Call for proposals: Housing and Neighbourhoods Monitor

Project summary: Identifying datasets and developing a database of headline indicators and a series of related outputs for monitoring housing and neighbourhoods trends across the UK as a whole and within England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Deadline	2.00pm on Thursday 4 October 2007
JRF Committee:	Housing and neighbourhoods
Timescale:	3 years, staged work programme
Total budget:	Approximately £250,000
Key contacts:	Katharine Knox (Principal Research Manager) katharine.knox@jrf.org.uk Jenny Sullivan (Secretary) 01904 615912 \| jenny.sullivan@jrf.org.uk

Project summary

The JRF is developing a new core strand of work to monitor trends in housing, neighbourhoods and place. There are three aims for this work: first, to help JRF contextualise its work on the overall housing and neighbourhoods issues of concern in different parts of the UK; second to analyse Government performance on key related policy targets across the UK; and third, to identify emerging trends and concerns which may not be in the policy spotlight. This is intended to form a distinct and ongoing part of our research programme in the future.

This call is seeking proposals for the initial developmental work and outputs for a three year period. It involves four elements of work:

To identify and collate key housing and neighbourhoods statistics to create an accessible data resource, which lists and provides links to key original data sources for England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland
Drawing on this, to develop a set of indicators to monitor major housing and neighbourhoods trends across and within the different jurisdictions of the UK. This should take account of the varying contexts, trends and data available in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland and also provide a baseline set of indicators for cross UK comparison. The indicators need to be made accessible eg in some form of database accessible via a web portal.
To update and maintain the indicator database on a regular basis, drawing on the original data sources
To produce a series of related outputs pertaining to each of the UK countries and the UK as a whole in both web form and more detailed written reports and summaries.

Applicants may wish to bid for some or all elements of this and different bids for different elements of the work will be acceptable. Alternatively applicants may wish to develop partnerships to bid for the whole programme. JRF will help to facilitate partnerships where possible but where applicants apply for only part of the work it will be important for different parties to come together to ensure that the programme is coordinated. JRF will assist in this process.

Background / context

This strand of research activity builds on the JRF's Housing and Neighbourhoods Monitor report and findings published in September 2006. The aims of this report were to analyse housing and neighbourhoods trends across the UK, to hold the Government to account on key related policy targets and to highlight areas of concern that were not being sufficiently addressed. The work examined a whole range of housing and neighbourhoods trends and involved developing a set of key indicators around a number of themes, including: housing supply, affordability and neighbourhood liveability. The kind of questions that the report explored included:

Housing

Do we have enough housing and is it in the right place and of the right size?
Is the available housing affordable, both for people on average and for those on lower incomes?
Which groups of the population are not having their housing needs met?
How secure is peoples housing situation?
What are the trends in those aspects of housing which impact on the environment?

Neighbourhoods

Liveability: how adequate are our neighbourhoods as places to live?
Sociability: how adequate are our neighbourhoods as communities?

Area polarisation

To what extent is low income and worklessness concentrated in small geographic areas and where are these areas?
To what extent are ill-health, lack of educational qualifications, etc concentrated in small geographic areas and where are these areas?

The report provided a synthesis and commentary on headline trends and also analysed UK Government performance against key national targets where they existed. It was well received and concerns about housing supply and affordability are issues now being picked up in the UK Governments new Housing Green Paper.

The JRF now wishes to build on this work in order to develop a longer term approach and to capture divergences in policy activity and trends across the different jurisdictions of the UK, recognising that there is a need to better understand the variation in the issues across Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. The intention is to explore the relationship between national policy targets, performance and overall trends. Examining the issues in the devolved areas is particularly important, as policy agendas may diverge more substantially, now that Northern Ireland has regained powers through its Assembly, Scotland has a new minority SNP led government, and, in Wales, a minority Labour-led administration has been formed with Plaid Cymru.

The purpose of this monitoring work is to inform overall policy priorities and successes/ areas needing more attention across and within different parts of the UK. Engaging stakeholders and carrying out tailored dissemination will therefore be a critical activity and dissemination will be considered alongside this programme of work, with JRF support, as the work progresses. First, however it will be important to carry out the initial developmental work to lay the foundations for a long term approach and to ensure the underpinning data systems and indicators are set up for the programme across all countries and can be used year on year.

