Plus Dane considers local economic impact in its business strategies and investment decisions. It measures the impact of its decisions on enterprise, neighborhoods, and homes. For example, its investment in a youth program reduced nuisance behaviors and increased volunteerism. It also partners with organizations to pool funding and resources, creating jobs and attracting visitors to improve areas. Plus Dane tracks metrics like social return on investment to evidence how its decisions benefit communities.
2. Three questions
Extent to which local economic
impact assessment an important
determinant of business
strategies?
How is Plus Dane considering
local economic impact?
Measurement and evidence of
investment decisions by Plus
Dane
3. Economic impact as business strategy
determinant?
• Answer is, it depends!
• We are not one
• Depends on the
housing organisations:
– Sense of purpose
– Heritage
– Structure
– Operating environment
4. How is Plus Dane considering local economic
impact?
• Mission
• Vision
• Promises
• Values
5. Measurement and evidence of investment
decisions by Plus Dane
• Approach considers decisions
from number of positions
– Aspects of:
• Partner contribution
• Physical impact
• Economic impact
• Wellbeing impact
– Levels of impact on:
• Place
• Service
• Individual
6. At Plus Dane we do 3
things
we are a Neighbourhood investor
SO WHAT?
7. To answer the So What?
question
we measure 3 things
Enterprise – can residents access opportunities/ afford to stay?
Neighbourhoods - are residents choosing to live here?
Homes - do we deliver good value and decent homes?
8. Ni Value
Running and Doing measurement and evidence of investment decisions
In 2009 we were spending 60%
on Running the business and
40% on doing the business
By 2012 we spent 40% on
Running the Business and 60%
on doing the business
9. Ni Social Return
Example: Social Return Measurement and evidence of investment decisions
L8 ‘Joined Up’ Youth Program
• 1,763 Young People engaged
• 1,200 Parents/Guardians engaged
• 1,400 hours youth work delivered
p.a.
• 50% reduction in reported
nuisance
• 64% reduction street drinking
• 34 new voluntary youth workers
appointed
10. Ni Social Return
Example: Social Return Measurement and evidence of investment decisions
Include Environmental Services (INES)
• 171 trainees, 2,565 training hours, 400
qualifications in 10 years
• £374,400 benefits saved and £1,307,124
additional salaries in INclude area
• 76 derelict sites improved/maintained, 30
community land projects, 100 gardens back into
use, 472 tons waste removed and 80% recycled
• £1.56 social value for every £1 spent
11. Ni Impact
Example: Measurement and evidence of investment
decisions to partner in a place
Beautiful North
• Invitation from Local Authority
• 3 wards in North Liverpool
• 40+ private, public and community
organisations collaborating
• Work to mandated leaders
• £400 million collective spending
power
• 300 volunteers
• 80+ staff / One Team
• 8 work streams each led by a
different organisation
• Tracking IPPR local indicators
12. Ni Impact
Example: Measurement and evidence of investment
decisions to partner in a place
Beautiful North – 1 year in
Plus Dane spent £17k on environment year 1 –
shared programme now valued at £1.9M
Residents led solution to ASB
Pooled Youth Budget 30% more for 30% less
Private sector creating local jobs e.g. 20 young
unemployed people now working for LFC
North Liverpool – Show Your Beautiful Face - campaign
by Aurora Media / Giants to North Liverpool attracted
thousands of new visitors
It’s Football improvement district for regular 40,000
visitors to Liverpool and Everton
Community Car Park on derelict land made £56,000
for reinvestment year 1 and employed 8 local people
13. In summary the three questions were
Extent to which local economic
impact assessment an important
determinant of business
strategies?
How is Plus Dane considering
local economic impact?
Measurement and evidence of
investment decisions by Plus
Dane
Editor's Notes
Homes – this is us as a landlord making sure peoples homes are decent and cared for Neighbourhoods – this is about what's outside the front door, are our homes in places people choose to live? Enterprise – this is about people - making sure the people we serve have opportunities for education, youth opportunities, employment by supporting local and social enterprises to grow, and making sure the neighbourhoods attract and retain employers.
