from the voluntary and community sector are targeted at the right places and people.
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Almost 90 per cent of respondents said the events were ‘excellent’ or ‘good’. The feedback comments included: •
“In terms of attendance it shows that residents are interested in what is happening in their communities.”
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“Good chance to hear about other groups I didn’t know existed and to network with other people.”
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“It looks to be a much fairer way to allocate funds.”
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“It’s great to know that so many people are working hard for their communities.”
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“Exciting knowing that I have contributed to the decision making.”
Another success of the process was the wider engagement with voluntary sector groups. In total, 38 individual groups were successful, a significant increase on previous years when 22 groups were supported. Of the 38 groups, 32 had not received funding from the council before.
Improving service provision The InfoTrafford data is also being used to inform service redesign and strategic decisionmaking within Trafford Council. For example, the council has been rolling out a new recycling collection method. ACORN data (demographic data based on postcodes) was used to identify areas with low levels of recycling, which has helped to target resources and publicity in the most effective way. Data from GP surgeries on the number of two-year-olds is being used to plan the provision of primary school places, while crime data is targeting resources towards hot-spots. In this way a trend of jewellery thefts linked to Asian weddings was identified. The software costs around £4,000 a year to maintain. Two full-time staff are employed to publish the data and help people make the best use of it. Jayne Stephenson, Head of Partnership and Performance at Trafford Council, says they are now beginning to look at freedom of information (FOI) requests, with a plan to assess how much of that data can be transferred to InfoTrafford. Signposting people to the site rather than responding to individual requests would be more efficient.
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The national picture Ralph Michell, Director of Policy at ACEVO (the Association of Chief Executives of Voluntary Organisations) says there is huge potential for open data to help councils and voluntary organisations work together to improve services. “Trafford’s work is already pointing to the benefits this approach can bring, with open data allowing for greater community involvement in decision-making and more informed proposals for service delivery. It seems likely that more benefits will ensue over time and other councils will follow suit.” The Government has said it expects councils to publish grants to the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector as part of their open data strategies. The Local Government Association (LGA) has been looking at this issue and its latest findings can be seen at: www.local.gov.uk/vcs-spending . For further information please contact Jayne Stephenson, Head of Partnerships and Performance, Trafford Borough Council: jayne.stephenson@trafford.gov.uk.
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© Local Government Association June 2011
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