Initial scoping work with policymakers and other stakeholders in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland has indicated an interest in all three countries in taking forward monitoring exercises to explore the issues in their respective areas. While there are expected to be some differences in particular focuses of interest, the JRF is also keen to capture baseline trends across a common set of indicators to compare the issues across the UK where appropriate and possible. Papers presenting the findings of the initial scoping work are available from the JRF (link below). These provide background on some of the key data sources available in line with the original Housing and Neighbourhoods Monitor in each of the devolved administrations.

The intention is that a number of different outputs for external audiences will be distilled from the database and indicator development over the initial three year period, including:

web based outputs, providing headline indicator trends and analysis across the UK as a whole, and within different countries of the UK, to be published either on the JRFs website, or on a linked site, and updated on a regular basis
country specific reports for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, providing more detailed analysis and graphical data for each country, with the actual timing and sequencing of written outputs to be considered in light of the policy context in each country (but with at least one full report per country over the three year period)
summary findings highlighting key messages for each country and findings for the UK as a whole
a single UK wide comparative report which explores how devolution is affecting the picture once over the period, with summary headline messages to be produced more frequently eg on an annual basis.

Over the longer term, it is also envisaged that thematic bulletins may be produced by other research teams, which draw on the datasets and indicators developed here alongside wider research, eg to explore housing supply questions in more depth.

This monitoring work will also be used to inform JRF engagement across the place agenda with the devolved jurisdictions, providing a route to build relationships with key stakeholders and to inform future JRF research and policy development agendas in light of similarities and divergences in the context, policy and overall trends in different parts of the UK.

The Housing and Neighbourhoods Monitor is in many ways a parallel to the JRFs Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion trends (MOPSE) series of reports and website. This examines individual poverty and exclusion trends and is undertaken by the New Policy Institute. Applicants may wish to review our MOPSE outputs (see for example the 2006 report) and the related www.poverty.org.uk website that has been developed alongside as a web resource. It should be noted that the latter website has evolved over a number of years and it is envisaged that a much more simple web resource could be developed in the first instance here, containing headline indicator graphs and commentary on housing and neighbourhoods issues and related publications, and that this could be developed over time.

Aims

This call is seeking proposals for four strands of activity:

to identify and collate key housing and neighbourhoods statistics into a useable data resource, listing all included data sources from across the different parts of the UK that will inform the work, and providing links/contact information relating to key websites/resources. This resource should build on, but could develop from, information in the original Housing and Neighbourhoods Monitor and country scoping reports provided by JRF.
development of related sets of indicators to monitor major housing and neighbourhoods trends across and within the different jurisdictions of the UK taking account of the varying contexts, trends and data available to examine the issues in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. In addition to country specific indicators, there should be a baseline set of indicators for monitoring the issues across all parts of the UK. A technical report should be provided on how the indicators are constructed, noting any issues around comparison of data eg relating to changes in data definition. The indicators need to be made accessible to others, for example, by creating a simple database which is accessible via a web link, but other options could also be considered.
ongoing maintenance and updating of the indicators and related database, including regular updating of indicators from original sources, noting any data changes or related technical issues. Bidders will need to consider the appropriate frequency for updating the database.
production of a series of related outputs pertaining to each of the UK countries and the UK as a whole in both web form and more detailed written reports and summaries (as specified above).

Bidding approach

Due to the different skills sets and expertise that may be required for the different elements of activity, bidders may wish to consider bidding for just some rather than all elements of the work. For example, it may be that a company involved in data management could bid for elements 1-3, while research organisations may wish to bid for element 4.

To achieve the full range of required deliverables, it is anticipated that any bidder seeking to cover all elements will need to consider working in partnership to ensure a match between data management skills and subject expertise to develop and analyse the indicators. There will also need to be contact with policymakers, researchers, statisticians and other stakeholders in each country to inform the work and ensure that it takes account of the differing issues in different parts of the UK.

Where bidders only wish to apply for part of the programme of work, JRF will examine and compare bids to consider the best staffing set up and will seek to facilitate partnerships across the elements if applicable. Bidders are also asked to consider how they would work with other parties to ensure that the programme of work is coordinated if they are only applying for a part of the work.

Applicants are therefore advised to cost each element of activity separately within an overall ceiling budget of around 250,000 for all four strands of work. Bidders seeking to cover the whole range of work may wish to indicate cost savings from delivering the programme as a single package of work.