Ni Value The Ni financial objectives are measured and delivered in the ‘running-doing’ targets and VfM strategy. This applies to all ‘maintain’ cost decisions and expenditure. The principle of achieving best and added value (NOT best cost) is already accepted throughout the Group and added value (also known as the triple bottom line) is currently measured in external procurement decisions. Ni Value applies to all expenditure decisions to assess the best value the Group, in isolation, can derive from its investment of resources. Ni Social Return The Social Return on Investment (SROI) model is useful to measure value of projects and programs (but Not their impact in a place). SROI puts a financial value on impacts and compares what value has been created compared to what amounts have been invested. The result is expressed as a ratio and in the case of INES which has had an investment of £5.74M over 10 years, a positive result was shown that £1.56 of impact was created for every £1 invested (social impact only – excludes environmental impact which is yet to be measured and economic influence in the attraction of Tesco then at an early stage). This investment in INES alone can therefore demonstrate a value to the INclude Neighbourhood of £9M over 10 years. (Note Salford / Eric Bishard are speaking at the conference and may refer to his work with us. We are still waiting / chasing results.) SROI now offers a recognised and simple method comparable with other organisations and well suited to measuring the social return of both projects and programmes as delivered in ‘Sustain’ areas. But as we know from INclude and N Liverpool – lots of individually good projects can be delivered but ,ay not ‘add up’ to making any difference to a place! Ni Return applies to Ni investment in neighbourhood projects and programs and places a financial value on the Social Return the Group, alone or in partnership, delivers. Ni Impact In 2010 Plus Dane joined Liverpool City Council in a commission to, and subsequent membership of, the Institute Of Public Policy and Research (IPPR) learning network. The IPPR compared the impact of public investment within two neighbourhoods in Liverpool alongside similar comparative studies nationally. The findings demonstrated that on Speke Estate, where significant additional public resources from a variety of sources had been spent, and in Croxteth, where almost no additional public resources had been targeted, the impact of additional resources on all key indicators had been negligible. In fact Croxteth had fared marginally better that Speke. The findings identified that where positive impact had been achieved this was the result of effective use of resources available; good local relationships and community capacity; and trusted anchor organisations such as Alt Valley Community Trust. The IPPR model identified five key indicators that show whether a neighbourhood is stable, declining, or improving, tracking each indicator on at least an annual basis. · Rates of worklessness – are they going up or down relative to national trends · Crime – particularly ASB trends – are they going up or down · Migration to and from the ward - are working people moving in or out, and are unemployed people moving in or out · Trend of housing demand through Choice Based Lettings and Property Prices · Void Rates are they stable, increasing or declining In North Liverpool Plus Dane, along with many other partners, has been investing for over 25 years and yet the collective impact of those investments have been unintended, resulting in the area remaining one of the poorest in the country throughout that period. The IPPR impact measures were tested within the INclude area where the Group has otherwise struggled to evidence impact. They demonstrated, for example, that demand through Choice Based Lettings in the INclude area escalated from 300 to 2,300 over the last 10 years whilst demand in adjacent and similar wards in the same period remained static. This included for example Anfield and Everton where the Group holds significant stock and was active but didn’t apply the Ni approach. These indicators are already gathered by partners and so additional resource requirements are minimal. The measures provide an evidence base against which the impact of individual interventions can be cumulatively and collectively assessed in ‘Revive’ neighbourhoods. Ni Impact measures the effectiveness of the Groups investment and influence, with partners, in a neighbourhood. Example Ni investments can be small estimated at circa £17,500 in N Liverpool Environment for Investment program, but the Ni Return at 12 months is significant at over £483,000 + free land, using basic SROI calculations, and the BN Return looking forward extensive, predicted at circa £1,962,000. It is notable that Ni was the first, but is now by no means the largest, investor in the Environment for Investment, which is 1 of 8 work-streams. The local economic impact question, what we call enterprise, – whether people have opportunities and jobs – becomes acute in the current climate because those who don’t may well, in the face of welfare reform and the work programme, no longer be able to pay their rent and we will, as landlords be faced with a choice. Equipping them to pay their rent, forgoing income, or evicting them.
