2009
National Evaluation of New Deal for Communities
CEA is part of the team undertaking the national evaluation of New Deal for Communities. This is a key programme of the Government’s strategy to tackle multiple deprivation in the most deprived neighbourhoods in England. It forms part of the National Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal which is being co-ordinated and delivered through the Neighbourhood Renewal Unit. Over £1.9bn has been committed to 39 NDC Partnerships, to be spent over a ten year period on tackling issues in five key areas: worklessness; health; education; crime and community safety; and housing and the environment.
The NDC programme is being evaluated by a team of universities and consultancies with expertise in the evaluation of neighbourhood renewal programmes. The team is led by the Centre for Regional Economic and Social Research (CRESR) at Sheffield Hallam University. New Deal for Communities offers a unique opportunity to learn lessons about what works (and what doesn’t) in neighbourhood regeneration. By evaluating the programme on a national basis the evaluation team will draw together lessons from all the NDC Partnerships, look for common themes and experiences, and put together a valuable evidence base to inform effective policies for neighbourhood renewal throughout the country. Phase one of the evaluation was completed in 2005. Phase 2 which runs from 2006-2009 is close to completion.
Additionality benchmarks
CEA has recently completed an assignment for the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills (BIS) to capture new evaluation evidence on additionality as well as explore the latest thinking on particular areas of additionality, most notably agglomeration economies and their relevance for the multiplier adjustment. The study was designed to collate and analyse new evidence gathered on additionality in recent years, particularly as a result of the independent assessment of the impact of the spending of the nine English Regional Development Agencies. The work captured additionality data from over 280 evaluations covering a range of economic development and regeneration interventions across the UK. Data was gathered on deadweight, leakage, displacement, substitution and multiplier effects. Where sufficient data existed, a net additionality ratio was also captured. Results were given at two spatial levels: the sub-regional level and the regional level. Where available, data was also captured on key project characteristics allowing the additionality data to be disaggregated according to: the themes and sub-themes used by the recent RDA Impact Evaluation; whether the intervention was a programme or project; and the rationale for intervention.
A copy of the published report can be downloaded here.