Task 1: Developing a data resource

The initial task is to develop a data resource of housing and neighbourhoods statistics. It is expected that this will involve identifying a series of relevant datasets from different sources, including England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland or UK wide datasets. These sources might include census data, Government data, data from national surveys, or other sources, such as the Council for Mortgage Lenders. Many data sources are already made available publicly eg the Communities and Local Government live data tables. Applicants are not expected to replicate these sources but will need to consider how these datasets can be brought together. They will also need to consider how to negotiate access to other datasets which may not be publicly available.

A list of sources will need to be collated with relevant links/contact information provided to enable access to the data. This will be important for the development of the housing and neighbourhood indicators for the JRF (task 2).

In terms of the likely scope of the data, the JRF's original Housing and Neighbourhoods Monitor will provide a starting point and the country scoping reports (links below) will provide further ideas for Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland.

Expected outputs:

a report identifying key datasets, including links/contact information to original data sources, which can be used by other parties, including to inform the development of key indicators for each country. This should note any key issues around data access and data protection relating to these sources.

Task 2: Indicator and database development

The second task is to develop a set of relevant indicators for monitoring housing and neighbourhoods trends eg to capture concerns over measuring housing supply or affordability concerns. The JRF's original Housing and Neighbourhoods Monitor can again be used to inform this. However, the scope of coverage will need to be reviewed in light of the differing issues in each country within the UK. It is anticipated that there will be a series of baseline indicators that can be considered across all countries, while others will be country specific. Applicants will therefore need to consider issues of comparability of different data sources and how to take account of the varying contexts, issues and data sets for each country in developing these indicators. A technical report will also be needed to set out how the indicators are constructed, and from which sources, noting any key issues, for example, over changing data definitions.

Having established a series of indicators, applicants will then need to develop a database of some sort to collate these indicators in order that these can be made accessible to other researchers. It is anticipated that in time this would be made accessible via a link to the JRF website to facilitate access. There are no prior views, however about the best way to approach this, and applicants will need to specify how they would tackle this.

Applicants will also need to specify their approach to accessing, collating and storing data for the indicators. They will need to consider any issues around data protection arising and how to ensure data which is not in the public domain is accessed and stored and on what basis. They will also need to consider the feasibility of making all of this accessible to other parties such as other researchers.

Applicants proposals on the format for collating the indicators and making this accessible (eg the nature of any database/web portal) will be important.

Expected outputs:

a series of headline indicators which draw on the datasets identified in task 1 to examine housing, neighbourhoods and place trends across and within different parts of the UK
a database/web portal/other resource which collates all the key indicators to be provided to JRF, managed and updated by the relevant bidder, and accessible to other researchers
a supporting technical report which explains the construction of the indicators, the relevant data sources, definitions of data and related issues eg where data definitions have changed over time and therefore limit comparability of sources or linkages between datasets that form the composite indicators.

Task 3: Indicator database maintenance

As this is an ongoing area of interest for JRF, the database of indicators will need to be maintained and updated regularly as new data sets are published. As the JRF intends to commission further outputs for external audiences following on from this developmental work, we are seeking for the data and indicator series to be made accessible to other parties for further research and for this to be kept up to date.

Applicants are therefore asked to consider on what frequency they would update the indicator database to keep this timely (eg monthly, quarterly, annually) and to inform the production of wider outputs specified below and to consider related costs for this work.

Expected outputs:

no outputs beyond updating the database

Task 4: Outputs for key audiences

As noted above the JRF is keen to develop a range of outputs from this work. These need to be sequenced across the three years and to take account of policy context and audiences. In essence we expect to produce an overall report and summary of the UK picture as a whole and reports and summaries for each of Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. In addition to written outputs, JRF is seeking web outputs which might comprise a series of headline charts with analytical commentary and would need to be updated more regularly to be of most use to our audiences. These web outputs should be aimed at all four jurisdictions.

Applicants are asked to consider how and when to present the range of outputs across the three year period in light of the resources provided.

The JRF is also keen to ensure the maximum impact is achieved from the research that it funds. It will support applicants to disseminate the findings from the outputs of this work to all key audiences but initial ideas on this in submissions are welcome.

Expected outputs:

A series of written and web outputs analysing the headline indicators for each of the devolved administrations Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland as well as England and the UK as a whole, to be published on the JRF website or a linked site:

concise summary findings for each country on the key messages from the initial indicators analysis (eg 4-8 pages)
more detailed country specific reports for Wales, Northern Ireland and Scotland
a comparative report which examines and compares trends across the UK as a whole and a related summary of key messages
web outputs based on the key indicators for each of the countries.

Other issues

JRF is keen that this work will enable us to monitor housing, neighbourhoods and place trends to inform our understanding of place-related policy concerns, for example, to consider how far Government is making inroads in addressing particular problems areas or to cast a spotlight on new or emerging areas of concern that are currently not on the policy agenda. Applicants should therefore consider current policy and practice agendas and how the work would take forward key issues, building on what is already known and highlighted in the existing 2006 Housing and Neighbourhood Monitor and other sources. JRF will support applicants in considering dissemination strategies as the work is progressed.

For applicants only bidding for part of the work, it will be particularly important to consider how different parties might work together on the different stages, considering the relationships between: identifying data sets, establishing a data resource, and using this to develop and update a set of key indicators and related outputs.

Other issues that applicants should consider include:

the scope of the work and how the different aspects of housing, neighbourhoods and place could be considered (drawing on the existing Monitor and scoping reports)
the overall approach to the programme, working with interested stakeholders including policymakers in different parts of the UK.

Scope of the work

In the original HNM report, three topics were covered: housing, neighbourhoods (in terms of overall satisfaction and neighbourhoods as a place to live) and small area polarisation. It may be useful to revisit the scope of this to consider what is best covered here in future, to consider more broadly how to capture changes in place. An important issue here is the spatial level at which analysis is carried out.

In understanding neighbourhoods, the focus has been on data captured at super output area level, where limited data is available, but there may be other angles to consider, and also new opportunities for considering categorisations of place at postcode level, for instance through MOSAIC. The small area polarisation section of the original report was the most complex section and may be less of a focus in future, in light of other recent work funded by the JRF on poverty and place in Britain (Daniel Dorling et al, Poverty and Wealth Across Britain 1968- 2005), but applicant's ideas are welcome.

Applicants may wish to review the scope of the Monitor and to further explore what could be encapsulated in terms of place concerns, for example, to see what comments can be made about area regeneration.

There may also be other ways to consider divergences in key trends by different types of place more fully for example to examine:

divergences relating to function/type of place - eg coalfields, coastal/market towns, rural areas, suburban and urban areas;
divergences by levels of deprivation eg to compare key indicators in more and less deprived areas as defined by the Index of Deprivation or other sources, or to look at the most deprived areas receiving regeneration funding and how they have progressed over time.

There will also need to be consideration of how to present the messages to external audiences to show place variations effectively at a small area level eg through use of maps and GIS software as well as more standard graphs.

Overall approach

On the overall approach, key stakeholders in each of the different jurisdictions of the UK have already expressed an interest in being involved in the development of this work and JRF will provide information on some of the contacts made to successful applicants. However, applicants will need to set out their own ideas and specify how they will engage with stakeholders to ensure that this research serves a useful purpose and is informed appropriately by different stakeholders in each country. For example, applicants are likely to need to programme in a series of meetings or seminars to discuss the issues with interested parties.

As this project will cover a great breadth of issues across four different countries, it is anticipated that there may be some added value in partnerships being developed between different parties eg data management companies or social research organisations and subject experts from different countries. Applicants are asked to consider this in their submissions. Where partnerships are proposed, clear management arrangements will need to be specified and the roles and responsibilities of different team members explained, as coordination and effective partnership working on such a complex and broad project will be of particular interest in informing funding decisions.

Methods

The overall approach to this programme of work and the methods used will be of particular interest in selecting successful applicants. The key issues here will include those outlined above, especially consideration of both the technical issues around the indicator and database development, and the overall approach to engaging with stakeholders to inform the project, in light of the potential long term commitment of JRF to this strand of activity.

Applicants should note that if this initial programme of work has a positive impact, the organisation anticipates continuing monitoring activity in the future. While this tender is therefore for a three year period, it is likely that there may be a further tendering exercise after this period, with the possibility of contract renewal with the initial parties if the first period of work is successful.

Expected outputs

The expected outputs from this work across the whole three year period are noted under each task above. In the longer term it is also anticipated that, as noted earlier, JRF may enable other researchers to draw on the database to inform wider research projects.

Previous JRF work and outputs

As noted above, there are various pieces of work funded by the JRF that may be of relevance to this call for proposals including:

Guy Palmer et al, Housing and Neighbourhoods Monitor, 2006
Guy Palmer et al, Monitoring Poverty and Social Exclusion, 2006
Country scoping report Wales (Word, 171KB)
Country scoping report Scotland and Northern Ireland (Word, 166KB)
Daniel Dorling et al, Poverty, wealth and place in Britain 1968-2005, 2007

Submitting a full proposal

Please note that due to the specific and complex nature of this call, applicants are asked to complete a different application form (Word, 123KB) from our standard forms.

Budget forms will be required as normal:

Budget Form (Excel, 267KB)
Budget form notes (Word, 248KB).

Applicants are asked to be mindful of the criteria for making decisions noted below when they complete their application forms.

Three unbound, hard copies of all documents are required. Please also e-mail a Word version of the complete proposal, summary and budget forms to Jenny Sullivan by the deadline below.

Proposals should be submitted to:

Jenny Sullivan
Joseph Rowntree Foundation
The Homestead, 40 Water End
YORK YO30 6WP
jenny.sullivan@jrf.org.uk

Timetable

We anticipate that the initial developmental work required in this call to set up the database and indicators will take 6-9 months to complete, with outputs then to be produced at appropriate intervals across the 3 year period to include all the deliverables identified above. Applicants will need to set out their own timetable for delivery, indicating when they would be free to commence the work (noting that applicants only bidding for the outputs are unlikely to be able to commence the work until mid 2008 after the initial developmental work).

Time and resourcing will be important to consider, especially to ensure appropriate buy in from stakeholders is achieved as part of the development process. Applicants will also need to programme the outputs considering the most timely delivery. We will look for clarity in submissions in relationships between staff, resources and delivery requirements.

The deadline for receipt of email and hard copies of full proposals will be 2.00pm on Thursday 4th October 2007. Unfortunately, late submissions cannot be accepted.

Following review by JRF staff and advisers, proposals that meet the required standards will be submitted to the Housing and Neighbourhoods Committee on Monday 29 October 2007 for their consideration.

Budget

The maximum budget for this call is approx. £250,000. Note that applicants are asked to provide headline costs for each of the four elements separately to facilitate comparison between bidders. This will enable JRF to consider how to facilitate partnerships between bidders where this might be needed between the different elements of work.

How we make funding decisions (full proposals)

The following criteria will be used in coming to a decision on full proposals:

How far the work will offer new insights or developments.
The soundness and appropriateness of how the work will be done (i.e. design, methods and analysis).
Whether partnerships with relevant other organisations are in place, where these are important.
The ability of the proposers to carry out the work and complete on time.
An understanding of the policy and practice dimensions.
A thorough approach to dissemination.

Other issues that will be considered include: whether the proposal pays attention to diversity where appropriate (i.e. regarding gender, ethnicity, class, disability etc.) and whether it is written in accessible, lay language. A full explanation of the proposed methods to be used is essential, as is full consideration of the ethical implications of the project and the implications for policy and practice across different nations of the UK.

In this particular call partnership working is likely to be of interest, particularly where a number of parties are jointly bidding for the programme, or where bidders may need to work with other parties if they are only bidding for some elements of the work. In this call we will also be looking for:

an understanding of data access issues, questions relating to data protection and management and maintenance of data
technical competence in developing a database/ web portal or other resource which enables the indicators to be made available to others
the ability to build relationships across a wide range of stakeholders across the different UK jurisdictions to get buy in to the work
understanding of the overall subject issues relating to housing and neighbourhoods
staff, resourcing and programming of activity to meet the full range of outputs required.

Key contacts

For queries about the overall programme of work proposed, please contact:

Katharine Knox
Principal Research Manager
01904 615912 katharine.knox@jrf.org.uk

For queries about the application process, deadlines and so on, please contact:

Jenny Sullivan
Team Administrator
01904 615912 jenny.sullivan@jrf.org.uk .

Due to the complexity of this call, applicants are invited to contact Katharine Knox if they wish to discuss this work in any detail, particularly on one of the following dates: 29th August, 5th or 10th September 2007.